More monochrome photography in this post. Taken yesterday on a stormy highway while enroute to our Southern Home in Italy. No worries, I didn’t drive under the influence (of photography). Our e-car was driving autonomous on the highway in Southern Bavaria, supervised by Big Boy sitting behind the wheel. While I was snapping at the amazing cloudscape with ever-changing light with my iPhone 16 Pro Max from the passenger seat. To see more images of this photographic road trip continue after the jump….
There’s something truly special about black and white photography. For me, it’s more than just removing color; it’s about stripping away distractions and getting right to the heart of what makes an image compelling. It’s about reducing the scene to its purest form: composition. Serenity in Shades of Gray.
Take this shot, for instance, captured in the Ligurian Apennines, northwest of Genoa. The moment I saw these majestic trees silhouetted against the misty mountains, I knew it had to be black and white. The layers of hills fading into the distance, the stark outlines of the pines – it all just sings in monochrome.
When I shoot in black and white, the entire process becomes a tranquil enjoyment. It forces me to see shapes, lines, and textures in a different way. The absence of color simplifies everything, allowing the eye to focus solely on the interplay of light and shadow, and the arrangement of elements within the frame. It’s photography reduced to a minimum, and in that simplicity, I find immense satisfaction.
This image, with its quiet strength and layered depth, perfectly embodies that feeling for me. It’s a reminder that sometimes, less truly is more, and that beauty can be found in the most understated of palettes.
What are your thoughts on black and white photography? Do you find it as calming and focused as I do? Let me know in the comments below!
Image taken with a Fuji X-T50 and the Fujinon Super EBC XC 1:2.8-4.8/16-50mm R LM WR. Image specs 1/3200 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 250 and 31mm focal lenght (full frame equivalent). Acros Film Simulation – jpg out of camera.
In this image waves meet love. Hmmm….can you call this a street photograph when it was taken at the beach? The question came up the in the comments of my previous post. While the question is valid, the answer is simple. Street photography isn’t defined by where it’s taken, but by what it captures. It’s about observing real, unscripted human moments in public spaces. A beach, just like a sidewalk, a subway, or a park, is a public stage where life unfolds naturally. Or as Shakespeare says “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women, merely players” which is the motto of this blog.
Taking with my iPhone 14 Pro. If you are looking for tips and inspirations around street photography, check out my free Learning Center.
The other weekend, The Significant Other and I spent an afternoon in Celle Ligure, a picturesque little town a few kilometers west of our Southern Home in Genoa. In March, we are still a few weeks removed from start of the swimming season. Now, Celle’s beach is still a quiet stretch of shoreline, where the world seems to pause between sky and sea. I was intrigued by the two figures sit at the edge, somehow dwarfed by the vast horizon, sharing a moment that feels both intimate and infinite. Street Photography can be very calm and minimalistic.
Taking with my iPhone 14 Pro. Slight cropping in Lightroom Classic. If you are looking for tips and inspirations around street photography, check out my free Learning Center.
I haven’t posted in a while, but life has been quite busy lately, especially in the job that pays the bills. But photography (and this blog) is never forgotten. Last weekend, The Significant Other any I headed to Hamburg for a dearly needed 5 day getaway. Obviously I took plenty of images during those 5 days on the snowy banks of the Elbe River. What I’m sharing today are a couple of monochrome photographs, a mix of street and other images (I have no clue what to call the three non-street photos). See the other images after the jump…
The Lion never sleeps. Neither does his marble companion on the other side of the grand stairs leading up to Genoa’s San Lorenzo Cathedral. The silent sentinel just lies there, watching the threshold and people come and go. Somehow it also feels welcoming, inviting passersby to lean against it or climb up and sit for a moment. My kids did exact that when they were little, turning the ancient guardian into a temporary playground companion. The pedestal beneath the beast is hardly empty. There seems to be always someone sitting there, resting, watching other people or, like in this case, checking whatever on the cell phone.
I took the image with my Nikon Zf and the Nikkor Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR. Specs are 1/160 sec @ f/6 , ISO 400 and 60mm focal length. Monochrome jpg out of camera.
Today is Befana, as the Feast of Epiphany is called in Italy. Traditionally observed on January 6, it commemorates the visit of the Wise Men in Bethlehem, celebrating the moment Jesus is revealed to the world. Across many cultures, the day is marked with festive customs, special foods, and local celebrations that reflect its message of revelation and unity. Here in Italy, the children get their presents from the Befana, a friendly old woman depicted as a witch. Befana also marks the end of the Christmas season. And for Genoa, this is the last day the Christmas lights are turned on in the evening. Traditionally, The Significant Other and I spend the first week of the new year in our Southern Home at the Ligurian Sea. And over the past days we have enjoyed strolling through the medieval city center and the harbor, enjoying the decorations. Join us for some impressions of the Genoa Christmas Lights….
There is nothing to worry about – the young talents are already roaming the streets. I captured this image of a next gen photographer the other day on the streets of Genoa.
The photograph was taken with my Nikon Zf and the Nikkor Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR. Specs are 1/400 sec @ f/6.3 , ISO 450 and 200mm focal length. Jpg out of camera.
I wish all my friends a blessed, happy, marvelous, successful, beautiful, inspirational, creative, wonderful and healthy 2026. May all your wishes and dreams come true!
Yesterday afternoon, The Significant Other and I went for a walk up the mountain behind the house we’re staying. Sure enough an opportunity to capture some of the surrounding beauty on a sensor. As “real” camera I brought the Nikon Zf plus some primes. And then there are the two iPhone cameras in my office phone (iPhone 16 Pro Max) and my personal device (iPhone 14 Pro). The camera I grabbed for our walk was the technically “weakest”, the iPhone 14 Pro.
Photography literally means “drawing with light”. There is no reference about technology in this. While having a capable device to capture light on a sensor (or film) certainly is a prerequisite, it is not the key component for taking good photographs. In fact, some of the world’s greatest images have been captured with technology that was far inferior to what we can use today. Photography is more about the eye, the creativity in our minds than technology. Taking landscape images, it is about light, contrast, color, shapes, textures and composition. And this for me is the fun when out and about, doing my “visual push ups”. So come along for a walk with my phone…..
We are wrapping up 2025 with a little family vacation in the Austrian mountains. Actually it is the first time in what seems ages that the four of us spending off-time together. Actually we are 4+1, as Big Girl’s boyfriend has joined us for the trip. Using the downtime to go through the year’s images, I found this photograph of a teenage boy I took in one of Tashkent’s markets. He’s framed by a butchery stall that looks almost sculptural—piled high with pale pink bones, cut clean and stacked with casual precision. And there he is, calm and completely at home, perched behind the counter like the quiet conductor of controlled chaos.
What caught me first wasn’t the scale of the meat or the gleam of the blade resting nearby, but his expression. Lips pursed, a whistle clearly forming—maybe already sounding—he looks as if he’s passing the time with a tune only he can hear. It’s a wonderfully human detail in an otherwise raw, visceral scene. While customers come and go, while orders are shouted and cleavers rise and fall, he whistles.
There’s something timeless about it. Markets like this have existed for centuries, and so have moments like this one: a young helper learning the trade, standing knee-deep in the everyday reality of work, still finding space for playfulness. The whistle softens the sharpness of the setting. It turns a butcher’s stall into a stage, and the boy into its most memorable character.
Street photography is often about contrasts, and here they sing—quite literally.
Taken with my Nikon Zf with the Nikkor 40mm f/2. Image specs 1/60 sec @ f/7.1 and ISO 1250.
If you are looking for tips and inspirations around street photography, check out my free Learning Center.
To everyone out there, but particularly to all the many magic people I’ve had the blessings to meet through my blogging on the “Streets of Nuremberg”, I wish a peaceful and merry Christmas and much love and laughters together with your family and friends.
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