In the wind
Autumn is there, colors of leaves are beautiful. Unfortunately we had a lot of wind, so lots of leaves are off.
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Posts by Chris Breebaart
Autumn Announcing
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Hosta
Autumn is approaching, the rain and gray skies are more and more the new normal. Luckily there is the occasional sun to enjoy, and the beautiful coloring of plants and trees.
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Autumn Announced
Autumn is approaching, the rain and grey skies are more and more the new normal. Luckily there is the occasional sun to enjoy.
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Smoking at Work: Reichstag Berlin
From the roof of the Reichstag. A member of staff has a smoke break. A slightly less common street detail nowadays for LAPC #371.
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Looking East (and for the West)-Berlin
The last time, before this visit in September, I saw this part of Berlin was in November 1989. This side was West Berlin, the Spree and across was East Berlin. The Berlin Wall cut straight to the right. It was just 20 meters from the East wall of the Reichstag.
Now the Bundestag offices connect both sides of the river. The tension of the Berlin Wall is literally out of sight. But not forgotten. Seven crosses are just outside this frame on the right side. They remind us of the people who tried to flee East Germany and were killed.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version. The monochrome photo of 1989 was shot with Nikon F301 on Kodak TriX.
High Rise Head’s Up Berlin
This high rising can be found near the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtnis Kirche.
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Clean Berlin
On the corner of the former Checkpoint Charlie (on the West Side).
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Hotel Adlon Berlin
A beautiful, hospitable hotel in the center of Berlin, Adlon. A wonderful place for tea and scones after a walk.
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Marketing
A street in Charlottenburg.
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Cube Hauptbahnhof Berlin
During the days of the Berlin Wall, the central transport hub of West-Berlin was Zoo station (Tiergarten). In 2006 the new Hauptbahnhof opened. In front of it is this 3XN Cube.
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U-Bahn 2
Berlin has a wonderful (and cheap) public transportation infrastructure. One of the building blocks is the U-Bahn. Station Hausvogteiplatz.
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Berlin Mall
Every big city has its own mall, a big shopping center. Most of the times the shops and brands are the same as in the mall next to where you live. And the food court can be slightly different. The Mall of Berlin is no exception to that rule. The location (Leipziger Platz) makes it interesting, as does the architecture.
As always I can not choose: color, or mono?
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Eating Out in Berlin
Food in Berlin is cheap (and in the right places) good!
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Fernseh Turm Alexanderplatz
A landmark you can not overlook. The TV Tower (Fernsehturm) at Alexanderplatz. Here seen from the Paul Löbe Allee, next to the offices of the prime minister of Germany.
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From the Reichstag Roof
Views from the roof of the Reichstag. The panorama in the middle of the topline is from the iPhone15promax. On the bottom row on the left, you can see several notable ‘towers’. There is the television tower on Alexanderplatz, the International Trade Center, Berlin Cathedral, and the Red Town Hall. On the top right on the left the dome of the Französischer Dom, and on the right the Deutchser Dom (on Gendarmenmarkt).
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Panorama shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Reichstag Dome
The dome on the Reichstag offers a wonderful panoramic view on Berlin. And you can walk the rest of the roof as well to look over the city. Here an impression in monochrome.
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Reichstag Berlin: Dem Deutsche Volke
The front of the Reichstag. A visit was on the top of my list. In 1989 the Berlin Wall was right next to the building; and since 1989 this area was completely developed. So we booked a visit to the dome. On this photo I left the dome out consciously. I wanted to have an image like the building looked in November 1989 below.
The history of the Reichstag is connected to my hometown and Leiden. In 1933 Marinus van der Lubbe was accused, tried and sentenced by the Nazi-regime for setting fire to the building. He was born in Leiden en lived in Oegstgeest, as did his family.
About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. Some of them are partly retouched but most do have scratches, dust and stains.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version. The monochrome photo of 1989 was shot with Nikon F301 on Kodak TriX.
From the roof of the Reichstag
A view from the roof of the Reichstag, overlooking Tiergarten. On the left The Victory Column. On the right side is the Carillion, a 42 meter hight bell tower. And in the background the Teufelsberg.
I am not sure this photo is dreamy enough to enter Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #369 ‘dreamy’.
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Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz: From Wall to Skyscrapers
Human measure on Potsdamer Platz. During the time of the Berlin Wall people were a spic in a vast open space. Now they are a spic being over towered by high rising.
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Berlin Brandenburger Tor Photographers
Brandenburger Gate (Brandenburger Tor) is a much used backdrop for photos in Berlin.
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Berlin: Charlie left in November 1989
Checkpoint Charlie, symbol of the cold war.
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Berlin U-Bahn
Berlin has a wonderful (and cheap) public transportation infrastructure. One of the building blocks is the U-Bahn.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
Berlin Holocaust Memorial (2)
Another impression of the the Memorial to the murdered Jews in Europe.
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Holocaust Memorial Berlin
Last September I revisited Berlin after 46 years. One of the reasons to come back was to visit the Memorial to the murdered Jews in Europe. I had read stories and seen photos, and I wondered how I would take photo’s of it. And what it would be like to wonder through it. This visit I had my first experience with the monument. Here is the first impression (and the coming days I will publish some more).
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Bahn Tower Potsdamer Platz Berlin
The Bahntower on the Potsdamer Platz, headoffice of the Deutsche Bahn.
Potsdamer Platz was the vivid heart of Berlin. During World War II, it was almost completely destroyed. Since 1961 Potsdamer Platz was a no man’s land, a death strip as part of the Berlin Wall. After the fall of Berlin Wall this was the biggest property developing area in a major city in Europe.
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Berlin Brandenburger Gate (2)
Brandenburger Gate (Brandenburger Tor) is a symbol of unity for Berlin and Germany. Nowadays the Pariser Platz (Paris Square) is a pedestrian and bicycle area.
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Both Sides Of History – Berlin Brandenburger Tor
Brandenburger Gate (Brandenburger Tor) in Berlin was an iconic point at the time of the Berlin Wall (Berliner Mauer). The gate then stood in no mans land, and showed the alienating effects of division through the city. Now the Brandenburger Gate is a symbol of unity of Berlin. It was a pleasure to walk through the gates, and enjoy the people and streets around it. And the see the gate back at its splendor.
About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. Some of them are partly retouched but most do have scratches, dust and stains.
The monochrome set of 1989 was shot with Nikon F301 on Kodak TriX. The colorfilm was Fuji, and shot on Pentax Espio 115M. 2025 photos shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the pictures for a larger version.
Berlin Gendarmenmarkt
One of the beautiful squares in Berlin: the Gendarmenmarkt. On one side you find the Deutscher Dom a.k.a. Neue Kirche (German Cathedral), and opposite the Französischer Dom (French Cathedral). The top photo reflects the latter in the doors of the Deutscher Dom.
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Gedächtnis Kirche Berlin
One of the memorial landmarks of Berlin is the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtnis Kirche. In its simplicity it is a powerful landmark and memorial.
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Bundesrat Berlin
Walking through Berlin was sometimes causing some disorientation. Lots of places that were ‘void and empty’ in November 1989 are now (re)build. In 1989 I just saw a small part of former East Berlin. It was a challenge to figure out what I was looking at. An old building, a refurbished one or a new build? I have a slight preference for old buildings. Lots of them are beautifully restored. This is one of them: the Bundesrat in the former Prussian House of Lords. As seen from the Mall of Berlin.
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Berlin’s Blue and Pink Pipelines
September 2025 I visited Berlin for the second time. My first visit was in November 1989. That coincided with the fall of the Berlin Wall. After 46 years I wanted to see how Berlin had changed since ‘die Wende’.
In 1989 we just spent one day in East Berlin. This visit the first day we looked around in the former East Berlin area. The television tower still towers over the city at Alexanderplatz. There is still a lot of construction activity, and along the roads you see pipes in blue and pink. First I thought that it was a smart concrete transport system. In reality it is a way to pump out groundwater from construction sites into the Spree river.
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Berlin’s Transformation: German Humor?
September 2025 I visited Berlin for the second time. My first visit was in November 1989. That coincided with the fall of the Berlin Wall. After 46 years I wanted to see how Berlin had changed since ‘die Wende’. The coming days I will publish some photos of this trip.
Friends had ‘warned’ me about the changes I would see. What in 1989 was a vast open space (e.g. the Potzdamer Platz) is now completely filled with modern architecture. But what struck me the most was the vibrant vitality the city breathes now. It is cosmopolitan and a magnet.
One of the landmark squares of Berlin is Alexanderplatz. On a building just a few hunder meters away I saw this text ‘Allesandersplatz’. Everything is different square? German humor? Or the basic conclusion after the first day. A lot changed. At face value.
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Bird Under A Wire
A small bird in a big Amsterdam Central Station. The things you see while waiting for a train.
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Petals
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Connected
On the platform waiting for a connection being connected by mobile phone.
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Writing In The Sky
Sometimes the clouds turn into a abstract symbol.
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Over the bridges
A more detailed view of the photo I published yesterday of Leiden. Leiden used to be famous for fabrics, and canals provided the infrastructure for the logistics. Some of the canals were filled up in the second half of the 20th century. However, there are debates about opening a few of them again. These discussions focus on sustainability and environmental quality.
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City of Rembrandt
A view on the city where Rembrandt van Rijn was born, Leiden. It was the home where he grew up. There he started his now famous career as a painter. Later, he moved to Amsterdam.
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #366 is ‘City Mouse/Country Mouse’. I am not familiar with the story. But as the brief puts it ‘there is no place like home’. Home is where the heart is.
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After Rain
The Netherlands, Scheveningen – September 2025
After rain comes sun at Scheveningen beach.
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Rainy Beach
A spell of heavy rain, on the border of Summer and Autumn at Scheveningen beach.
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Old Front
Detail from a front in the Breestraat in Leiden. In den vergulden Turk used to be a restaurant. It moved decades ago to a different spot in town. It then changed its name to Wienerwald. The top of the original front is still there, and recently brought back to its old splendor.
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On The Corner
A detail of a front in the Breestraat in Leiden with the tower of the townhall.
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Red Yellow
Red and yellow fronts of houses in the Breestraat in Leiden.
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Sunny Street: Breestraat Leiden
The Breestraat in Leiden with the townhall.
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Agapanthus
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Pas de Calais
Lens-Artist’s Photo Challenge #365 is ‘longing’. This landscape is so appealing, I still feel the excitement I felt when I shot this sequence.
shot with Nikon D70, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Blue Hydrangea
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Outstanding
In the front garden, next to the Japanese Anemone, there is a Knautia Arvensis. It is more easily known as Field Scabiosa.
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Star
In the front garden, next to the Japanese Anemone, there is a Knautia Arvensis. It is more easily known as Field Scabiosa. It is literally a star.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
What's (in) the Picture? 