Into Town

Guy in a striped shirt riding the Berlin subway into town
Into Town | Berlin | 2025

The Significant Other and I took the metro train into town today, heading to the Humbold Forum in the center of Berlin. The first photo I took on this week’s trip to our Nation’s capital. I just love the striped hoodie and its reflection in the train’s window. I shot this image from the hip using zone focusing on my Nikon Zf. Easy to do as I had a manual M42 mount lens attached via an adapter, the roughly 60 year old Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 2.8/35. Image specs 1/400 sec @ f/4 with ISO 1400. Setting an f/4 aperture, the aperture/range markings on top of the Flektogon told me that the guy staring into his cell phone had to be in focus. Post-processing in Lightroom Classic.

Have a great Sunday

Marcus

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4

Reichstag Dome

Kuppel des Berliner Reichstags - Reichstag Dome

Today, October 3rd, is the German Unity Day, or “Tag der deutschen Einheit”, as it is called in our language. It commemorates our countries reunification in 1990, when the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) ceased to exist and joined the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), so that for the first time since 1945 there existed a single German state. German Unity Day on 3 October has been our national holiday since 1990, when the reunification was formally completed.

In this post I share some (vintage) images from the Reichstag dome on top of our national parliament building in our capital Berlin. Continue after the jump for its history and some more image, taken back in 2007 and 2008 with a Nikon D80 – remember the old days 😉 ?

Continue reading “Reichstag Dome” →
17

Wishes

Little girl looking at votive candles in a church, thinking about the wishes behind.
Wishes | Avignon | 2025

My heart beats Street Photography. I’m always looking to capture life as it happens. Like this little girl looking at votive candles in Cathédrale Notre-Dame des Doms d’Avignon. Amazed by the magic light, maybe asking herself what wishes have been associated with those candles. A monochrome shot taken during our visit of Avignon (Provence, France) with my iPhone using the dark black&white mode.

If you are looking for more inspirations around street photography tips, check out my free “Learning Center”.

Have a great Tuesday

Marcus

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13

Summer in the City

The silhouette of a lady in front of a fountain, enjoying the summer in the city
Summer in the City | Genoa | 2025

What is the best way for the street photographer when the summer in the city gets too intense? Right, then it is the time for some high contrast monochrome photography. The monumental circular bronze fountain in Genoa’s Piazza de Ferrari, built in 1936 by the architect Cesare Crosa di Vergagni and donated by the Piaggio family, provides the perfect background. To see more images taken on this beautiful Piazza in the heart of Genoa, continue after the jump…

Continue reading “Summer in the City” →
6

Fly me to the moon

A plane flying across the full moon
Fly me to the moon | Genoa | 2025

I have always admired photographers that have managed to capture a plane flying across the moon. And always dreamed about one day doing it myself. And then, as most often in life, things just happen. The Significant Other and I were sitting on the balcony of our Southern Home, enjoying dinner and the moon rise over the roofs, towers and domes of Genoa. The admittedly not completely full but rather large disc of the moon was rising quickly into the sky.

I had the Nikon Zf out with the Nikkor 24-200/4-6.3 attached to capture some close ups of the moon behind the historic skyline. Then, a bit later, the evening flight from Munich was coming in, also from behind the city, flying along the shoreline for landing at Cristoforo Colombo Airport. And I thought….this might just work out. And so it did. I squeezed off two shots, and the first one nailed it. Fly me to the moon….

As the saying goes…luck is when opportunity meets preparation. Although I nearly screwed up. As I should have switched the camera to burst mode, but completely forgot to thing about in this moment. Maybe because the Nikon has no lag at all and I completely trust that I can nail the exact moment. In my second shot, the plane was already half out of the moon.

I took the shot handheld, image specs 1/400 sec @ f6/3, ISO 500, 200mm focal length and -1 exposure compensation, retaining details in the moon surface. The image above is heavily cropped in. Postprocessing in Photoshop and Lightroom Classic.

Have a great Saturday

Marcus

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42

I Dunno, Man

Man eating in a restaurant looking at the photographer through the window making a funny face
1/125 sec | f/2.5 | ISO 200 | 50mm

Caught this gem while walking past a diner window. There he was, mid-bite, mid-thought. A bearded man in a hoodie, sitting solo with a bowl of what looked like healthy regret (possibly lentils?), frozen in the decisive moment. Flashing me the universal gesture for “I Dunno, Man” or more likely “I have no idea what’s going on.”

His eyes locked with mine through the glass, and he gave me the shrug, palms up, eyebrows raised, expression halfway between confusion and enlightenment. It’s the face of a man who just found out the Wi-Fi password is “password123.” As if the universe just asked him to explain crypto.

Behind him, the city lights blur into a soft bokeh, the kind only a prime lens and a dirty window can truly deliver. The reflections in the window only add to the chaotic magic, making him look like he’s pondering life in two dimensions.

Judging by his face, he was okay me taking his photograph. This, friends, is the candid gold we street photographers live for. Pure, unscripted “what even is this?” energy.

Street photography at its finest: awkward, honest, and strangely profound. 10/10 candid confusion. Would photograph this again. And again.

If you are looking for more inspirations around street photography tips, check out my free “Learning Center”.

Have a great Sunday

Marcus

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23

Happy Birthday Streets of Nuremberg

Nuremberg Medieval City View
Nuremberg | 1493

Happy Birthday, Streets of Nuremberg! No, not to this blog that carries the name, which is also in its 10th year. Happy Birthday to the real Streets of Nuremberg. Yesterday, our city celebrated the 975th anniversary of the first documented mention of Nuremberg. On July 16, 1050, during the reign of Emperor Henry III., the city was referenced in the so-called Sigena document, which was issued at a Hoftag (imperial assembly) held in Nuremberg. In this document, Emperor Henry III confirmed the release of a woman named Sigena from servitude. This day is considered our city’s founding day.  

At that time, Nuremberg was noted as the site of an Imperial Castle situated within a large imperial estate. This strategic location between East Francia and the Margraviate of the Nordgau (in what is now Bavaria) marked the beginning of the city’s historical significance.

This image is the oldest printed view of Nuremberg that was published in the Schedelsche Weltchronik back in 1493.

Have a great Thursday

Marcus

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5

Uzbekistan explored – Desert City

Khiva Uzbekistan Desert City
Khiva | Uzbekistan | 2025

A few weeks ago, at the end of May, The Significant Other and I went on a 10 day trip to Uzbekistan. Since my teen years I wanted to tour the magic cities along the Silk Road that I read about in the adventures of Venetian merchant Marco Polo. With Khiva, Bukhara, Shakhrisabz, Samarkand and Tashkent we visited five Unesco World Heritage Sites along the ancient trade route between China and Europe. This post in my series “Uzbekistan explored” takes you along to a place that feels like it’s been untouched for centuries. But that’s exactly how it felt the moment we stepped through the gates of Khiva, the desert city in the far west of Uzbekistan, rising out of the stark beauty of the Kyzylkum Desert. An ancient Silk Road oasis frozen in time.

Continue reading “Uzbekistan explored – Desert City” →
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Uzbekistan explored – People of Khiva

Girl in Khiva Uzbekistan showing me a heart with her hands

“Uzbekistan explored – People of Khiva” is the first in a series of blogposts about our recent journey through beautiful Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is an amazing place for street photography, the people super friendly and open to be photographed. Continue after the jump to see more street images from Khiva, our first destination in Uzbekistan.

Continue reading “Uzbekistan explored – People of Khiva” →
12

Klainguti

Pasticceria Klainguti Genova
Klainguti | Genoa | 2025

Pasticceria Klainguti in Genoa has recently reopened after a long renovation. It is a historic pastry shop in Piazza di Soziglia in Genoa’s Centro Storico. The founders were four brothers — Giuseppe, Gioacchino, Adolfo, and Agostino Klainguti — who came from Pontresina, a town in the Grisons (Graubünden) canton of Switzerland.

They originally traveled to Genoa in 1826 with plans to sail to America, but instead decided to stay and open a pastry shop. In 1828, they founded Pasticceria Klainguti, which quickly became popular in the city. The shop is known for its traditional sweets and long history in the old city center.

I loved the warm lights from inside the shop. In the window, you can see The Significant Other selecting a few sweets we took home. The passing people invited for a street photo, the red outfit of the passing pedestrian harmonizing with the yellow of the shop’s lights.

Taken with my Nikon Zf with the vintage Russian Zenit Helios 44-2 58mm f/2 manual prime lens. Image specs 1/400 secs @ f/5.6, ISO 3600. Post-Processing in Lightroom Classic

Have a great Tuesday

Marcus

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7

World Press Photo Exhibition 2025

World Press Photo Exhibition 2025
World Press Photo | Genoa | 2025

During last week’s stay in our “southern home” in Genoa, The Significant Other and I grabbed the opportunity to visit the World Press Photo Exhibition 2025 at Palazzo Ducale in Genoa. A hefty thunderstorm was passing through the city, so we gladly took the opportunity to spend some time indoors and explore this annual iconic photographic display. The exhibition was set up in the basement of the historic palace—once the seat of the Doges of the Republic of Genoa. To see more of it, continue after the jump…

Continue reading “World Press Photo Exhibition 2025” →
3

Big Day

A bride righting her vail on her big day while her bridesmaid smiles
Big Day | Samarkand | 2025

Uzbekistan is not only colorful. It super friendly to the traveling street photographer. I‘ve never visited a country before where people are so easygoing about being photographed. They see a camera directed their way, they generally flash a smile! The Significant Other (the iPhone shooter) even observed, the bigger the camera the easier they agree to a photo. So photographing the bride and her friend during a quiet moment on her big day’s wedding photography session near Samarkand‘s Registan Square was easy. When the friend saw me aiming the Nikon, she started smiling. Amazing! 

I took the photograph with my Nikon Zf and the Nikkor Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR. Image specs 1/400 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 180 and 190 mm focal lenght. Jpg straight out of camera, no postprocessing.

Have I mentioned what a fantastic monochrome camera the Nikon Zf is? Even with a budget travelzoom attached.

Have a great Sunday

Marcus

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