Be curious

Car driver reading a letter while parked
1/100 sec | f/5.6 | ISO 125 | 85mm

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

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Sunday Walk with a Vintage Lens

Vintage Lense Photography with the Pentax Asahi SMC Takumar
1/125 sec | f/8 | ISO 100 | 50mm

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”

Apocalypse Wow

Barefoot girl in a white dress wearing a gas mask singing in the streets of Tokyo - Apocalypse Wow
Apocalypse Wow | Tokyo | 2017

Sometimes it is worth going back in the Lightroom Library and re-visiting old street images. In this case from my Around The World Trip back in 2017. I came across this photo from a barefoot girl in a white dress wearing a gas mask. Singing in the streets of Tokyo. Back then I thought this apocalyptic masquerade was a bit over the top, even though she was singing great. I remember thinking “wow – what a voice”. Looking at the political turmoil shaking our world in these days, this street photograph from 8 years ago is kind of symbolic – Apocalypse Wow. And a certain similarity with Francis Ford Coppola’s famous movie with almost the same name.

Diving back into my old image archives feels like flipping through the pages of a forgotten book. Rediscovering moments I once captured but never truly appreciated. Sometimes, a fresh perspective or newly honed editing skills breathe new life into those hidden gems.

What once seemed like an average shot now reveals a composition or emotion I previously overlooked. And then there’s that deeply satisfying moment when I stumble upon an old frame that suddenly clicks with me in a way it never did before—like the image was just waiting for the right time and mindset to be brought to life. Like this of the apocalyptic street musician in Tokyo.

Taken with my Olympus PEN-F and the mZuiko 12mm F/2 prime lens (24mm full frame equivalent). Image specs 1/60 sec @ f/2 and ISO 800.

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

Have a great Sunday!

Marcus

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Another weekend – another photo exhibition

White Giant

White Giant - a stuffed white Tiger in Genoa's Museum of Natural History
White Giant | Genoa | 2025

There is more from the last weekend’s visit to Genoa’s Museum of Natural History. In my last post I have mentioned juxtaposition as compositional element. Now how about this juxtaposition? This white tiger was by far the largest tiger I ever saw, dead or alive. Crazy big. The card in the display said the animal died in 1758 in a Circus, was subsequently stuffed and eventually ended up in the museum for everyone to simply admire. The Tiger was huge by my standards. How must that little girl feel looking up to this white giant?

A street photographer can apply many compositional elements to the images to generate a viewers interest. Leading lines guide the eye through the image, creating a sense of depth and direction. The rule of thirds divides the frame into a grid, helping to position subjects in a way that feels balanced and engaging. And, like in this example, Juxtaposition places contrasting subjects or elements side by side to create visual tension or highlight differences. Like the white giant and the little girl.

Taken with my Nikon ZF and the Nikkor Z 40mm 1:2 SE, image specs 1/125 sec @ f/5.6 and ISO 6400, 40mm focal length. Jpg out of camera using the Zf’s default black & white mode that can be quick-selected by a dial on top of the camera.

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

Have a great Thursday

Marcus 

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Ghosting

Skeletons looking over the shoulders of museum visitors doing Ghosting
Ghosting | Genoa | 2025

Another one from the last weekend’s visit to Genoa’s Museum of Natural History. Wouldn’t these scene be considered ghosting? Maybe the skeletons noticed the Street Photographer behind the glass of a display with stuffed primates. Musesums or exhibitions are great places for some inconspicuous “street” shooting, as people with cameras (or smartphones) would not stand out much. And there are always funny juxtapositions to be captured.

Taken with my Nikon ZF and the Nikkor Z 40mm 1:2 SE, image specs 1/800 sec @ f/2 and ISO 6400, 40mm focal length. Jpg out of camera using the Zf’s default black&white mode that can be quick-selected by a dial on top of the camera.

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

Have a great Tuesday

Marcus 

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Casual Observation

Mom looking into a stroller in front of a museum showcase of skeletons seemingly on a casual observation
Casual Observation | Genoa | 2025

Regular readers should know that I have a hang for street photography in museums. And that where I run across skeletons on display, try my best to have them “interact” with the visitors in front of the displays. Like in this snapshot taken yesterday, when The Signifcant Other and I visited Genoa’s Museum of Natural History. Creepy? No, not really. Come one, after all they are just a bunch of skeletons on a casual observation of people passing in front of the glass cases. Or not? Well, as long as it is not yet Night in the Museum 😉

Taken with my Nikon ZF and the Nikkor Z 40mm 1:2 SE, image specs 1/30 sec @ f/13 and ISO 6400, 40mm focal length. Some post-processing (mainly cropping) in Lightroom Classic.

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

Have a great Monday

Marcus 

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Fearless

Man looking fearless at a grinch mural
Fearless | Genoa | 2025

We are living in a crazy world. There are plenty of things around us that cause anxiety. But at least we all should do the things we can do to make things better, safeguard democracy and keep the planet afloat for our children and future generations. Like casting our votes in general elections. It won’t help to stick our heads into the sand. Germany is voting today. Let’s keep the faith that everyone has realized what’s on the plate.

This is the first street photo I have taken with my new Nikon ZF and the Nikkor Z 40mm 1:2 SE on a walk through Genoa’s historic center yesterday. It is a jpg straight out of camera, only some cropping in Lightroom Classic. Images specs 1/1250 sec @ f/4 and ISO 6400, 40mm focal length. I love my new camera more every day!

If you feel like picking up your camera (or smartphone) for a Sunday walk and are looking for tips and inspirations around street photography, check out my free Learning Center

Let’s all be fearless!

Have a great Sunday

Marcus 

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Ice Ice Baby

Ice skating little boy
Ice Ice Baby | Nuremberg | 2025

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”

Visual Push-Ups for January 18, 2025

Forest weeds
1/80 sec | f/8 | ISO 3200 | 200mm

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”

Divine Observation

Under divine bbservation are visitors to Palazzo Angelo Giovanni Spinola in Genoas Via Garibaldi
1/8 sec | f/5.3 | ISO 1600 | 70mm

Visitors of Palazzo Angelo Giovanni Spinola are under divine observation by this antique marble statue of a roman god. The palace of a Genovese noble man was completed in 1576 and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage, together with the other magnificent palaces in Genoa’s Via Garibaldi.

I took this street photograph with the Fuji X-T2 and the Fujinon XF18-135mm F3.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR. RAW processing and conversion to high contrast monochrome in Lightroom Classic. 

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

Have a great Sunday

Marcus

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Liguria Explored – Bellissimi

Bellissimi Church and Balloon Mural
Bellissimi | Liguria | 2025

As promised in my last post, today I will take you along on a walk through a little village in the Ligurian Appenin mountains that run along the coast of the Mediterranean. What ties this little mountain village, called Bellissimi, to the balloon vendor I photographed in Genoa’s Porto Antico the other day, are well…balloons. Bellissimi (which means “the most beautiful”) is full of murals of balloons. To see a selection of the artworks, find out why Bellissimi’s claim to fame are balloons, and last but not least see a picture of the four Bellissimi who visited this village, click below for the full story of “Liguria Explored – Bellissimi”

Continue reading “Liguria Explored – Bellissimi”

Up

Up | Genoa | 2025

Up was the motto of the day! We went up the map, driving from Genoa north (up the map ) back to Nuremberg. The drive was uneventful, and even going up San Bernardino pass in Switzerland while crossing the Alps was on clear roads under a blue sky through snow capped mountains.

“Up” is also the name of the heartwarming Pixar movie about an elderly widower, Carl Fredricksen, who ties thousands of balloons to his house to fulfill his late wife’s dream of adventure.  Obviously the four balloons of the “balloon man” in Genoa’s Porto Antico are not enough to make him levitate. But the balloons will be the perfect segway into my next post, that will be about a little mountain village on the Ligurian coast that has made balloons its claim to fame.

This street photograph is a snapshot taken with my iPhone 14 Pro with some post processing in Lightroom Classic.

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

Have a great Tuesday

Marcus

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