Tag: composition

Human Camouflage

Human Camouflage
Hide and Seek | Nuremberg | 2016

The world’s a stage…. you know I write about this a lot in the context of street photography. To find a background and waiting for a matching subject to appear. And if you are lucky, like in this candid street shot, it turns out to be almost something like human camouflage.

This would also fall under the compositional technique Juxtaposition. With Juxtaposition you bring together two or more objects in a photograph that attract the viewer of the image either through their similarity or their contrast. In each case, the photograph works because these elements combine to a joint visual story that the image carries in addition to the visual weight of the individual objects.

You can find Juxtapositions everywhere. You will be amazed how much you discover when you actively look for them. So next time to suffer from photographers block and want to try something new to overcome it go out and shoot a series of Juxtapositions. The more you train your eye to see them the more you can use them as an effective element in your photography.

For all my inspirations as well as my easy to use Street Photography Quick Tips, check out my free Learning Center

Have a great Sunday

Marcus


Related Posts:

Instant Inspiration (I) – Get Down Low

Instant Inspiration (2) – Motion Blur

Street Photography Quick Tip (1)

Instant Inspiration (3) – Silhouettes

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Visual Balance

Lady with a dress walking through Genoa's Centro Storico at night
1/40 sec | F/4 | ISO 3200 | 83mm

Strolling through Genoa’s Centro Storico the other night I took this street photograph with my Fuji X-T2 and the Fujinon XF 1:2.8-4/18-55mm R LM OIS. I like this shot, for the composition, color balance, light, gesture and the story. I tried a monochrome conversion, but stuck with color. You might note, that the neon sign of the little Trattoria is inverted, as it is transparent and shows the “right” side uphill to were likely more potential customers come from when walking down Via San Bernardo towards the port area. So when doing post production in Lightroom Classic, I mirrored the image horizontally, so the sign reads the right way. But with that, I think, the photograph lost its visual balance. Check for yourself after the jump….

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Hide and Seek

Dog hiding behind the legs of a purple clad lady - hide and seek
Hide and Seek | Genoa | 2024

It was the purple attire of the lady sitting on a bench in front of the Genoa-Pegli train station that caught my eye. That there was the little dog playing hide and seek behind her boots I realized only with the second glance while passing her and snapping this colorful street shot with my iPhone 14 Pro. Proof once ago that the streets are full of little stories waiting to be discovered and captured. There are a few articles in my Learning center about this, like Instant Inspiration (23) – Hidden Street Portrait and Street Photography Quick Tip 5 – Composition – the hidden subject. Most important, take you camera, hit the streets and have fun capturing the stories of the streets.

Have a great Tuesday

Marcus

Related Posts:

Street Photography Quick Tip 16 – Capture what captures attention

Instant Inspiration (12) – Playfulness

Saturday Rush (or running after the subway bird)

Wait a moment

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Looking over the edge

Two girls in a coffee shop window
1/125 sec | f/2.8 | ISO 3200 | 70mm

Two girls taking a break in a Nuremberg coffee shop, or rather in the window of the coffee shop. Ignorant of the fact that they might be an attractive motive to the passing street photographer. Only that the photographer was by no means attracted by the human patrons of the Cafe. It was the rather hidden subject that did catch his eye. You see it looking over the edge ? This is why I love street photography.

Taken with the the Leica SL2-S and the Leica Vario Elmarit F/2.8 24-70 ASPH. Postprocessing with Adobe Lightroom Classic.

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

Have a great Monday

Marcus

Related Posts:

Street Photography Quick Tip 5 – Composition – the hidden subject

Street Photography Quick Tip 16 – Capture what captures attention

Instant Inspiration (6) – Storefront Windows

Instant Inspiration (18) – Alternative Portrait

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Classic Cars

Oldtimers Classic Cars
1/80 sec | f/4 | ISO 400 | 92mm

The other weekend, my Dad and I went to a Classic Car exhibition in the Nuremberg Trade Fair. Big Boy got us the tickets, and it was a great opportunity to escape the Covid dullness and do something special. Not that I’m too much into cars. But they are sure fun to photograph. Especially when they are Classic Cars. So I grabbed my Olympus OM-D E-M1X with the mZuiko 12-100 F/4 with the intention to shoot some details of the exhibited cars. Click the link below to see some resulting images.

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Street Photography Quick Tip (19)

back of three prom girls

Street Photography Quick Tip 19 – Shoot their backs

Here is the nineteenth edition of my Street Photography Quick Tips. Some short, easy to read and easy to use tips that I think could help you while shooting in the streets. Today’s post is about shooting the backs of your subjects

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Street Photography Quick Tip (18)

Monochrome street photograph of two lady throwing a dirty look

Street Photography Quick Tip 18 – Layered Faces

In time for the weekend here is the eighteenth edition of my Street Photography Quick Tips. Some short, easy to read and easy to use tips that I think could help you while shooting in the streets. Today’s post is about adding interest to your street photography by shooting layered faces…

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From a distance

Social Distancing
1/125 sec | f/8 | ISO 320 | 35mm

From a distance – wasn’t there this song by Bette Middler? It’s the core theme of these days, with countries slowly returning to the “new normal” and people trying to find the right balance between staying safe and the necessity of somehow have to carry on with their daily lives.

This photograph of a mother and her child was also taken from a distance. I was standing on the balustrade above the “Liebesinsel” (Island of Love), a small island in the River Pegnitz in Nuremberg’s Old Town.

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Instant Inspiration (32) – Shoot an object you love

Graupner Glasgow 2126

“Instant Inspiration” is my series for you if you look for something to overcome “Photographer’s Block” or simply want to shoot something that you have never tried, or at least not recently.

Covid-19 confines many of us to our homes. Travel is impossible, and in some places the lockdown rules even prohibit us to venture out with our cameras. But that is no reason to keep the camera locked away until the sanctions are lifted. With Episode 32 of my “Instant Inspirations” I want to motivate to use the camera at home, and to extensively shoot an object you love.

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Learn from your images

Two young girls checking out a Chinese selfie making tourist
1/640 sec – f5.6 – ISO 200 – 100mm

I’m sure you know the feeling. You’re looking at one of your photographs that you actually like – but wonder if you should have taken it in a slightly different way. With different settings, different composition or in a different light.

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Instant Inspiration (29) – Frame your subject

St Lorenz church glowing in evening light in old town Nuremberg Germany
St. Lorenz | Nuremberg | 2019 | 1/ 60 sec – f/10 – ISO 800 – 16mm

“Instant Inspiration” is my series for you  if you look for something to overcome “Photographer’s Block”  or simply want to shoot something that you have never tried, or at least not recently. Episode 29 is about a compositional element – using frames.

I am sure you have framed photographs in your house. We frame our photos as a way of displaying and drawing in the attention of the viewers, but there is another type of framing that can be just as effective doing exactly the same thing, only in our images themselves.

Continue reading “Instant Inspiration (29) – Frame your subject” →
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Love is in the air

Valentines Hearts balloons and a walking couple holding hands
Love is in the air | Portland | 2019

This past Valentines Day I was in Portland, Oregon. And while shooting some Street Photography during the weekend spent in the Rose City, there was plenty of Valentines vibes in the air. Some decorations were more weird than others, true to the motto of the city. I originally intended to save those “love is in the air” street photos for a Valentines post next year, but they are also the perfect fit for today, which marks my 26th wedding anniversary.

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