The other week in our Southern Home in Genoa, I woke up in the middle of the night and noticed something different in the room. The full moon was shining through the bedroom window. I was immediately intrigued by the scene, the light kind of magic, the textured curtains casting soft silvery shadows onto the bed. It felt simple but special. I had to get up and grab my iPhone 14 Pro to capture that moment. Sometimes, the best scenes are the ones you almost miss.
Taken with my iPhone 14 Pro with the built in dark monochrome filter. No post-processing.
Yesterday, The Significant Other and I visited the fantastic exhibition of dutch painter Anton van Dyck in Genoa’s Palazzo Ducale. After, we went for some errands in Via XX Settembre. And while the wife went into a clothing store, I stood under the arcades of La Superba’s principal shopping mile, snapping away at the passing faces of the street. I used my Fuji X-T50 and the Fujinon Super EBC XC 1:2.8-4.8/16-50mm R LM WR. And what can I say, the tiny camera/lens combo basically went unnoticed by the passing people. To see more images from a 15 minute stretch of street photography, click “read more”…
Street Photography is also about capturing juxtapositions. Like a girl having too many legs. I snapped this image with my iPhone 14 Pro one the steps of San Lorenzo Cathedral in Genoa. Click “read more” to see it from your slightly different angle.
There’s something truly special about black and white photography. For me, it’s more than just removing color; it’s about stripping away distractions and getting right to the heart of what makes an image compelling. It’s about reducing the scene to its purest form: composition. Serenity in Shades of Gray.
Take this shot, for instance, captured in the Ligurian Apennines, northwest of Genoa. The moment I saw these majestic trees silhouetted against the misty mountains, I knew it had to be black and white. The layers of hills fading into the distance, the stark outlines of the pines – it all just sings in monochrome.
When I shoot in black and white, the entire process becomes a tranquil enjoyment. It forces me to see shapes, lines, and textures in a different way. The absence of color simplifies everything, allowing the eye to focus solely on the interplay of light and shadow, and the arrangement of elements within the frame. It’s photography reduced to a minimum, and in that simplicity, I find immense satisfaction.
This image, with its quiet strength and layered depth, perfectly embodies that feeling for me. It’s a reminder that sometimes, less truly is more, and that beauty can be found in the most understated of palettes.
What are your thoughts on black and white photography? Do you find it as calming and focused as I do? Let me know in the comments below!
Image taken with a Fuji X-T50 and the Fujinon Super EBC XC 1:2.8-4.8/16-50mm R LM WR. Image specs 1/3200 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 250 and 31mm focal lenght (full frame equivalent). Acros Film Simulation – jpg out of camera.
In this image waves meet love. Hmmm….can you call this a street photograph when it was taken at the beach? The question came up the in the comments of my previous post. While the question is valid, the answer is simple. Street photography isn’t defined by where it’s taken, but by what it captures. It’s about observing real, unscripted human moments in public spaces. A beach, just like a sidewalk, a subway, or a park, is a public stage where life unfolds naturally. Or as Shakespeare says “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women, merely players” which is the motto of this blog.
Taking with my iPhone 14 Pro. If you are looking for tips and inspirations around street photography, check out my free Learning Center.
The other weekend, The Significant Other and I spent an afternoon in Celle Ligure, a picturesque little town a few kilometers west of our Southern Home in Genoa. In March, we are still a few weeks removed from start of the swimming season. Now, Celle’s beach is still a quiet stretch of shoreline, where the world seems to pause between sky and sea. I was intrigued by the two figures sit at the edge, somehow dwarfed by the vast horizon, sharing a moment that feels both intimate and infinite. Street Photography can be very calm and minimalistic.
Taking with my iPhone 14 Pro. Slight cropping in Lightroom Classic. If you are looking for tips and inspirations around street photography, check out my free Learning Center.
The Lion never sleeps. Neither does his marble companion on the other side of the grand stairs leading up to Genoa’s San Lorenzo Cathedral. The silent sentinel just lies there, watching the threshold and people come and go. Somehow it also feels welcoming, inviting passersby to lean against it or climb up and sit for a moment. My kids did exact that when they were little, turning the ancient guardian into a temporary playground companion. The pedestal beneath the beast is hardly empty. There seems to be always someone sitting there, resting, watching other people or, like in this case, checking whatever on the cell phone.
I took the image with my Nikon Zf and the Nikkor Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR. Specs are 1/160 sec @ f/6 , ISO 400 and 60mm focal length. Monochrome jpg out of camera.
Today is Befana, as the Feast of Epiphany is called in Italy. Traditionally observed on January 6, it commemorates the visit of the Wise Men in Bethlehem, celebrating the moment Jesus is revealed to the world. Across many cultures, the day is marked with festive customs, special foods, and local celebrations that reflect its message of revelation and unity. Here in Italy, the children get their presents from the Befana, a friendly old woman depicted as a witch. Befana also marks the end of the Christmas season. And for Genoa, this is the last day the Christmas lights are turned on in the evening. Traditionally, The Significant Other and I spend the first week of the new year in our Southern Home at the Ligurian Sea. And over the past days we have enjoyed strolling through the medieval city center and the harbor, enjoying the decorations. Join us for some impressions of the Genoa Christmas Lights….
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…
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.
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
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…
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