Thanks, Karl, for the interesting information. I went across Checkpoint Charlie a few times during the early 70's and so I saw first hand how dreadful life under the Communists was. I kid you not - the best way I can describe the sensation of crossing was that the sun shone differently on the other side - literally just a few yards away. Everything was grey and in those days many of the old, bombed-out buildings from the war years were still standing with large trees growing out the tops of tall, abandoned buildings. It was utterly creepy. Given the fact that the Communists wanted to make E Berlin a showcase makes it that much worse since I can only imagine the degradation of cities that weren't so intended. Anyway, on this trip I was pleasantly surprised to see the fantastic recovery E Berlin has made. I even took a terrific photo of the old Checkpoint Charlie which, as I'm sure you know, is now a huge tourist attraction. I was up very early and managed to catch it before any of the massive crowds arrived.

Have a great New Year!

All best wishes,

Endre


Karlchen wrote:
Thanks for your comments Strad. The East German government wanted to make E.-Berlin a showcase city, so working on the Berlin Cathedral would seem to be a high priority, since it was in the tourist area. I think their buildings were structurally sound, note the TV tower and some office buildings in Berlin-Mitte, built in the Soviet era, which are still in use. But they did do things on the cheap where possible. The federal legislature, across from the cathedral, was torn down after unification because of asbestos, and a lot of the postwar apartments also appear to have been removed. They had been thrown up after W.W. II to alleviate a serious housing shortage and little attention was paid to aesthetics or details. Many historic buildings and infrastructure away from the tourist areas, however, were neglected, probably because of funding shortages. Since unification, the Federal Republic of Germany has invested huge amounts of money to correct this longstanding problem, and most of the land between the two walls surrounding the former West-Berlin has become prime real estate with impressive architectural contributions. I think, in this case, it is more about money than ideology.
I am not a big fan of the Communist era, by the way, but the really big problems were mostly invisible to the casual tourist.

Thanks, Ray! I'm happy you like it so much!

Happy New Year!

All the best,

Endre

Dougo wrote:
The sky and the detail in the third shot is outstanding Endre.

Cheers Ray

Thanks for the kind comments, Scott. I am delighted that you like it. I've already brought the contrast way down on the flowers in the trees and there certainly isn't any over sharpening here, so I won't mess with them any more. If they still distract you at this point, then I don't know what more to do. In the larger version, they don't bother me. Those trees were just full of flowers.

Have a great New Year!

All best wishes,

Endre

sbeme wrote:
Endre,
These are spectacular. Fantastic architecture, great clarity and detail in the processing.
I am with Tom on the flowers in the shrubs. Not sure how much is contrast versus over-sharpening. Of course the for web version likely pales against the full sized images.


Scott

Wow...these are just awesome captures! Thanks for sharing.

Bill

Absolutely love the details in these Endre. Bravo on the processing.

Is it just me that I think these are too overprocessed Some sorts of HDR/tone mapping BW conversion?

Thanks, Bill. I really appreciate your kind words. So glad you like them!

All best wishes,

Endre

WilliamFinley wrote:
Wow...these are just awesome captures! Thanks for sharing.

Bill

I appreciate the comments, Tim! Thanks! I'm delighted that you like them.

All the best,

Endre

Tim ONeill wrote:
Absolutely love the details in these Endre. Bravo on the processing.

That is very interesting! I guess everyone sees things differently. I guarantee you there was absolutely zero HDR or tone mapping in any of these. Personally, I find the look of tone-mapped HDR to be way too weird for my taste. I did use a polarizing filter when I shot them so maybe you see the higher contrast that achieves as being over processed? I use a High-Pass filter method of converting to B & W and a teeny (in these cases really minuscule) amount of Levels and Brightness/Contrast tweaking, and that is it.

Anyway, that's all I can tell you.

All the best,

Endre


TooManyShots wrote:
Is it just me that I think these are too overprocessed Some sorts of HDR/tone mapping BW conversion?

Beautiful shots. Despite having been to Germany on numerous occasions I've never been to Berlin, but have seen/had a few things recently making me think a visit is called for.

Such clarity in all the pictures! The detailing is amazing

Thanks, Ed. I really appreciate your comments and am so glad you like the images. Eastern Berlin is particularly fascinating now that the Evil Empire is gone. The transformation Germany has made to that wrecked city is truly breathtaking.

All best wishes,

Endre



Ed Swift wrote:
Beautiful shots. Despite having been to Germany on numerous occasions I've never been to Berlin, but have seen/had a few things recently making me think a visit is called for.

Thanks so much for your very kind comments! I appreciate them!

All the best,

Endre

sozypozy wrote:
Such clarity in all the pictures! The detailing is amazing