Louvre Pyramid — Reflection Pool

The Louvre Pyramid stands in the Cour Napoléon at the entrance to the Musée du Louvre in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, a modern glass-and-steel pyramid designed by I. M. Pei and surrounded by three shallow reflecting pools and smaller companion pyramids. The strongest frame positions low at the edge of one of the pools, using the still water to mirror the glass pyramid and the classical Louvre facade behind it, or steps back into the courtyard to frame the pyramid against the full symmetry of the palace wings on either side. Because the courtyard is enclosed by the Louvre's wings, direct sun only reaches the pyramid and pools for part of the day, and the glass panels can produce strong glare in full sun; the most striking results come in the evening, once the interior lighting beneath the pyramid switches on and the sky moves through dusk, giving a glowing pyramid against a deep blue backdrop and calm reflections in the pools. Winter's heavier cloud cover often produces more dramatic skies behind the pyramid than the clearer summer months. The courtyard is one of the busiest tourist sites in Paris throughout opening hours, so the calmest reflection shots without crowds in frame come either early in the morning before the museum opens or in the last half hour before the courtyard closes for the night, when day-trip crowds have thinned. There is no fee to enter the courtyard itself, only to enter the museum through the pyramid, and tripods are generally tolerated in the open courtyard outside peak hours, though security may ask for them to be folded during the busiest periods. Drones are prohibited over the Louvre and its grounds.