The fun thing when roaming the streets with a camera in hand is, that you never know what the real life happening around you has in store for you. The important thing is to keep the eyes open. Then you can discover all sorts of interesting things. Like the brand new Airphone Pro Max Plus, that the guy standing in Genoa’s Via Garibaldi is using.
The image was taken with my iPhone 14 Pro and post-processed (incl. B&W conversion) in Lightroom Classic.
If you are looking for tips and inspirations around street photography you can find in my free Learning center.
Have your talked to your partner lately? It seems, this is not only a human problem, as illustrated by this street photograph I’ve titled “Silent Sunday”, taken two Sundays ago in the Streets of Genoa. Capturing scenes like this is for me the fun in street photography. As William Shakespeare said: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women, merely players”.
Here’s a creative tip for today. Grab your camera (or smartphone), head out to the streets of wherever you live and see if you can capture a scene that could be titled “Silent Sunday”.
If you are looking for more tips and inspirations around (street) photography, check out my free Learning center.
The image was taken with my iPhone 14 Pro and post-processed in Lightroom Classic.
Fair enough – this is an older street photograph, but one I never posted. But doesn’t it fit perfectly into these crazy days? I guess the space suit works just as well for virus protection. But who wouldn’t want to beam up these days?
“Ground Control to Major Tom Ground Control to Major Tom Take your protein pills and put your helmet on Ground Control to Major Tom (ten, nine, eight, seven, six) Commencing countdown, engines on (five, four, three) Check ignition and may God’s love be with you (two, one, liftoff)”
2019 is slowly but steady coming to a close, and I’m using the downtime of the holidays to go through my Lightroom catalogue from 2019 and reflect on my photographic journey through the past year. I have divided the images into 5 categories: street, travel, people & events, shots from my hometown Nuremberg and, for everything that didn’t fit into any of the above, a category called objects. And that’s the one I’m gonna start with today.
I get it..even we as passionate photographers don’t get to go shooting everyday. The job, the family, other things to do. Grabbing the camera bag and doing some meaningful photography takes time.
But there is no reason not to do some “on the fly” photography every day. We all carry our cellphones around, and all of those have decent cameras built in. So why not use your phone to do some “visual push-ups” every day?
This photo was taken last night when The Significant Other and myself went downtown to see a play. When I saw the staircase of the Schauspielhaus in Nuremberg, I just had to take a picture. My visual push-up of the day!
Last night I have joined the Instawalk at Nuremberg’s Albrecht Dürer Airport (NUE), organized by the admins of the Nuremberg Instagram community @igers_nuernberg. The walk, authorized by the Airport, gave 15 Instagramers the possibility to tour the car parks of the airport with cameras and tripods. The group was led by two admins and and a photographer from the airport staff. To check out some of my images continue after the jump…. Continue reading “Nuremberg Airport Instawalk (1)”→
Another fun thing to do when composing photographs is to play with perspective, something that works just as well when doing street photography.
Look at the guy I caught deep in thoughts (or snoozing) on a subway ride. He is holding his cellphone in his right hand. Only that it seems like the hand holding the phone is coming out of the arm of the person sitting in the background, rather than is own arm.
The human eye tends to follow lines. And the hand and the arm behind form an almost natural looking line, and, together with the hunched over subway rider, forms a full circle, adding a certain harmony to the composition.
The eye of a casual observer, even if subconsciously, catches the anomaly and will try to solve the riddle. This little play with perspective adds an additional interest to the photograph. And lets the observer’s eye remain a second or two longer on our image. Which is what we want as photographers.
Image taken with the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the mZuiko 12-100mm F/4, specs are 1/25 sec @ F/4 and ISO 400, 48mm focal length.
If you look for more tips and inspirations around photography, check out my free Learning Center.
I haven’t participated in a Photo Challenge in ages. But as any outdoor activities are heavily impaired by heavy snow, I thought it a good idea to enter Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge titled “It’s all about Nature”. Now it is a bit tricky to combine Street Photography with anything nature, but the title image to this post as well as the following two photography attempt to bridge the two genres. To those I added a few more of my favorite monochrome nature shots that have appeared in previous posts on this blog. Too see them all continue after the jump… Continue reading “Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge – It’s All About Nature”→
Warming Up | Nuremberg | 2018 | 1/6 sec – f/4 – ISO 1600 – 92 mm
The Significant Other and I went for an afterwork drink to the Christmas Market in the Old Town. While enjoying a Glühwein (Mulled Wine) I happily snapped away at our bystanders with my EM-1 and the 12-100mm F/4.
Once more I was amazed at the image stabilization capabilities of the Oly cam. This photo I shot hand-held at 1/6 sec. The very slow shutter speed had the advantage that I captured the motion of the guy raising the Glühwein cup to his mouth.
Capturing gesture always adds interest to Street Photographs. In this case I was waiting for him to start drinking with the intention to capture the motion of the moving cup. And as people typically keep their head still when drinking, I was able to capture the face of the subject sharp, despite the slow shutter speed. Obviously, when shooting at 1/6 sec, it is always a bit hit or miss when going after these kind of images.
One week to go until Christmas – and slowly I’m getting into the spirit. Last night The Significant Other and I visited a Christmas Show by American Musical Star and Dancer Gaines Hall. This afternoon it is snowing, covering everything outside with a beautiful white blanket. Perfect backdrop for all the beautiful lights and decorations The Significant Other has placed all over the garden and the house. Like every year, I have to admit she’s outdone herself again.
Probably due to the many black&white night photos I have posted lately, I got a question how to best approach night photography.
As for the technical aspects, I have posts in my Learning Center that covers some of those aspects, like the Instant Inspiration episode about capturing nocturnal skylines. If you search for “Night Photography” in the search field of this blog, there are plenty posts with photographs taken in the dark, and in many I talk about some how-to stuff.
If you go for best image quality, you will need a tripod (or something less sophisticated like a beanbag) to rest your camera on. For best image quality dial in a low ISO number, and select an aperture like f/11 for max depth of field. Result will be a slow shutter speed, hence the need for a tripod. Use the self timer of the camera to trigger a vibration free exposure.
If your camera has good image stabilization and a good glass attached you might get by shooting hand-held. With my Olympus cameras I can shoot 1/5 sec out of the hand and still get sharp images. When trying to shoot handheld at night, I usually shoot in P-Mode with Auto-ISO capped at ISO 1600 and I see where it gets me. Obviously, it also depends on the ambient light available, from street lights or building illuminations.
Typically I shoot in RAW and do the conversion to monochrome in Adobe Lightroom Classic CC, using one of my proven presets as starting point.
This photo of Nuremberg’s Imperial Castle was taken with the Olympus PEN-F with mZuiko 25mm F/1.8 prime lens, image specs are 1/25 sec @ f/1.8 and ISO 1600.
Weihnachtszauber | Schwäbisch Hall | 1/10 sec – f/4 – ISO 1600 – 20mm
Finally we got away, at least for an evening. The Significant Other and I headed to nearby historic town of Schwäbisch Hall to spend the Friday evening under the stars. It was a cold but clear night, and everybody had a good time. And yes, I finally got the Bratwurst that I was longing for all week.
I brought the OM-D E-M1 with the 12-100 F/4. Somehow, this festive season, I’m very much into black and white (not that I’m in a dark mood). And the nightly cities with their bright festive illuminations provide a good background for some high contrast monochrome shooting. Obviously, you need to work with high ISO and slower shutter speeds. But a bit of grain and slightly blurred (as moving) people doesn’t hurt in these kind of photography, sometimes even add to the atmosphere.
Christmas Spirit | Schwäbisch Hall | 1/13 sec – f/4 – ISO 1600 – 34mm
But don’t worry, colorful Christmas photos are on the way, these are just a few quick results from last night. Don’t really have time to work on the images, as we have a totally busy weekend ahead with shopping, meeting friends, birthdays, concerts and a Christmas party. And maybe the one or other snapshot 😉
Walking under the Stars | Schwäbisch Hall | 1/13 sec – f/4 – ISO 1600 – 44mm
Don’t forget to head over to my free Learning Center if you are looking for tips and inspirations around photography.
The job that pays the bills has been properly roasting me in the past days, like one of those Nuremberg Bratwurst grilled sausages. But after 32 years in the company there is not much I couldn’t handle, although times have rarely been this crazy.
I would love to grab the camera and shoot in the streets more often, but I just don’t get to it. Which is a pity, because the Nuremberg Christmas season is in full swing, and the Christkindlesmarkt, our famous historic Christmas market, with plenty of tourists and locals roaming the small alleys between the wooden stalls, is a perfect place for street photography. But the weekend is coming up and there is light at the end of the tunnel, and maybe a Bratwurst waiting for me….
Photo taken with the Olympus PEN-F with the 12mm F/2, image specs 1/100 sec @ f/2.5 and ISO 200.
If you want to pick up your camera and are looking for tips and inspirations around photography, visit my free Learning Center .
