Now the third, and my favorite, part of the series Brandenburg Gate / Festival of Lights. Bringing all the famous landscapes together and displaying them on the Brandenburg gate in such a colorful way – great job, whoever came up with that idea!
The second part of my series Brandenburg Gate / Festival of Lights shows Berlin’s famous landmark in a cloud cover. This is a beautiful display in my opinion as the blue and cloudy sky is a good contrast to the colour of the sandstone.
During the yearly Festival of Lights in Berlin it is not so easy to find a good spot. The composition should be appealing, not too many people should cross the photo and it would better be something which wasn’t photographed a thousand times before. Well, I’m certainly not the first in Berlin who takes a shot of the Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor) together with the sign for the Pariser Platz. But that evening I liked that combination so much that I shot a complete series of the illuminations from there.
Berlin’s Deutscher Dom (i.e. German Church, also called New Church) is part of the ensemble on the Gendarmenmarkt in the center of Berlin. And as every year it was time for the Festival of Lights in Berlin providing special illumination for all major sights. Festival of Lights means: Way to many photographers in Berlin and way too little possibilities to capture sights without people in front of it.
As you might expect, the photo is a mix of planning and luck. While the scene in itself is pretty much as I planned it, the taxi in the photo is quite random. The Rosenthaler Platz in the centre of Berlin is a very busy traffic hub connecting 5 or 6 streets and some tram rails.
Taking pictures of a thunderstorm has its own charm. Especially while standing on a balcony on the 19th floor, enjoying one of the best views over the Berlin skyline. It was more of a coincidence than planned. When the rain became a thunderstorm, I thought for a second if I really want to stand up here on the balcony and keep shooting. But somehow my brain could not convince my heart to go back inside.