Street | Urban | Travel | Photography by Marcus Puschmann
To everyone out there, but particularly to all the many magic people I’ve had the blessings to meet through my blogging on the “Streets of Nuremberg”, I wish a peaceful and merry Christmas and much love and laughters together with your family and friends.
Merry Christmas from the Streets of Nuremberg
Marcus
Happy Birthday, Streets of Nuremberg! No, not to this blog that carries the name, which is also in its 10th year. Happy Birthday to the real Streets of Nuremberg. Yesterday, our city celebrated the 975th anniversary of the first documented mention of Nuremberg. On July 16, 1050, during the reign of Emperor Henry III., the city was referenced in the so-called Sigena document, which was issued at a Hoftag (imperial assembly) held in Nuremberg. In this document, Emperor Henry III confirmed the release of a woman named Sigena from servitude. This day is considered our city’s founding day.
At that time, Nuremberg was noted as the site of an Imperial Castle situated within a large imperial estate. This strategic location between East Francia and the Margraviate of the Nordgau (in what is now Bavaria) marked the beginning of the city’s historical significance.
This image is the oldest printed view of Nuremberg that was published in the Schedelsche Weltchronik back in 1493.
Have a great Thursday
Marcus
Related Posts:
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
This one is from the archives. What is more refreshing than seeing kids having fun? All the more when they seem to enjoy themselves with something as traditional as soap bubbles (aka rainbow bubbles or Seifenblasen in German)? Look in their faces and you see bubbly happiness!
Soap bubbles have been used for entertainment purposes for at least 400 years. There are Flemish paintings from the 17th century that show kids blowing soap bubbles with clay pipes. According Wikipedia, more than 200 million bottles of bubble solution are still being sold annually. I think this is an amazing factoid when these days I see children entertain themselves with their smartphones.
The thing is, they could even play with soap bubbles on their smartphones. Don’t believe me? Check the app store, there are various apps about the bubbles. How crazy is that? I much prefer the analogue ones, no doubt.
To see these kids having a blast with something my kids loved when their were younger and that I had fun with as child really made me feel good. Although I don’t recall bubbles of this King Kong size back in the days. It seems there are also innovations in the field of things like soap bubbles.
I stood there watching this guy blowing his magnum bubbles for a good 20 minutes. Plenty of children came, had fun, their parents in the background smiling, then giving some coins to the guy. I don’t think though this is a sustainable business model. But he looked happy when he got some donations, and he made the children lough. Life can be good, also in the simple things.
If you still want to go out shooting today and are looking or tips and inspirations, check out my free Learning Center.
Have a great Tuesday
Marcus
Related Posts:
Street Photography Quick Tip 2 – Another way to shoot inconspicuously
Instant Inspiration (12) – Playfulness
I, Robot was a 2004 Alex Proyas movie set in 2035. Highly intelligent robots serve humanity but must follow three strict laws to prevent harm. Detective Del Spooner (Will Smith) investigates a murder seemingly committed by a robot. But he uncovers a deeper conspiracy that threatens human freedom.
Today, The Significant Other and I went to the Leisure Trade Fair in the Nuremberg Exhibition Center. Part of the fair was the RoboCup German Open 2025.
There I photographed these cute little soccer playing robots taking a charging break. Competing are teams from more than 50 nations. The RoboCup is the world’s largest and most important competition for intelligent robots. I took quite a few photos and will do a separate post about the fun and super interesting event.
The Robots are of the latest technology, as is the camera I used to photograph them (my trusted Nikon Zf). The lens attached to the modern mirrorless via an adapter was quite the opposite. I used an M42 mount Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 2,8/35mm manufactured around 1970 in former East Germany. An amazing manual focus lens with an amazing image quality, as you can see from this monochrome image. Which by the way is a JPG straight out of camera without any post processing using the Nikon’s B&W mode.
Images specs are 1/250 sec @ f/8 and ISO 6400.
Have I said I love attaching vintage glass on my Zf?
Have a great Saturday
Marcus
Related Posts:
Sometimes it helps to take a different perspective on otherwise common and familiar objects. To make the ordinary special again. To view things upside down. Also in Street Photography. These are reflections of Nuremberg’s Sankt Lorenz Church and of a Bratwurst Hut on the wet cobblestones of the Karolinenstrasse.
I photographed this puddle reflections with down on my knees in pouring rain to the amusement of the passing shoppers who must have wondered about this crazy guy who took photos of a puddle.
Using the LCD back screen to compose the shot, I also could have turned camera upside down. But instead of generating even more curiosity in my onlookers, I rather flipped the image later on in Lightroom. I also worked a bit with curves, increased saturation and clarity to bring more life into this image from a very dull day.
And to show a very common and popular sight of Nuremberg in an unusual perspective. By viewing things upside down
For more tips and inspirations around street photography, head to my free Learning Center.
Have a great day Thursday
Marcus
Related Posts:
Instant Inspiration (I) – Get Down Low
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women, merely players”, said William Shakespeare once. It’s also the motto of this blog. This monochrome street photograph is yet another example of it.
Roaming the Streets of Nuremberg with camera in hand, there is always a new background to discover, like this mural, a perfect backdrop for passing people. My stage on this Saturday morning. I did set up the camera and then merely waited. For people entering the scene.
I took quite a few shots. I rarely nail it with the first one. My favorite was this one, of the man passing with his white shopping bag. The juxtaposition of the funny face of the cartoon figure painted on the wall, looking up at the (smiling) bird, and the passing man with his bowed head, looking down. If he’d looked right instead of down, maybe the mural would have cheered him up a bit. All the world’s a stage….and we street shooters capture the stories.
Taken with my “leftover” Leica, the vintage, 13 years old Leica M Type 240 that I keep for sentimental reasons, after having divested the SL2-S that failed me so badly. The lens was a Summicron 35mm F/2. I’ve used zone focusing here, pre-focusing the lens at f/8 so that everything between 2 and 10 meters away was in focus. Increased the ISO so I got a minimum shutter speed of 1/250 sec to freeze the action.
If you are looking for tips and inspirations around street photography, check out my free Learning Center.
Have a great Wednesday
Marcus
Related Posts:
Street Photography Quick Tip 1 – A way to shoot inconspicuously
Street Photography Quick Tip 7 – Work the Scene
Curious about the story unfolding in this image? This is exactly why Street Photography captivates me —it’s all about reading between the lines. What was my subject doing in the moment that I captured with my lens? This shot illustrates it perfectly. What is this taxi driver reading? A personal letter? A handwritten deal? Just some quick notes? In an era where everyone is glued to LCD screens, this feels refreshingly different. Be curious. Look at life happening in front of your eyes.
Next time you’re out in your city, challenge yourself to capture a moment that sparks curiosity. You don’t need a fancy camera—your smartphone will do just fine. Keep an eye out for those intriguing scenes that happen everywhere in every moment. Whether at the grocery store or on a busy street. Even when you don’t have a camera in hand, you can train your eye. Look for that one shot that makes people stop and wonder about the story behind it.
If you are looking for more tips and inspirations around street photography, check out my free Learning Center.
Have a great Monday!
Marcus
Related Posts:
Spring has finally arrived with sunshine and warmer temperatures. No doubt The Significant Other insisted we go on a hike through the Franconian countryside outside Nuremberg. I didn’t argue at all, as this was a great first opportunity to screw (literally) a 50 year old “Nifty Fifty” on my Nikon Zf for a first test of its legendary optics – the Pentax Asahi SMC Takumar 1.4/50. Join me on a Sunday walk with a vintage lens….
Continue reading “Sunday Walk with a Vintage Lens”
Walking into the city the other day, I was quite surprised to see an ice skating rink on the Main Square in Nuremberg’s Old Town. And many people, old and young, obviously enjoying themselves. An awesome opportunity for some low light street photography. Ice Ice Baby….
Continue reading “Ice Ice Baby”
The last picture I took with my Leica SL2-S is not a pretty one. After working flawlessly at the start of our summer vacation in Brittany last August, my expensive premium German mirrorless full frame camera, from one exposure to the next, started behaving strangely again, giving me the shivers when I noticed. Because it was exact the same behavior the SL2-S showed before failing me at the second day of our Israel vacation in 2022, when the camera was brand new. With a defect of the electronic shutter. You can read about my frustrations with Leica and its customer service back then here and here.
The camera was fixed, but I never used it with the same confidence as my Nikons, Fujis and Olympus cameras. There was always a bad feeling. That it could fail me again. From one moment to the other, as before. So when on vacation, or on a photography gig, I always felt I had to carry a second camera as a backup. This is why in France I also had my trusted workhorse Olympus OM-D E-M1X with me. Which was good. Because it has happened again. The exact same error. The Leica failed me – AGAIN!
But at least I got a free physics lesson out of it. The rest was expensive….
For the full saga between me and the Leica customer service in the past 4 months following the renewed hardware failure, continue after the jump….
Continue reading “The Leica failed me – AGAIN”
Finally weekend! Fighting a little cold, I took it easy all day. But late afternoon, I felt an itch to go outside. And do some photography. So I grabbed my camera and went for a little walk into the woods around our house. And do my visual push-ups for January 18, 2025 . Click below to join me on my little photographic exercise…..
Continue reading “Visual Push-Ups for January 18, 2025”
Recent Comments