12 Beautiful Photos of San Diego, California
12 Beautiful Photographs of San Diego, California.
America’s Finest City, indeed. San Diego is a photographer’s paradise, with fantastic weather year-round, gorgeous beaches, nearby mountains, the Pacific Ocean on our doorstep, and an attractive city skyline to boot. Here are some of my favorite photos of San Diego. If you like these, be sure to check out my gallery of San Diego photos (or my gallery of San Diego aerial photographs), all of which are available for editorial and commercial licensing and as prints for hanging in your home or office. Cheers, and thanks for looking!
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| San Diego city skyline at sunset, showing the buildings of downtown San Diego rising above San Diego Harbor, viewed from Harbor Island. A panoramic photograph, composite of thirteen separate images. Image ID: 22255 Location: San Diego, California, USA Pano dimensions: 4759 x 15430 |
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| San Diego Coronado Bridge, known locally as the Coronado Bridge, links San Diego with Coronado, California. The bridge was completed in 1969 and was a toll bridge until 2002. It is 2.1 miles long and reaches a height of 200 feet above San Diego Bay. Coronado Island is to the left, and downtown San Diego is to the right in this view looking north. Image ID: 22288 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| Torrey Pines State Beach, sandstone cliffs rise above the beach at Torrey Pines State Reserve. Image ID: 22435 Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, California, USA |
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| San Diego harbor skyline, late afternoon. Image ID: 15672 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| Hotel del Coronado with holiday Christmas night lights, known affectionately as the Hotel Del. It was once the largest hotel in the world, and is one of the few remaining wooden Victorian beach resorts. It sits on the beach on Coronado Island, seen here with downtown San Diego in the distance. It is widely considered to be one of Americas most beautiful and classic hotels. Built in 1888, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977. Image ID: 27396 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| Coronado Bridge, linking San Diego to Coronado, sunrise, viewed from Coronado Island. San Diego Coronado Bridge, known locally as the Coronado Bridge, links San Diego with Coronado, California. The bridge was completed in 1969 and was a toll bridge until 2002. It is 2.1 miles long and reaches a height of 200 feet above San Diego Bay. Image ID: 27101 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| San Diego harbor and skyline, viewed at sunset. Image ID: 27146 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| Approaching sunrise and star trails over the San Diego Downtown City Skyline. In this 60 minute exposure, stars create trails through the night sky over downtown San Diego. Image ID: 28386 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| Imperial Beach pier at sunrise,. Image ID: 27414 Location: Imperial Beach, California, USA |
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| Panoramic photo of San Diego embarcadero, showing the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina (center), Roy’s Restaurant (center) and Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel (left) viewed from the San Diego Embarcadero Marine Park. Image ID: 26568 Location: San Diego, California, USA Pano dimensions: 4706 x 9454 |
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| The Mount Soledad Cross, a landmark in La Jolla, California. The Mount Soledad Cross is a 29-foot-tall cross erected in 1954. Image ID: 26547 Location: La Jolla, California, USA |
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| Dusk settles on downtown San Diego with snow-covered Mt. Laguna in the distance. Image ID: 26716 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres professional baseball team, overlooking downtown San Diego at dusk. Image ID: 27049 Location: San Diego, California, USA Pano dimensions: 3615 x 6741 |
Live Oak and Rocks, Milky Way Galaxy, Joshua Tree National Park
Milky Way Galaxy, Live Oak and Rocks, Joshua Tree National Park at Night
I have spent many evenings photographing the landscape and night sky at Joshua Tree National Park. The terrain is harsh and there are few trees other than Yucca and Joshua Tree. I did find one attractive live oak nestled up against some tall boulders, and made a point of photographing it when the Milky Way galaxy was high in the sky above it. This four image landscape astrophotography panorama, shot with the Nikon D800 and Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 lens, will print up to 100″ wide and 60″ and would make a great wall mural in your home or office! Cheers and thanks for looking.
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| Live Oak and Milky Way, rocks and stars, Joshua Tree National Park at night. Image ID: 28417 Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA Pano dimensions: 4848 x 7431 |
Scripps Pier Sunset Perfect Solar Alignment, La Jolla, San Diego, California
SIO Pier Sunset with Sun Framed Within the Pier Pilings
Occasionally the setting sun will be perfectly framed within the pilings the Scripps Institution of Oceanography research pier. This is what the perfect solar alignment through the SIO Pier pilings looks like — it is a spectacular sight! Contact me to inquire about a print for your home or office of this iconic San Diego icon, captured at the peak moment of a rare celestial event. This image is available up to 54″ high x 36″ wide, presented on canvas, metal and traditional photographic substrates. Cheers, and thanks for looking!
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| Scripps Pier Sunset Solar Alignment, the setting sun is framed perfectly within the pilings of Scripps Institution of Oceanography research pier, a rare event |
The Fire Wave at Night, Milky Way and Stars, Valley of Fire State Park
The Milky Way and Stars at Night over the Fire Wave in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada
The Fire Wave in Valley of Fire: an interesting striped expanse of sandstone, now commonly photographed. I wanted to make some uncommon images of the Fire Wave, so I set up my camera with an intervalometer to photograph it all night long. This image shows the Milky Way rising over the horizon with the Fire Wave in the foreground. Distant lights of Las Vegas and nearby urban communities can be seen but the sky above was surprising clear of light pollution. The Valley of Fire sure is a beautiful place!
Cheers and thanks for looking!
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| Milky Way galaxy rises above the Fire Wave, Valley of Fire State Park. Image ID: 28428 Location: Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, USA |
New Work - April 2013
To go straight to the new images: New Work - April 2013.
I have been slowing down the release of new work on my web site. This is partly due to my desire to be more contemplative and rigorous during the editing of my images, but also I had my shoulder nearly rebuilt when three tendons were reattached during a major surgery in February. It is only in the last couple weeks that I have been able to get out again and photograph, and even now I have to hold back on what I can do. No wave photography, backpacking or scuba diving for me this year it seems, at least for 6-8 more months.
Included in this release are some favorite locations, such as La Jolla’s Torrey Pines State Reserve, Joshua Tree National Park and Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park. I have photographed them at night in order to try to produce images that are new, interesting and hopefully unlike the many images being made at these locations these days.
Here is a small sample of the new work. You can see others at New Work - April 2013. Cheers and thanks for looking!
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| Approaching sunrise and star trails over the San Diego Downtown City Skyline. In this 60 minute exposure, stars create trails through the night sky over downtown San Diego. Image ID: 28386 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| Milky Way galaxy rises above the Fire Wave, Valley of Fire State Park. Image ID: 28428 Location: Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, USA |
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| Broken Hill and view to La Jolla, panoramic photographic, from Torrey Pines State Reserve, sunrise. Image ID: 28397 Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, California, USA Pano dimensions: 4332 x 11344 |
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| Joshua Tree National Park, Milky Way and Moon, Shooting Star, Comet Panstarrs, Impending Dawn. Image ID: 28408 Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA Pano dimensions: 4205 x 10821 |
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| Torrey Pines State Reserve at Night, stars and clouds fill the night sky with the lights of La Jolla visible in the distance. Image ID: 28402 Location: Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego, California, USA |
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| Image ID: 28426 Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA |
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| The Fire Wave by Moonlight, stars and the night sky, Valley of Fire State Park. Image ID: 28442 Location: Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, USA Pano dimensions: 6250 x 6887 |
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| Live Oak and Milky Way, rocks and stars, Joshua Tree National Park at night. Image ID: 28417 Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA Pano dimensions: 4848 x 7431 |
San Diego Downtown Skyline, Waterfront and Embarcadero, Sunrise
The San Diego Embarcadero and City Skyline at Dawn
America’s Finest City! It sure is, and here’s another view showing why San Diego is such a lovely place to live. This is the Embarcadero area of the San Diego City Skyline, including the Manchester Grand Hyatt and San Diego Marriott Marquis and Marina resorts, viewed from Coronado Island. While much of the United States was in the miserable depths of winter, this was shot on January 5 and shows typical winter weather for this most hospitable of cities. If you like this, see more San Diego City Skyline photos and other Photos of San Diego. Cheers and thanks for looking!
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| San Diego City Skyline at Sunrise. Image ID: 28379 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
Milky Way and Moon at Night, Shooting Star, Comet Panstarrs, Panorama, Joshua Tree National Park
Joshua Tree National Park, Milky Way and Moon, Shooting Star, Comet Panstarrs, Impending Dawn.
This panorama of Joshua Tree National Park was made at astronomical twilight during International Dark Sky Week recently (last week). Some slight blue color from the impending dawn appears behind and to the left of the moon. Comet Panstarrs appears tiny just above the horizon in the left half of the image. The moon is a 20% crescent and still nearly overwhelms the night sky with its brightness. A shooting star appears to the right of the moon. The orange glow on the horizon is light pollution from the distant cities of Joshua Tree (left) and Palm Desert (right). This image will print 30″ x 80″ with no uprezing. If you like this, please check out more Astrophotography Landscape photos, an area of photography I have been working on hard for the last few years. Cheers and thanks for looking!
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| Joshua Tree National Park, Milky Way and Moon, Shooting Star, Comet Panstarrs, Impending Dawn. Image ID: 28408 Location: Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA Pano dimensions: 4205 x 10821 |
Great White Shark Portrait
This great white shark photo (Carcharodon carcharias) was shot under dark skies, in early morning. These are tough conditions to shoot underwater with only available light. I prefer to shoot without strobes whenever possible but in the days of film this particular morning would have required I use artificial lights. Digital cameras, however, have changed all that and allow shooting in dark and flat lighting conditions that film did not. I hope to get back down to Guadalupe Island later this year to reshoot these sharks with the current cameras I am using (5D Mark III and D800). I think I have made 15 trips to the island (I’ve lost count) and I never get tired of Isla Guadalupe. Cheers and thanks for looking!
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| Great white shark, underwater. Image ID: 21360 Species: Great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico |
Panorama Photo of the Open Ocean
Open Ocean Panoramic Photograph
I’ve spent a lot of time on the open ocean, in small boats, looking for big creatures. Some of the best days of my life have been spent on a glassy ocean surface, traveling one hundred miles or more under blue skies and summer breezes, waiting to see if we would meet something interesting to photograph. These days are not like what most scuba divers experience! Some days bring perfect summer conditions and then just zipping across the ocean is a pleasure, even if we see no animals. Other days — more typical days — involve an incredible amount of waiting, periodic episodes of frustration and, when the weather turns, discomfort. Most of my days on the open ocean resulted in no photos and no encounters. However, once in a while something special happens and a photograph results. A few years ago, we were stopped on the water miles offshore of North County, enjoying the still, hot, southern California weather, watching a swarm of zooplankton hovering mid-column beneath the boat and listening for the blows of great whales, when I realized I should try to photograph the idyllic scene. How to photograph what is essentially an empty expanse, a half-plane extending from the gunwale of the boat to the horizon? I was not sure but a panorama seemed to be the only way to approach it. I made a series of 10 frames and blended them together later on the computer. The blending was tough to accomplish since the water was constantly moving making it difficult to merge the details in a perfectly natural way. The photo below is my best effort. It will print up to 10′ long by 3.5′ high with no uprezzing, and has been used in commercial projects a couple times. I need to get back out on the water and make a few more of these. Cheers, and thanks for looking!
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| Ocean surface panorama, glassy calm ocean water offshore of California, clouds and sky. Image ID: 26804 Pano dimensions: 6192 x 17935 |
Beautiful Photos of Waterfalls, Stock Photography of Waterfalls
Beautiful Photos of Waterfalls
Please see some of my Top 20 Favorite Waterfall Photos, from California, Wyoming, Washington and Utah. Below are three examples of my style of waterfall photography. Cheers and thanks for looking!
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| A rainbow appears in the mist of the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River. At 308 feet, the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River is the tallest fall in the park. This view is from Lookout Point on the North side of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. When conditions are perfect in midsummer, a midmorning rainbow briefly appears in the falls. Image ID: 13319 Location: Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA |
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| Paradise Falls tumble over rocks in Paradise Creek. Image ID: 13867 Location: Paradise Creek, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, USA |
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| Archangel Falls in autumn, near the Subway in North Creek Canyon, with maples and cottonwoods turning fall colors. Image ID: 26097 Location: Zion National Park, Utah, USA |
Please see my Gallery of Beautiful Waterfall Photos!
Art Seller, La Rive Gauche, Paris, France
Art Seller along La Rive Gauche, the Left Bank, Paris.
La Rive Gauche, the Left Bank, is the southern bank of the river Seine in Paris, France. Here the river flows roughly westward, cutting the city in two: looking downstream, the southern bank is to the left, and the northern bank (or Rive Droite) is to the right. Art and book sellers have small booths along the walls above the Seine and everyone enjoys an afternoon stroll to people watch and inspect the sellers’ wares. A peek of Notre Dame Cathedral can be seen behind the art-seller’s booth. Cheers and thanks for looking!
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| Art Seller along La Rive Gauche, the Left Bank, Paris. Image ID: 28146 Location: La Rive Gauche, Paris, France |
See more Travel photos of Paris!
Les Invalides, Paris, France
Les Invalides, officially known as L’Hotel national des Invalides (The National Residence of the Invalids), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building’s original purpose. Here are a few photos of Hotel National des Invalides, Paris, France. Cheers and thanks for looking!
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| Image ID: 28161 Location: Hotel National des Invalides, Paris, France |
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| Tomb of Napolean Bonaparte in Les Invalides. Image ID: 28122 Location: Hotel National des Invalides, Paris, France |
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| Image ID: 28162 Location: Hotel National des Invalides, Paris, France |
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| Image ID: 28163 Location: Hotel National des Invalides, Paris, France |
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| Image ID: 28164 Location: Hotel National des Invalides, Paris, France |
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| Image ID: 28121 Location: Hotel National des Invalides, Paris, France |
See more Travel photos of Paris!
Tides of Time Cover
“Times of Time” was a coffee table-type book, a collaborative product of the Jaeger-LeCoutre Watch Company, the United Nations, the World Heritage Centre and the International Herald Tribune, focusing on ocean issues. My photo of a newborn gray whale calf, photographed 17 years ago offshore of Point Lobos / Big Sur with photographer pals Ken Howard, Skip Stubbs and Kevin McDonnell, was selected for the cover. Note the embryonic folds seen along the whales body, a result of it being curled up in the womb, and a bit of the umbilicus — this calf was very very young, perhaps just hours old. Cheers, and thanks for looking!
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Coronado Aerial Photos
Aerial photographs of Coronado, California, including Coronado Island, the Hotel del Coronado, and the San Diego Coronado Bay Bridge.
These five Coronado Aerial Photographs are just a selection. If you like them, please be sure to see also my full collection of Coronado Aerial Photos and a gallery of San Diego Aerial Photos.
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| Hotel del Coronado, known affectionately as the Hotel Del. It was once the largest hotel in the world, and is one of the few remaining wooden Victorian beach resorts. It sits on the beach on Coronado Island, seen here with downtown San Diego in the distance. It is widely considered to be one of Americas most beautiful and classic hotels. Built in 1888, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977. Image ID: 22287 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| San Diego Coronado Bridge, known locally as the Coronado Bridge, links San Diego with Coronado, California. The bridge was completed in 1969 and was a toll bridge until 2002. It is 2.1 miles long and reaches a height of 200 feet above San Diego Bay. Coronado Island is to the left, and downtown San Diego is to the right in this view looking north. Image ID: 22288 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| Coronado Shores, a group of 10 condominium buildings south of the Hotel Del, on the water on Coronado Island. Image ID: 22297 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, situated on the Silver Strand between San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean, is the West Coast focal point for special and expeditionary warfare training and operations. The famous “swastika building” is seen on the southern (left) side of the base. Image ID: 22298 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
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| Sunset over Coronado Island and Point Loma. Image ID: 22335 Location: San Diego, California, USA |
River Seine, Full Moon and Eiffel Tower at Night, Paris
River Seine, Full Moon and Eiffel Tower at Night, Paris
We walked along the Right Bank of the Seine from our small hotel on Ile Saint Louis to the Trocadero. For about 5 minutes at the top of the hour the Eiffel Tower lit up with a nice display of lights, so we stopped and photographed it with some river tour boats passing in front. The moon was near full and just happened to be in the right place! If you like this one, please see more Paris photos. Cheers and thanks for looking.
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| River Seine, Full Moon and Eiffel Tower at night, Paris. La Tour Eiffel. The Eiffel Tower is an iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris, named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, who designed the tower in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World’s Fair. The Eiffel tower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world. Image ID: 28203 Location: Tour Eiffel, Paris, France |
The Raft of the Medusa, Le Radeau de la Meduse, Musee du Louvre, Paris
There were a handful of paintings in the Louvre that really caught my eye, made me stop and ponder them for a while. I am not an art afficionado and rarely spend more than a few seconds considering a single piece of art. Yet something about these works stopped me in my tracks. Perhaps it was the sheer emotion and sense of tragedy, and that passing of ages gone by. I’m not sure. But that is the point of art, to stop the viewer and cause him to think, appreciate, wonder and be moved. Cheers and thanks for looking.
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| The Raft of the Medusa, Le Radeau de la Meduse, oil painting by French Romantic painter Theodore Gericault, 1819. Musee du Louvre. Image ID: 28107 Location: Musee du Louvre, Paris, France |
A couple others that I really enjoyed:
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| Death of Sardanapalus, La Mort de Sardanapale, oil painting on canvas, 1827 by Eugene Delacroix. Musee du Louvre. Image ID: 28221 Location: Musee du Louvre, Paris, France |
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| Les Noces de Cana, The Wedding at Cana, by Paolo Veronese. Musee du Louvre. Image ID: 28105 Location: Musee du Louvre, Paris, France |
For more spectacular photos of Paris, hmm, well, see: Spectacular Photos of Paris!
Leaving the Louvre
Leaving La Musee du Louvre, Paris, France. See more photos of Paris!
As the evening visiting hours ended, we sadly departed the incredible Italian painting galleries and headed for the exit. Tracy walks down one of the long, masterpiece-strewn corridors on our way out.
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| Leaving the Louvre Museum, evening, Paris. Image ID: 28111 Location: Musee du Louvre, Paris, France |
Louvre Pyramid at Night, Pyramide du Louvre a Nuit, Paris
Louvre Pyramid at Night, Paris, France. See more photos of Paris!
We joined the crowds at the Louvre Museum during the day and, while it was fun to be a part of the vibrant hustle and bustle of the great musee, we wanted to visit again when it was not so busy, crowded and loud. Our evening visit was splendid! Often we would find ourselves alone in large galleries, surrounded by some of the greatest art works of the past 500 years, feeling that we had these amazing gems all to ourselves. Beforehand, we did a little people watching in the plaza where I.M. Pei’s distinctive pyramid stands. Setting a camera on the edge of the fountain, I was able to make a few nice images of the pyramid at night.
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| The Louvre Pyramid at Night, Pyramide du Louvre, large glass and metal pyramid in the main courtyard (Cour Napoleon) of the Louvre Palace (Palais du Louvre) in Paris. Image ID: 28095 Location: Musee du Louvre, Paris, France |
Cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris, Trees and Streetlamp
Notre Dame Cathedral, West Facade, Trees and Streetlamp, Paris
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| Notre Dame Cathedral, trees and streetlamp, west facade, Paris. Notre Dame de Paris (”Our Lady of Paris”), also known as Notre Dame Cathedral or simply Notre Dame, is a historic Roman Catholic Marian cathedral on the eastern half of the Ile de la Cite in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. Widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture and among the largest and most well-known churches in the world ever built, Notre Dame is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris. Image ID: 28242 Location: Notre Dame de Paris, France |
Arc de Triomphe, Paris, France
Arc de Triomphe, Paris, France. See more photos of Paris!
We walked the Champs Elysees on a cold, cloudy Paris day, starting at the Arc de Triomphe and finishing at the Louvre Museum with many stops in between. We walked beneath the Arc de Triomphe just to be able to say we had seen it, but it did not appear particularly photogenic in the crummy weather. I made a few photographs of it, including a panorama from directly underneath, and was pleasantly surprised that they came out as well as they did given the flat light and colorless sky.
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| Arc de Triomphe. The Arc de Triomphe (Arc de Triomphe de l’Etoile) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. It stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle (originally named Place de l’Etoile), at the western end of the Champs-Elysees. The Arc de Triomphe (in English: “Triumphal Arch”) honors those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I. The monument was designed by Jean Chalgrin in 1806, and its iconographic program pitted heroically nude French youths against bearded Germanic warriors in chain mail. It set the tone for public monuments, with triumphant patriotic messages. The monument stands 50 metres (164 ft) in height, 45 m (148 ft) wide and 22 m (72 ft) deep. Image ID: 28083 Location: Arc de Triomphe, Paris, France |
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| Arc de Triomphe. Image ID: 28082 Location: Arc de Triomphe, Paris, France Pano dimensions: 7420 x 11499 |
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| Arc de Triomphe. Image ID: 28265 Location: Arc de Triomphe, Paris, France |
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Updated: May 22, 2013
