Berlin

A busy Berlin Street just a few hundred feet from The Wall - Berlin, Germany
Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved

IF I were tasked with describing Berlin in one word, it would be: "eclectic." Based on the pre-trip research I did, that should not have come as a surprise to me. What was surprising though, was the degree and depth of this diversity. The architecture of the city ranges from stately and grandiose classical, to modern buildings, to the quirkiness of brightly colored paint schemes and modern art. With its "museum island" the country certainly has its share of classical art and history. There is also a substantial modern art presence.

Berlin Cathedral
Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved

AT THE same time, street art shows up in nearly every corner of the city. Once pretty much considered (and often unwelcome) grafiti, this category of art - and if you observe it, the majority of it is most surely art - has proliferated world-wide. We saw some of the most impressive artwork we have seen in any other place in the world where we have observed it.

Modern Office Building - Berlin, Germany
Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved

AS I write the final chapters of our central Europe adventures (Berlin was our final stop), you will see evidence of all of the above dotted throughout my blog posts. I couldn't possibly include all of the really fun photographs I made during the 17 days or so we were in Europe, however. You can find them though: populated in new galleries, including a gallery dedicated to Berlin, on my LightCentricPhotography website, where Berlin gets it own additional category: "Eclectic Berlin." I hope you will visit there and enjoy the sights of Europe through my imagery.

Berlin Street Art
Image Copyright Andy Richards - All Rights Reserved

OF OUR 4 primary destinations for this trip, I was lukewarm about Berlin. In 2002 we had taken a Baltic Cruise Most of our ports were predictably "Baltic," including Denmark, Sweden and and Estonia. But our first stop was in the far north of Germany, in the little coastal town of Warnemunde. The northeast coast of Germany is all Baltic Coast - kind of tucked into the far, southwestern part of the Baltic). Warnemunde is a charming, but very touristy, little beach town that is a favorite for Germans who live in the northern part ot the country (like Berlin). The cruise line - in a manner I find disingenous - titled the stop: "Warnemunde: For Berlin." Their narrative suggests that you are just a short hop from Berlin. I wanted to go to Berlin. Until I saw that it was something like a 3 hour train ride each way, and on a day stop. 6 hours of travel and probably less than 6 hours to "see" Berlin? Nope! (perhaps you can see why I criticize the cruise itinerary description). And, those trains are notorious for getting back to the port in time for a timely departure (meaning there is significant risk unless you take a cruise-sponsored tour). It made sense in our minds to just visit Berlin directly some time in the future, and that went on our travel "to-do" list.

6 hours of travel and probably less than 6 hours to "see" Berlin? Nope!

THAT FUTURE is now behind us.😁 I am glad we got there, and hope to get back again one day.

Berlin, Germany
Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved

WITH A population of around 3.5 million inhabitants, Berlin is easily the largest of the cities we visited in Central Europe. It is the largest European Union city on the main continent of Europe (London, across the channel, is larger), and one of the handful of largest cities in Europe (Istanbul, Turkey is larger, also). Berlin is much less densely populated, and covers substantially more land area, however. To me, that made Berlin seem more wide open, and it reminded me a lot of some of our mid-western cities in the U.S.

Berlin, Germany
Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved

WE STAYED in The Hotel Sachsenhof, on the west side of West Berlin, toward Potsdam, in a nice, quiet neighborhood called Knollendorf. We were a 5-minute walk to the Knollendorf U (subway) stop. We found out later that we were only about a 15-minute walk to Potsdammer Platz a big, ritzy retail area. The hotel was quirky, but nice and after we got the "lay of the land," we realized it was really pretty convenient to amenities like restaurants and pubs and groceries if we might need them. It was pleasant. I do think though, that if/when we return to Berlin, I would like to stay more in the center of things - perhaps even in East Berlin, only because it is closer to attractions we were interested in. Fortunately the public transportation is very convenient.

Our Berlin Hotel
Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved

LIKE ALL the modern European cities, Berlin has a robust mass transit network that is relatively dependable, and is clean and safe. After the fiasco in Munich, we opted for the "Berlin Pass" which gave us unlimited use of all modes of transit within the city limits, including a boat tour, the busses, trams, subway and trains to and from the main airport (while we love mass transit for most things, we didn't really care for using it when we were schlepping our luggage, and we opted for an Uber to the airport on our last morning, so we didn't really take full advantage of the card - but the convenience and peace of mind of knowing we could get on and off, anywhere and any time was worth it to us). Each of these transit systems have their own scheme, and it always takes a bit to get the hang of them. By the second morning, we already had a pretty good lay of the land.|

Knollendorf U Station
Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved

WE TRY to schedule one of the local walking tours (very often as a food tour) as early as possible whenever we arrive in a new city. Berlin was no exception and after arriving and checking in to our hotel, we joined a small group of fellow Berlin visitors for just such a tour. By then, we knew where the subway stop was and what stop we needed to get off on to find our meeting point. Once again, with the help of Google Maps, we found our way without too much trouble. We would learn on that tour that one of the distinctions between West Berlin and East Berlin is that there are no trams in West Berlin. Once you realize that you see that there are no tracks anywhere on the West Berlin streets. Trams were as ubiquitous as the other cities we visited, however, in East Berlin.

Subway Train - Nollendorf Platz U - bahn station - Berlin, Germany
Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved

WE HAVE concluded over the years that we get the most "bang for the buck" with these walking "food" tours, which acquaint us with some of the important parts of a city, some of the food venues and opportunities, and a surprising amount of cultural and historical education. For this one, we met down in the center of the city, and walked more toward and in East Berlin than West. We really did get a feel for the very ecumenical food culture in Berlin. Our first stop was what I might characterize as middle eastern food. Very good and very interesting spices. Most of these places are more along the line of small bites food. We did get a taste of maybe the best baclava I have ever had. We had a couple other varieties, but no real "German" food like kraut, braten, roasted chicken and pigs knuckles, schnitzel. Which was fine. Fortunately, we had our fill of those in Bavaria and in Prague.

Popular Currywurst Shop - Berlin, Germany
Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved

As I researched things to do in Berlin prior to our trip, I learned that Berlin was a very cosmopolitan and culturally diverse city - particularly when it comes to food. I was warned not to expect the traditional "Bavarian" food (not that it couldn't be found - just that is was not the predominant dining option in Berlin). We found that to be true. We found a Mexican restaurant near our hotel that atoned for the the Munich "Mexican Restaurant." We found other good food. But one thing that surprised me the most about the food culture was that I liked something I was definitely prepared not to like. On line, I had read that when in Berlin you must try their special spin on Indian/German fusion: Currywurst. Although I have gotten better as I age and with experience, I have long had an aversion to so-called "Indian" food (which I - perhaps wrongfully - associate with curry). Therefore, "I don't eat curry." 😏 And it certainly didn't mix in my view with German sausage. But I have learned to at least try things. In London in 2021, I tried (and really enjoyed) another Indian "fusion" food: Chicken Tikka Masala. Here there was predictably a stop on our food tour for Currywurst. I tried it. I liked it (enough that I actually had it as a lunch entree a couple days later). So I continue to grow as a person. 😈

I had read that when in Berlin you must try their special spin on Indian/German fusion: Currywurst

OUR FINAL stop for the night was, Iinterestingly, a pizza place - which reminded me of decor and accoustics of the beer halls in Bavaria. The Pizza was good. So was the beer. All in all, the tour was fun, with some good information about the city. The food tour was our only formal excursion in Berlin. For our remaining couple days we went on our own.

Berlin, Germany
Copyright Andy Richards 2024 - All Rights Reserved

Don't Eat The Yellow Snow

[Before we move on to our final city - Berlin - I want to post an interlude that, if I wait until after the final day of our Central European Trip, will no longer be timely] 😊

Snow-covered Boardwalk - Price Nature Center - Saginaw, Michigan
Copyright Andy Richards 2009 - All Rights Reserved

IT IS Winter. In much of the U.S., that means snow. Not for me, though. Here in Florida, snow is an almost unheard of novelty (though try to tell that to those folks who have places in the panhandle). I have often lamented that I don't have a very good winter scene portfolio. No real fault by my own. Between Michigan and Vermont, I sure had enough time to do it. But I didn't. These days, I will have to travel if I want snow scenes. Maybe I will some day. 😐 Until then, I will have to enjoy the snow imagery vicariously. Fortunately, online I get the opportunity to see a fair amount of it. Some from people I know in Vermont, Michigan, Massachusets and Utah.

There is another color that I think is also very unattractive on snow: blue

I REMEMBER eating fresh snow when I was a kid. In Vermont, they used packed fresh snow to make a delicacy they call "sugar on snow." It is wonderful - at least if you like Maple Syrup. So I can confirm that it is o.k. to eat snow. But, my parents cautioned: "yes, it is o.k. to eat snow. Just don't eat the yellow snow." We basically know where that came from. It isn't an attractive color on snow.

Correcting a Blue Color Cast
Copyright Andy Richards 2009 - All Rights Reserved

THERE IS another color that I think is also very unattractive on snow: blue. The next time you see an image with an expanse of snow, look at it very carefully. Is that snow really white? I'll bet that in many instances it isn't. It is really blue (or bluish, with a blue color cast on the white snow).  Once you actually realize that, it just doesn't look right. But our eyes are amazing tools. So is our brain. Together, they tell you that blue snow is white. It is supposed to be white and our brain knows that. But guess what. The camera doesn't know that! In many conditions, the color will record and your screen will render that nice white snow with a (sometimes very strong) blue color cast. If the sky is very blue, it will be a brighter, more satuirated blue cast. If there is dark sky, it will often render a less saturated, darker blue.

OF COURSE, sometimes blue is a natural occurence. Like late afternoon, early morning, and twilight. Shadows in a photograph can also appear blue. Sometimes the right thing to do is just leave that alone. But a broad expanse of white snow is just different. Today's digital sensors (more than any other color cast I know of) have a strong tendency to record snow with a blue cast. I think it is more prevalent than most of the old film emulsions from the days of yore. But also unlike film, with digital recordings we have a chance to correct that.

Snow is white

ASK ANY elementary school student: "what color is snow?" White. Of course. Snow is white. It is supposed to be white. As a very reflective, white surface it will also pick (all) color casts more easily than any other surface. That means sky or shadows will always influence the snow; usually creating a blue cast.

THERE SEVERAL options for dealing with this. One is to do a white balance adjustment for the conditions in camera before the shot. In fact, if you are shooting in jpeg or tiff format, you really need to do this. I find this to be a PIA. It is just one more thing you need to do pre-shot, and in some instances may even mean not catching that precise moment when lighting, action, or other conditions are optimal. If you record your images in raw format (something I have long been a cheerleader for), you don't really need to mess with white balance in the camera because you can always make (and change) the white balance setting in your raw conversions software. If your entire image has a color cast, adjusting the white balance in post- processing will probably be the quickest and easiest "fix." What I often see, though are images where other elements are fine, but the snow has a major color cast. In the illustration image, the entire image had a bit of a blue cast and I was able to fix it by simply adjusting the white balance slider in my raw conversion software (I use Adobe Camera Raw). As I have noted, my snow scenes portfolio is a bit weak, and I haven't been able to find a better example of where we would need to selectively adjust the cast. Just slightly more fiddly, the "targeted" fix is also pretty easy.

USING YOUR preferred processing software, select the snow (using any selection method that works for you and the circumstances), and make three color adjustments. First, desaturate it. I usually desaturate anywhere from 85 - 95%. You don't want to go too far, especially in the shadow areas of an image. Second, look carefully at the contrast and if appropriate, adjust the contrast. Subtly. My contrast adjustments are usually between 5 and 15%. Not every image needs the contrast adjustment. Most do. Third, adjust the image brightness. Generally it will be a positive brightness adjustment with snow (in my experience, somewhere between 2 - 5%. Your experience may vary. You don't have to do these adjustments in any particular order, and making one may prompt you to go back and adjust the others. Do what looks good to your eye). The difference will amaze you. This also works for clouds, fog and white water, by the way. I personally use the NIK Viveza2 plugin for making this kind of adjustment most of the time. But it can also be done using selections, masks, and the software's native adjustment tools.

Snow-covered Boardwalk - Price Nature Center - Saginaw, Michigan
Copyright Andy Richards 2009 - All Rights Reserved