Tag: Night Photography

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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Bite the state

Man sitting in a lit shop looking into his cellphone next to a graffiti that translates to bite the state
Bite the state | Genoa | 2025

Sometimes a street image demands color. Like this one, taken in Genoa’s medieval old town near the Genova Piazza Principe railway station. The warm glow from inside the shop juxtaposes perfectly with the dark street and the bold statement on the wall that translates to “Bite the State”. The color contrast captures the mood of the image, the contrast between public dissent and tranquil private life on a quite late evening. The warm light inside feels safe and calm, very different from the dark and gritty street outside. Things like the tilted street sign, worn walls, and wet pavement suggest a place that’s been a bit forgotten or ignored. A scene that I saw and immediately felt drawn to capturing it.

Images specs are 1/60 sec @ f/2 and ISO 500. I took the photograph with the Nikon Zf and the Nikkor Z 40mm f/2. Postprocessing in Lightroom Classic (increasing the contrast and adding a vignette).

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

Wish you a great Monday!

Marcus

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12

A nightly view of our city

Genoa by Night
Genoa | 2025

Last night, The Significant Other and I have enjoyed a fancy dinner. We’ve cooked the handmade pasta (flavored with Red Beet) that Big Boy has produced as Christmas gift for parents, sister, grandparents, aunts and cousins. It was really yummy. We added some ricotta cheese, lemon zests and olive oil and had a bottle of Barbera d’Asti Riserva to go with it. Sure enough we needed to go for a walk after dinner. It was helped by the fact, that the heavy rain that had plummeted on Genoa all day, had subsided to a light drizzle. Taking the Fuji X-T2 with the Fujinon XF18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR along, we walked over to the nearby Belvedere San Rocco di Principe for a nightly view of our city. Aside from an unobstructed full view of the Old Town and the inner harbor, called Porto Antico, the little Belvedere also features a little wall to put the camera on for the long exposure night shots. For a couple more detailed images and to see our 500 year old lighthouse at work, continue after the jump….

Continue reading “A nightly view of our city” →
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Nightly Encounter

Nightly Encounter - Red haired girl meeting another girl in a wedding dress
Nightly Encounter | Vannes | 2024

As avid street photographer, I’m always looking for those stories of the street happening in front of my lens. Like during this nightly encounter in the streets of Vannes in Brittany, France. Look at the image and let it tell you a story of everyday live. Maybe a bit of an unusual story, happening at 11pm in the evening.

Taken with thy Olympus OM-D E-M1X and the mZuiko 12-100mm F/4 Pro Zoom.

If you feel like picking up your camera to go out and capture the stories of the streets yourself, check out the tips and inspirations around street photography in my free Learning Center.

Wish you a great Monday!

Marcus

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9

Luna Park with an iPhone

Genova Luna Park 2024 at night
Selling Dreams | Genoa | 2024

Yesterday, after a long workday, The Significant Other and I headed down to Genoa’s Porto Antico for an “Apericena”, Cocktails combined with Italian Tapas. I was pleasantly surprised, when the Regent of the Household suggested to visit the Summer Luna Park set up in the Harbor on the way back to our place. “So you can take some photographs while I look what the fair has to offer”. No questions asked from my side 🙂 . While having the X-T2 with me, I shot also various images with my iPhone, leveraging the feature to turn images taken with the “Live” function of the camera app turned on into long exposure photographs (you can to that in the photo app). Check out more image of the series “Luna Park with an iPhone” after the jump….

Continue reading “Luna Park with an iPhone” →
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The night something magic happened

Aurora Borealis in Germany
Aurora Borealis | Nuremberg | 2024

Faithful readers of this blog know I have a passion for the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights. I was blessed enough to have seen them three times from an airplane window during winter night crossings of the Northern Atlantic Ocean, and I’ve shared those stories here and here. Unfortunately, The Significant Other was never with me when the magic happened. So we continued to have the dream to one day see the “Dancing Lights” together, during a winter travel to Norway, Finland or Iceland. But then, this past Friday, the Aurora Borealis unexpectedly came to us, in the night something magic happened…

Continue reading “The night something magic happened” →
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Mayday

Lightning over the Port of Genoa on a wet Mayday
Mayday | Genoa | 2024

No, there wasn’t the need to call “Mayday” (an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications) last night. But for sure the 1st of May started with a bang in Genoa, with a front of thundershowers moving in from the sea after three very nice and rather warm spring days.

I took this photograph while sitting on the balcony of our “South” home with a glass of a very good Italian Red, and I captured it with my iPhone 14 Pro. In all fairness, it took me about 60 attempts to finally catch the lightning, and what a nice one it was. Soon after the shot, the rain started pounding and the spectacle was over. It’s still raining, so we’re having a rather wet Mayday. But who would complain about enjoying a very lazy public holiday?

Have a great start into May!

Marcus

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Seville Explored – Setas de Sevilla

Setas de Sevilla
Setas de Sevilla | Seville | 2023

Seville explored – Setas de Sevilla (Mushrooms of Seville) is yet another post about a stunning architectural masterpiece located in the heart of Seville, Spain. Only this time, it is a rather modern structure. Also known as “Metropol Parasol”, it supposedly is the largest wooden structure in the world. Located at La Encarnación square in the old quarter of Seville, it was designed by the German architect Jürgen Mayer and completed in April 2011. For more about the Setas’ history and some more photographs, continue after the jump….

Continue reading “Seville Explored – Setas de Sevilla” →
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A night in Sevilla

Man and girl kissing on a scooter during a night in Sevilla
1/100sec | f/1.7 | ISO 1600 | 50mm

All good comes to an end eventually. The Significant Other and I are sitting at our departure gate at Seville airport for our return flight after a great week in Andalusia. But there is still time to share a few street photographs from last night, taken with the Leica SL2-S and the TTArtisan 50mm .95 prime lens, attached via adapter to the L-Mount Leica SL2-S. Continue after the jump for some impression from a night in Sevilla.…

Continue reading “A night in Sevilla” →
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No polar lights

Star spangeled Sky

This photograph taken last night with my iPhone 14 Pro from our bedroom window is the byproduct of a fruitless hunt for the Aurea Borealis. Due to a recent coronal outburst of our sun, the magical fairy lights were visible much farther south as usual, and the past two nights they appeared over Germany, something that rarely happens. But they didn’t make it down to Frankonia. There were no polar lights.

But what amazed me was the lowlight capability of the iPhone’s camera. It was pretty much pitch dark outside. And this was, what the iPhone saw on a 3 sec exposure, handheld. Insane. Why bothering putting a system camera or DSLR on a tripod for a long esposure??

I was sorry for The Significant Other, who never witnessed the Aurea Borealis. I had the chance to see and capture the polar lights a few times while crossing the Northern Atlantic Ocean at night on a plane. Looks like one day we need to travel north in winter to make the wife’s dream come true…

Have a great Tuesday

Marcus

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9

End of the Day

Vendor of illuminated balloons waiting for last customer of the day
Waiting for the last Customer | Genoa | 2023

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.

Have a great Tuesday

Marcus

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1

Night Vision Lens

Band playing in a pebble stone alley
1/125 sec | f/2 | ISO 6400 | 50mm

I still owe you the images from the second night of “Viggiona by Night”. Different bands, different street food. I wanted to shoot with a different lens, and put my night vision lens, the TTArtisan 50mm .95 prime “Nifty Fifty” to a real test. I attached the M-Mount lens via adapter to the L-Mount Leica SL2-S. I was really curious how the manual focus 0.95 China built lens would perform vs the Leica Vario Elmarit zoom I used the previous night in the same conditions. See the results below…

Continue reading “Night Vision Lens” →
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