How To Photograph Versailles
Light illuminates statues and the royal gate at the Palace of Versailles.
The Palace of Versailles is beautiful. Here's how to Photograph Versailles during the tourist heavy peak season.
My advice is to spend the majority of your time outside. The gardens are extensive with lots of interesting statues and details to seek out.
Likewise, the Palace Of Versailles is an impressive architectural structure and it’s worthwhile looking for interesting angles from which to photograph the royal gates and the palace’s various facades.
My own excursion was early in July, right in the middle of summer. I’d be happy to return, but wouldn’t want to do so at that time of year.
I took the train out to Versailles, which was easy enough, but the last train back to Paris was not all that long after the palace closed for the day.
In the end I had to rush to catch the train.
The Early Bird Doesn't Always Get The Worm
I arrived reasonably early to find literally hundreds of other folk waiting outside the entrance gates.
We baked in the sun together for around 90 minutes before the line advanced enough for me to get through the entrance gates, move through the courtyard and then into the main building.
While waiting to get through the gates I made a few photos from the congested queue, including the first two in this post.
Take a look at how the side light rakes across the image at the top of this post and illuminates the statues and that spectacular golden gate at the entrance to the Palace of Versailles.
The side lighting enabled me to emphasize the shape of the statues and gates.
It wasn’t easy to make the photo as the tightly congested crowd edged forwards, but it seemed to me that it was now or never.
Versailles is such a busy place and I just didn’t know if I’d be likely to retrace my steps in the hope of making a photograph later in the day.
Either way I’m glad I made these photos as I’m really happy with the final results.
Detail of the golden royal gate at the glorious Palace of Versailles.
Color Contrast Makes Dynamic Color Photos
The first two photos in this post are fairly straight forward images illustrating the majesty of what awaited us inside Versailles.
The royal insignia atop the golden gates looks particularly warm when contrasted against the deep blue sky.
Actually this isn’t the original royal gate, which was demolished during the French Revolution.
This replica is an 87 yard (80 meter) long steel gate that’s decorated with 100,000 gold leaves.
The royal gate is pretty special to behold, particularly when it’s illuminated with bright sunlight, and it gives the first time visit an idea of the sumptuous interior that awaits them inside the palace.
Whenever you contrast warm and cool colors a more dynamic image results.
Color contrast is a very simple recipe, but it works.
Interior of the Château at the Palace of Versailles in France.
Exploring the Château at Versailles
I don’t want to downplay the beauty of Versailles, but the fact is that my experience being herded through the main building was most unpleasant.
I’ve stood throughout the night on tightly congested third class overnight trains in China, in the middle of summer, way back in the 80’s yet I can tell you that I felt really claustrophobic at Versailles.
I’m sure that standing outside in the baking sun beforehand didn’t help.
Either way it was tough and I got out just as soon as I could. The above photo was one of the few pictures I was able to make inside that didn’t show people.
A moment afterwards they were popping up everywhere.
Still, despite the difficulty in making photos, it’s a reasonable result that showcases the classic pillars, ornate gold embellishments and spectacular murals.
It is a spectacular place that really needs to be enjoyed in relative privacy.
That’s probably a big ask but you may be able to minimize your contact with the crowds by arriving early and avoid entering the château until later in the day.
By all means leave around two hours to do so, but consider starting your excursion at the Trianon, the two smaller palaces within the Versailles complex, prior to moving onto Versailles’ famous gardens, including the water fountains.
Magnificent chandelier and ceiling murals at the Palace of Versailles in France.
The images directly above and below were made from the middle of a densely packed group of tourists.
I was only able to stop for a few seconds to make an exposure before being pushed along by the crowd.
There were probably one hundred or more people in each of these rooms. I moved off to the side of the room hoping to wait it out until the crowd passed.
But, just like the effects of a dodgy curry, it kept coming.
Eventually I tilted my camera upwards to crop out the crowd and photograph the magnificent chandelier and ceiling murals.
Not the perfect composition, but I think the result is quite reasonable given the difficulty of the situation I faced.
Eliminating people from architectural photos is one of the things that often, though not always, sets your photos apart.
It might be useful to include people, for purposes of scale, in your photos. If not, raising your camera above the crowd is one way to eliminate them from the composition.
Statue in one of the magnificent rooms at the Palace of Versailles.
In this case I managed to eliminate all but the faintest trace of the crowd by photographing from quite an extreme angle to the mirrored wall, thereby reducing reflections in the glass.
Fortunately I was able to use the statue on the right as the focal point or area of prime interest in the image.
I introduced an element of visual tension with the inclusion of the diagonal golden cornice in the top left corner of the image.
Contemporary sculpture in the grounds of the Palace of Versailles, Paris.
Into The Light And The Fresh Air
After entering the foyer I was herded up the main staircase to the first floor where the crowd continued to push me along.
I got to the end of the corridor and, rather than following the rest of the hordes upstairs, chose the downward path and headed out into the bright summer light.
Despite the heat, I could breathe again. I immediately began to move away from most of the remaining tourists wandering about outside.
The Delightful Gardens At Versailles
The gardens at Versailles are immense. Under more gentle light it would be fun making some really beautiful, carefully composed photographs.
But my visit was shared with thousands of other folk, many of whom were wandering around outside. I had to wait around 10 minutes before this particular scene was clear enough to make a photo.
As you can see, rather than trying to hide the other tourists, I’ve done my best to incorporate them into the composition in an interesting way.
By contrasting their size relative to the foreground structures and the château I’ve introduced the notion of scale into the image.
As you can see I’ve also made use of those foreground structures to employ the old frame within a frame technique to isolate two groups of people within the composition.
About to Travel?
A classic garden like Versailles is all about order and symmetry.
Documentary photos showing folks perambulating around the place is fine for a tourist brochure, but what I wanted most were photos that showcased the geometric designs of the gardens.
Unfortunately, that was difficult given the number of people wandering through my photos.
Highly decorative cup at the château, Palace of Versailles near Paris.
Have Fun By Escaping The Crowds
I was able to make a few good architectural images, but only through very careful composition and some unusual viewpoints.
The photo of the cup (I’m not sure what else to call it), with the palace behind, was one such image. It’s one of my favorites from the day.
Fortunately, I know enough about travel to understand that you usually only have to walk for a short distance to get away from the crowds. And that’s exactly what I did.
Within five minutes I was away from the hordes and in another world concentrating on closer views of statues; fountains, for which Versailles is famous; and other interesting elements within the gardens.
Statue depicting King Louis XIV, the Sun King, Palace of Versailles, France.
Art In The Age Of Propaganda
I’m very happy with this photo of a statue of King Louis XIV, the Sun King, which I found in a niche on the outside of the Palace.
The warmth from the late afternoon sun really brought the figure, in all its grandness, to life.
Notice the carving in the wall behind the statue that represents the sun and, by implication, Louis’s radiance and divine right to rule.
Looking at this image the word propaganda comes to mind. Of course, back in the day, propaganda meant information.
Over the years the meaning of propaganda has changed. These days it refers to information that’s been subverted for political purposes.
And that’s exactly what’s going on in this image of Louis the Sun King.
The gardens were the highlight of my day at Versailles and I made lots of intimate studies of various statues in the gardens, as well as interesting water fountains around the palace grounds.
Statue with wreath in the grounds of the Palace of Versailles, France.
What Is It To Be A Professional Photographer
The Travel Photography Guru website and blog is about far more than showcasing my best photos.
This is an educational site and, as such, I’m more than happy to discuss the difficulties associated with making good images under less than ideal conditions.
Along the way I provide straightforward solutions that will enable you to resolve technical and creative difficulties on your artistic journey.
Indeed, many of my photos are underpinned by my philosophy of making something out of nothing.
Being able to do so is one of the determining factors in associating the word professional with what you do.
In this case I use the word professional to describe the attitude and the approach one takes to what they do, rather than as any measure of commercial success.
Sunlit yellow flowers in the grounds of the Palace of Versailles, France.
It Sounds Exotic, But It’s A Hard Life
Travel Photography is not always about making amazing photos of iconic subjects under incredible light.
More often than not you’ll find yourself working under adverse conditions and, rather than packing your camera away and heading to the bar, you’ll dig deep and find a way to make good photos.
The trick is to allow your passion and purpose, with some fundamental knowledge of the craft of photography, to see you through.
But making a life and a business through photography is no easy road, and almost certainly worse for the significant other half.
Photography And Why I Do What I Do
One of the final images I made during my visit to Versailles was a detail of beautiful yellow flowers in the gardens of the palace.
I applied Selective Focus, a technique which allows the viewer’s attention to scan the photo and be brought back to the main focal point within the image.
To apply this technique all you need to do is to critically focus on your primary subject and apply a shallow depth of field to de-emphasize the surroundings.
So, despite a difficult day as a tourist and photographer, I feel like I ended up with some pretty good images.
Like so much else in life, you earn your success as a photographer. But how you judge success is a topic for another day.
I got back to my hotel room sunburned, tired and a tad jaded.
But those few moments when the day’s best images came together in my camera’s viewfinder also brought with them a sense of elation, and that’s enough to keep me doing what I do.
It’s the experience that drives me onwards to new adventures, despite the trials and tribulations along the way.
That, and the opportunity to help folks by sharing my thoughts and knowledge with an ever wider audience.
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