Champ de Mars

About Champ de Mars

Champ de Mars is a long park that runs southeast from the Eiffel Tower down to the École Militaire. This sprawling greenspace lets you see the whole tower as it rises over the city. Walking down the center of the grass lets you experiment with views to find just the right spot where the the tower fills your frame. Further back it lines up perfectly with lawn in front and rows of trees squaring off both sides. Try to shoot it both during the day and in the evening for two completely different views. The golden lighting slowly comes on as the sun goes down and the floodlights at the top begin to cycle. On the hour the tower sparkles for five minutes, thousands of white bulbs flickering over the warm gold. Ideally try to get set up a head of time. That five minutes will go by fast and the park is filled with people coming to see the light show, along with their phones. Keep your exposures short during the sparkle, a second or two, so the bulbs read as points instead of smearing into a glow. In summer the sun sets behind the tower from this side, so the tower will be in silhouette rather than detail. Earlier on, the light is over your shoulder and works the ironwork. The park is free and open, but it does get quite busy during the evening so leave yourself lots of time if you want to choose just the right spot to set up. (Paris, Île-de-France, France)

Where to find Champ de Mars

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