Aug 3

Aug 3 A Few Days in Berlin

The German Parliament Building, The Reichstag — The German Parliament Building, The **Reichstag**

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Berlin for a few days as part of a trip to Germany. Berlin is a city that I've always wanted to visit, as it has a reputation for attracting both artists and funky technology startups. I had also heard that it has a somewhat bohemian vibe to it. I was not disappointed. While I wasn't there specifically to photograph, I couldn't not shoot really. I wasn't able to see as much of the city as I would like to, but what I did see was great.

We were staying in the centre of the city near the famous Brandenburg gate and the House of parliament. This area of the city is pretty remarkable. It's like something out of a science fiction movie. On the one hand you have lots of modern and really impressive Architecture, and on the other there is lots of green space and parkland, right in the centre of the city. Sometimes its like you're not in a city at all. At times I felt like I was in one of those post apocalyptic movies where nature has re-taken a city and all that is left is a few buildings rising from the trees of the renewed nature. That's what it felt like in parts of the city, especially around the parliament buildings and the Tiergarten.

There is lots of historical sights in the city too, as one might expect, from the outline of the Berlin wall on the ground, to the remaining pieces of wall, checkpoint charlie, and the many, many museums. One of the most stunning and stark reminders of europe's past is the beautiful and haunting Holocaust memorial.

Because of some health issues I've been dealing with lately, I didn't shoot as much as I normally would on a trip, and I'll be honest, I wasn't really happy with all the results. However, I did get some nice shots, so here are a few more random images from the city.

These were mostly shot on either my Nikon D700 or Sony A6000. For a good few of these, the ones with the funky green tint, I used the "Bleached Mould" Lightroom preset from my recent "Bleached Bronze" set of Lightroom presets. Somehow it just seemed to suit the setting.

I also shot some video on my iPhone while there. Agin, it's not shot specifically to shoot "a video" of the trip, but rather some snapshots. I mostly put it together to share with friends and family, and it was hurriedly edited while I was there in iMovie. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it for what it is, a video snapshot:

After Berlin, we got the train to Frankfurt and from there we went to a wonderful picturesque little town/village called Heppenheim. This was a wonderful little place that still has lots of medieval style buildings and is nestled in lots of green german countryside. I'll have a full post on that later in the week, but for now here's a sneak peek.