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As the title reads, here are just a bunch of photographs from Berlin, with little else in the way of discussion :
My short week-end there saw a mixed bag of weather conditions that gave us all sorts of lighting conditions, which is great for photography. Mostly, though, is was super flat light, bordering on drab. Not what traveling togs dream of, but I rather think it suits the place well.
I’d visited the city previously for work, never for tourism. My impressions after this short tourist-blitz? Let’s say I now understand why people go to Paris for romance and to Berlin for photography workshops.
That is one city with a huge and varied amount of photographic opportunities (not to say there’s no room for romance, of course 😉 )
This being a very short stay, those photographs are from the more touristy areas. There is much, much more on offer in Berlin for serious photographers (including no less than 5 airports, derelict buildings, woodland, very interesting modern architecture …)
As I was traveling light and as age is making me more lazy every day, these are all made with a Sony A7rII and just one lens: the Zeiss Distagon 35mm f/1.4. Some photographs have been reframed, others are stitched. Ten years ago, who’d have thought a medium wide could have served as a short tele or a very wide angle. Oh, I love post-processing 😉
So … workshop anyone ?
Thoughts?
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Lovely photos. 35 is my favorite focal length and your shots show the versatility of the FL. The 35/1.4 ZM is a wonderful lens on the A7RII. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Pat. I wholeheartedly agree:that ZM 35/1.4 is a wonderful lens. It’s one of Zeiss’ masterpieces. And it’s small and superbly built. It baffles me that photographers are buying anything else in that focal range 😉
Tough one – I can’t pick a favourite, I’ll take them all 🙂
Thanks Pete 🙂
As an architectural photographer, historian and critic, these are extremely evocative of the Berlin I have known since before the wall came down. They are more than “tourist” photos and indeed “set up” the normal postcard views in interesting ways – as in the Monument to the Disappeared with the rapidly zippering figure…
New to your blog but enjoying both film and digital posts.
Thank you Anthony. I’m not an expert of Berlin by any stretch of the imagination but it does seem like a city that’s kept its soul and isn’t destroying the past to make way for luxury housing. It has kept that East Germany feel and made it pleasant. And whatever has been added seems to fit in with the older parts. Except for the river sides and Embassy / Government areas, which aren’t very interesting.
“it does seem like a city that’s kept its soul and isn’t destroying the past to make way for luxury housing.”
Oh, be sure it is already happening. Just, due to legal issues (which square meter is owned by whom?) it has been delayed for 20 years or a bit more. Since 3-5 years the luxury houses are growing like mushrooms after the rain.
Ah … predictable. And there’s no reason why Berlin shouldn’t do the same as other modern cities. Still, I can’t help finding that a little sad if it makes all places looking alike.
No matter what Berlin always evokes dreadful history of German aggression and Nazism.
Well, yeah. Just like Rome, Paris, London or any capital with a colonial/invasion heritage. Moscow has a very troubled present in Syria. China invaded Tibet not that long ago. The US completely messed up the whole Middle East even more recently. Australia (a country that I adore) has treated aboriginals very badly. No powerful country has a clean past. At least Berlin has a very open attitude towards its troubled (and now distant) past, with plenty of museums devoted to these horrors. Let’s not make this a political topic.
Absolutely!
Hi Pascal,
The Carl Zeiss ZM 35/1.4 draws very well on the A7R II, and your images, shown above, are good practical examples of how the lens draws …
Sean
Thanks Sean. It’s my fave lens up to 50mm. Zeiss really hit a sweet spot with it. Cheers.