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.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
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.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
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.
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.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
One of the memorial landmarks of Berlin is the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtnis Kirche. In its simplicity it is a powerful landmark and memorial.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
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.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
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.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
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.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
On the platform waiting for a connection being connected by mobile phone.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
After rain comes sun at Scheveningen beach.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
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.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
A detail of a front in the Breestraat in Leiden with the tower of the townhall.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Red and yellow fronts of houses in the Breestraat in Leiden.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The Breestraat in Leiden with the townhall.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Lens- Artist Challenge #364 is ‘Quiet Moment’. A bicycle ride to clear the head. Seeing the bulbs for Spring being planted.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
A long dry Summer with a garden begging for rain.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
The garden of castle De Keukenhof.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version
The garden of castle De Keukenhof.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version
The Netherlands, Lisse – August 2025
In Summer the garden of castle De Keukenhof is filled with beautiful Dahlia’s.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #359 is ‘Tools of Photo Compositions: Lines, Colors and Patterns’.
The harbor of Le Conquet at low tide during sunset, as equestrians pass by. To say I was surprised when I spotted the horses, is an understatement.
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 Nikon F90 on Kodak TriX, scanned from film and edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
France – Morbihan, Questembert – August 1996
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #359 is ‘Tools of Photo Compositions: Lines, Colors and Patterns’.
The dreamy field with freshly pressed straw rolls offers a nice challenge. It is an opportunity to create something that makes sense in images. The idea that they actually roll. Near Questembert in the Morbihan region of Brittany.
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 Nikon F90 on Kodak TriX, scanned from film and edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #359 is ‘Tools of Photo Compositions: Lines, Colors and Patterns’.
A local railway track, disappearing in the fog. A photo from almost 30 years ago, taken in Brittany at St. Samsom-sur-Rance, near Dinan.
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 Nikon F90 on Kodak TriX, scanned from film and edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a bigger version
Tram station Prinses Beatrixlaan.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
And the sun also rises in gold on a Summer morning. And when you shoot it in color, it is literally photographer’s gold.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Summer mornings can sometimes welcome you into a warm, joyful and laid back day. This is one of those days filled with ease. The sun also rises, each day, at more or less the same place. And when you catch it early, it is photographer’s gold.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Sun shining through the trees on the start of another warm Summer day.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version,
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is a wonderful clever piece of photographic technology. It is the ideal snap instrument, that is always in my pocket. The quality of the images is improved immensely over the years. And to be honest, I shoot most of my photos with it nowadays. Just because I always have my phone with me. What I still do not like is the quality of images when you use the zoom. This shot is on full zoom and the details disappear. Unfortunately I was not able to move closer at that moment. At these moments I wish I had my Nikon Zf at hand, with a nice long lens.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version
In the charming streets of Delft, a couple dressed as bride and groom had us questioning whether we’d stumbled upon a wedding or a spontaneous costume party. Either way, love was in the air, or at least some excellent snap photo ops!
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version
The city hall of of Delft with the steeple of the New Church in the background.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version
The theme for his week Lens-artists challenge #356 is ‘Quiet Hours’.
Delft has a technical university with a long history in engineering and water management. The plan for Dutch coast defense implemented in the Delta Works originated here. Deltares is a major technological institute for research focusing on water management.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta Click the picture for a larger version.
The LAPC challenge for this week (#354) is ‘reflections’. Reflecting can be visual but also in a way of contemplating. On the photo three Dutch government policy departments.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
The Leiden Marathon as seen from the bicycle path, dedicated to one of the most successful Dutch professional cyclists, Joop Zoetemelk near Rijpwetering.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed, GrainLab and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Den Haag Central Station.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Den Haag Central Station.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed, GrainLab and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Den Haag Central Station.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed, GrainLab and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Den Haag Central Station.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max edited using Snapseed, GrainLab and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Each time I pass here on the way to or from Calais, I take a picture of the power lines in St. Georges-sur-l’Aa.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max, edited using Snapseed, GrainLab and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Shot with Nikon Zf, edited using Snapseed, GrainLab and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max, edited using Snapseed, GrainLab and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max, edited using Snapseed, GrainLab and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Guildford High Street.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max, edited using Snapseed, GrainLab and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Some shops had better days in Guildford High Street.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max, edited using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
Uphill Guildford High Street.
Shot with iPhone 15 Pro Max, edited using Snapseed, GrainLab and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.
What's (in) the Picture? 