Go out and shoot – something I need to keep telling myself these days. Which is totally ok, I guess, as photography doesn’t always have to take center stage in life. But then there is the sudden itch to grab a camera. In this case my vintage Olympus PEN-F with the mZuiko 25mm f/1.8 prime lens (50mm full frame equivalent with the m43 crop factor of 2). And heading out into the streets for a late afternoon stroll, capturing life that happens in front of my lens.
Doing Street Photography while visiting museums and exhibitions is one of my favorite things to do with a camera (or in this case just my iPhone). Another opportunity arose during a recent visit to Genoa. The doge’s apartments of the Palazzo Ducale are featuring an exhibition of the work of Emmanuel Radnitzky, better known as Man Ray. The title image of the exhibition was already featured in another recent post. Join me for a tour of Man Ray’s work. Check it out by clicking the link below. A little disclaimer: the post needs to be treated as NSFW 😉
To add to my last post, here is more curly hair. Once more taken with the Leica SL2-S with the Vario Elmarit F/2.8 24-70 ASPH. Jpg out of camera (taken with the Leica’s high contrast monochrome profile). Have I mentioned before how awesome the Leica plays with the light?
After one of my last post the question came up whether I ask people in the streets whether I can take their photo. The honest answer is not always. But often enough. I wrote about it in my post “A Street Photographers Dialogue”.
If you are looking for more tips and inspirations around street photography, check out my free Learning Center.
It’s been super busy these past weeks, mainly due to the job that pays the bills. Not much time to take a camera for a spin, and neither time to write about it on these pages. But with things slowly getting back to normal, let me share the results of some recent photographic outings I managed to squeeze in none less. Like these couple of black & white images from a day trip to Pisa’s Piazza dei Miracoli we did the other week while spending time at our “south” home in Genoa. Continue after the jump for some history and photographs of this 13th century marble magic …
Since having completed work on our Genoa apartment, The Significant Other and I have been down to our new “South home” a few times. But since then, the weather hasn’t been quite our friend yet. Little sun, lots of rain and very inconsistent. Not what you would expect from Italy. It also rains in Genoa. But then again, the weather here is fully in line with the wet winter and mostly grey spring we had in Germany. But the Street Photographer doesn’t care though. Grabbing rain coat and the cam, turning on the subdued monochrome presets and heading out to capture the stories of the streets…..
We’re back home. The nice thing is that, if you call two places home, you get to be back home quite often. The Significant Other and I are spending the week after Easter at our “South” home in Genoa. And we can enjoy it to the fullest, as we are off from our jobs that pay the bills. So let’s take the camera and head out to the Streets of Genoa for a short stroll through the alleys of the medieval old town. “Benvegnûi” means “welcome” in the Genoese dialect…for a few more quick shots continue after the jump….
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.
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…
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!
