I chose the glorious baroque and rococo Nymphenburg Palace as one of my destinations for shooting photos during a recent trip to Germany. The palace sits just outside Munich and ranks among the tourist highlights of the Bavarian capital.
About Nymphenburg Palace
I was particularly keen to photograph the magnificent Steinerner Saal. This great hall extends over two floors inside the palace. Artists have adorned it with stucco and grandiose frescoes, making it one of the most striking interiors in Bavaria.
Beating the Crowds
August is probably the worst month for a professional photographer to shoot in a popular location — half of Europe’s tourists seem to descend at once. I had to arrive early, right at opening time, and hope very few others had the same idea.
Ticket in hand, I literally ran to the majestic hall. I arrived to find myself the only one there. With no hurry and no crowds, I enjoyed shooting the empty hall from every angle I wanted.
My Photography Tips for Nymphenburg Palace
Shooting interiors brings specific challenges. Low light forces you to raise ISO, which introduces digital noise. On top of that, staff do not allow tripods inside historical buildings or museums.
To work around this, I arrived early in the morning. The low but powerful sun rays streaming through the large windows gave me a precious natural light source. This let me keep ISO at acceptable levels and avoid digital noise.
For lens choice, I mount a super wide-angle lens — a 16–35mm in my case — for interior shooting. It lets me frame entire rooms and capture their true scale and grandeur. To keep the camera perfectly steady without a tripod, I braced it against a column and used the self-timer to eliminate any shake. A conveniently placed shelf in the hall also gave me a second stable position for additional low-ISO shots from a different angle.
Once I finished the architectural shots of the empty hall, I waited for visitors to arrive. Including them in the frame helped illustrate the experience of contemplating the baroque beauty of this German palace.