Anyone playing with monochrome conversions in post-processing knows the pondering question: B&W or color? Like I did when looking at this shot of Ascensore Spianata Castelletto, one of the elevators that connect the base of Genoa‘s old town with the higher quarters. From the terrace next to the elevator you have a splendid view across the medieval old town out to the harbor and the Mediterranean beyond. I decided I like the monochrome version better. I think it better fits the elegance of the art deco elevator house. What do you think? Check out the color version after the jump…
Here’s another street photograph using reflections to capture the viewer’s attention. Two passersby become three under the watchful eyes of Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of America. The legendary seafarer was born in Genoa around 1451.
His monument, built in 1862, is located in the Piazza Acquaverde in Genoa, directly next to the main train station, Stazione Principe. The statue of Colombo stands on top of a large marble pedestal, his left hand rests on an anchor while his right is on the shoulder of a figure of America typified by a kneeling Indian maiden holding a cross in the right hand. At each of the four corners of the base stands a smaller square pedestal, on each of which is a seated statue, representing Piety, Science, Constancy and Prudence.
In recent years, the Columbus Memorial has been the subject of controversy, as some people have criticized Columbus for his treatment of the indigenous peoples he encountered in the Americas. There have been discussions to remove the monument, but it remains a prominent landmark in the city of Genoa.
The image was taken with my iPhone 14 Pro and post-processed in Lightroom Classic.
If you are looking for tips and inspirations around street photography you can find in my free Learning center.
Welcome to March. Technically we should have spring now. Unfortunately, it’s still winter outside. No wonder that the casual weekend shoppers head into coffee shops to warm up. Have you seen the hidden photographer? I’ve got myself a blond pony tail…
Playing with reflections is a great area of street photography. You should grab your camera (or phone) and go looking for interesting reflections yourself.
More tips and inspirations around street photography you can find in my free Learning center.
The image was taken with my iPhone 14 Pro and post-processed in Lightroom Classic.
This photograph taken last night with my iPhone 14 Pro from our bedroom window is the byproduct of a fruitless hunt for the Aurea Borealis. Due to a recent coronal outburst of our sun, the magical fairy lights were visible much farther south as usual, and the past two nights they appeared over Germany, something that rarely happens. But they didn’t make it down to Frankonia. There were no polar lights.
But what amazed me was the lowlight capability of the iPhone’s camera. It was pretty much pitch dark outside. And this was, what the iPhone saw on a 3 sec exposure, handheld. Insane. Why bothering putting a system camera or DSLR on a tripod for a long esposure??
The kids definitely had a lot of fun on the last Sunday of this year’s carnival season, with this girl playing carniball – get the pun? And deservedly so, after Covid all but eliminated the party in 2021 and 2022. These are a couple of snapshots I took in a Genoa food hall (“MOG“) the other weekend The Significant Other and I discovered by chance (a.k.a. Google Maps) when we where looking for a place to eat Sunday evening.
With the two-week holiday break behind us, The Significant Other and I returned to the jobs that pay the bills today. But we’re still fueled by the memories we made visiting with friends in the Austrian and Swiss alps and, in between, spending the first days at our new “second home” in Genoa. As decoration for our living room we decided to put up a large photo of Genoa’s historic lighthouse – La Lanterna – printed on a 47×32 inch (120×80 cm) canvas.
One of my favorite images of La Lanterna is one I took back in 2004 during a winter sunset with my first digital camera, a Minolta Dimage A1. Revisiting the image in Lightroom Classic, I realized that the quality of a 18 year old digital photograph might not be up to todays standards, and could be unsuitable for a large scale print. Thankfully, Lightroom Classic offers the possibility to upscale any image to double its original size, so I could increase resolution to a modern 5210×3840. Changing the calibration process (in the development module) from the original V1 to the current V5, I was also able to use the modern day capabilities of Lightroom to clean up the noise in the original photograph and enhance clarity and the colors. Exporting the old image to its 2023 clone, I got a clean 10,4 MB file with 300dpi, perfect for a large print.
La Lanterna, as we still see it today, was built in its current shape in 1543, replacing a previous structure on the same rock. It is the world’s third oldest lighthouse and, for more than 350 years, was also the tallest lighthouse in the world.
Just a street snapshot taken with my iPhone last night while taking The Significant Other and Big Boy to dinner in Genoa’s Porto Antico. The vendor of illuminated balloons waiting for the last customer at the end of the day.
Post processed with the iPhone photo app.
Don’t forget to check out my free Learning Center for all those quick tips and inspirations around street photography.
As mentioned in my recent post about my photographic journey of last year, I did not include my favorite photograph of 2022 in that gallery. But here it is. My fave image of last year. The one I looked at the most. The one I showed around the most. The one that means the most to me. I titled it “Room with a View”. The thing that makes it stand out for me? It is the view from our living room balcony.
Last year, The Significant Other and I realized a dream many years old. Since having lived in Genoa from 2001 to 2005, we have fantasized about one day getting us a little place there. After all, it’s only a seven hour drive from Nuremberg. Three years ago we decided to try to turn the dream into reality and actively started to search for a little apartment. The key premise was it needed to have a view of the port, the city and the sea. It took us two and a half years to find the right place, and we closed the deal in May. The needed renovations took until December. It was quite a project. Last night was the first time we slept in our little Happy Place. We made the dream reality. Now we have a room with a view. This is my favorite photograph of 2022.
Have a great start into 2023, and keep pursuing your own dreams. One day they can become reality!
Wish all my friends a blessed, happy, marvelous, successful, beautiful, inspirational, creative, wonderful and healthy 2023! May there be peace in all the conflict zones around the world, especially in Ukraine. And let’s all do whatever we can to keep our big blue marble alive and afloat for the sake of our children and all future generations! Happy New Year from the Streets of Nuremberg!
The last day of 2022 is upon us. With all that happened, it was a difficult year for the world. And for sure it was a busy and special year for us as a family. But as every year, new years eve is the time to look back and reflect on my photographic journey 2022. Did I grow as a photographer? No, not really. It felt like „more of the same“. Due to various reasons, photography (as well as this blog) took the back seat of life in the past 12 months. My own perception was that I didn’t even made half as many images as usual. But as I looked at my Lightroom archive of 2022, I discovered that I took just as many photographs this year as I did in 2021. Noteworthy was the shift of the used tools, from mirrorless camera to my iPhone. I just didn’t have as much time to venture out with my camera as in the years before. But seemingly I compensated with many snapshots I took with my ever present iPhone 12 Pro Max and its truly good camera. Contributing to this shift was also the fact that during our only real vacation this year, our trip to Israel, my then new Leica SL2-S broke on the second day, so I had to shoot the whole trip on my iPhone.
So it was, photographically, a difficult year. But going through this years archives, I still found 15 photographs that triggered remembrances about places, moments and emotions that made my 2022. And that I’m truly happy about. Spoiler: My photograph of the year isn’t among them. For my „POTY“ and the story behind check back on January 2nd ;-). My second favorite image of 2022 is the one above of the Dome of the Rocks in Jerusalem. For me, this is as close as I probably will ever get to emulating a shot of Steve McCurry, one of my photographic heroes. For the rest of the gallery, continue after the jump….
I really don’t know why Ed Sheeran’s “Castle on the Hill” came into my mind when passing below medieval Mauterndorf Castle during a little afternoon stroll earlier today. But somehow it got stuck in my brain, so I keep singing it silently….
“I’m on my way Driving at 90 down those country lanes Singing to Tiny Dancer And I miss the way you make me feel, and it’s real When we watched the sunset over the castle on the hill”
Actually the 11th century castle is on hill above the old mountain town of Mauterndorf in the Austrian Alps, but you realize it only when looking at it from down below (see image after the jump). But I liked the black and white version (doesn’t the iPhone take awesome monochrome photographs?) better for the title image of the post 😉
Spending the long Halloween weekend in our second home town Genoa down in Italy, The Significant Other and I celebrated the Halloween evening in style, participating in a Halloween Ghost Tour through the medieval town center. Tagging along was my Leica SL2-S and the TTArtisan 50mm .95 prime “Nifty Fifty” M-Mount lens.
