NOTE: It turns out today’s expedition was a waste of time so I am discontinuing this post – explanation at the bottom.

Woohooo – our dogwalker is back from holiday. Max is very happy. He loves being chauffeured (ironically: he and I will just have to agree to disagree on the subject of private cars …) to the outskirts of Berlin and frolicking, away from traffic, off leash, with dogs he knows well by now.

The coming weeks, Tuesdays and Thursdays will be my days to go out and take photos, and today, even the weather cooperated, or at least it did not rain.

This week’s assignment is to take 12 photos in sets of two, so three sets of “synonyms” and three sets of “antonyms”.

Today I came up with these (some of them can probably be interpreted as both). Not sure if they can be used, so I will wait and see what I find on Thursday before making the final decision on which ones to submit.

Today’s route on mapmywalk here.

Curvy

The eyesore

Or, as directly translated from Danish: the eye turd), of which only one side bears looking at. (This is the controversial castle already mentioned in the previous post). In my humble opinion a monumental blunder in the most prime location in Berlin.

Stairs into water

A dome and a pair of wings

Circle with plants

Columns and a pattern

The first one is a detail from Alte Nationalgalerie. The other two from the relatively new Springer building, by architect Rem Koolhaas.

Ladders into water

People live there

Unrelated to the assignment, I also took these, and stopped for a coffee at Café am Engelbecken (masked staff and outdoor seating):

And then, at the end of the afternoon, an e-mail from Kai giving further specifications, so that my outing today was a complete waste of time.

It all sounds way too difficult now – a lot of talk of using light … what light ??? Even in relatively OK weather like today, it is still grey outside with no light to play around with. Indoors, using objects and lamps? Forget it. I like my home but there is NOTHING worth photographing in it and I don’t have – and don’t want to acquire – suitable lights for photography. I also hate setting things up, staging photos, and then having to clear it all away again. Yawn.

IN PROGRESS

Very happy to have signed up for this course, taught by Kai McBride, even though it does take place Mondays, or rather Tuesdays, from midnight to 2 PM :-).

The first assignment, due on 17 January, is a “verb-noun treasure hunt” – as listed below – a bit of a challenge, since Berlin is such a Covid19 hotspot and I don’t want to use public transport. Also, Frank, my twice-weekly dogwalker, is still on holiday (back next week) so most of the walking I do will have to be for the benefit of Max’s much-needed daily exercise. Unfortunately, Max is still too restless and unruly for me to be able to take him with me when I go out to take photos. If and when that will change – time will tell, but he is still getting calmer and calmer and less and less anxious, and even after seven months, I notice positive changes in him almost daily.

It is nice that some of the “treasures” come under “things I can photograph without leaving home”, but still, I will not manage all of the below items. Filling in the ones I do find:

1. Melting
2. A squirrel
3. An innocent kiss
4. A man exercising
5. Violent hands
6. Person smoking
7. Water
8. Hand tugging on ear
9. An airplane touching
10. Dangerous jumping
11. Filthy shoes
12. Child pulling their hair
13. Lightning
14. Car rushing by
15. A frugal meal
16. People flirting
17. Damaged goods
18. A bird at rest
19. A disappointment

1. Melting

Baileys ice cream: https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/entertain/chocolate-tart-with-baileys-ice-cream/. (It is a good thing that I am signed up for Néstor’s food photography class starting next week :-).

2. A Squirrel

Typically, where I usually see loads of squirrels, in my courtyard, in graveyards, in trees lining some streets, this week I see none. This morning, as I was trying to spot the one that sometimes frolics, seemingly defying gravity, from treetop to treetop between my backyard and Berlinische Galerie, this rare guest suddenly arrived for a brief visit (too brief to have time for camera setting). Not a rare guest in Berlin’s parks, but a first, for me, in my built-up area.

3. An Innocent Kiss

Beijinhos de coco: https://youtu.be/MLWRkqsZ_74.

4. A Man Exercising

Walking past a relatively new outdoor gym, I saw a man exercising his dog there :-). I did not have my camera with me so took these photos with my phone in case I did not manage to find anything better for this item of the assignment:

Later that day, when I had my camera with me, I did spot people there, so I went upstairs in the U-Bahnhof Hallesches Tor, overlooking the area, camera locked and loaded. I am not sure which of these two I like best (separating them here with another photo I took on the same station):

5. Violent Hands

I went to my most local cemetery near Hallesches Tor, at Mehringdamm, in seach of a photo of a squirrel, also for this assignment. I usually see lots of squirrels there, but that day – none.

I did come across this, which may have to do for the “violent hands” item, although it is of course really far-fetched: those hands are obviously not violent, but I find that set-up puke-worthy, since during the war, all Siemens plants were basically labour camps forcing  Jews, Sinti, Roma and, in the final phases of the war, concentration camp inmates to work there. (It has to be said that probably all factories did that).

This is the burial site of the branch of the Siemens family who founded Siemens Russia. The founder of Siemens Germany and his family are buried at Berlin’s largest cemetery – Südwestkirchhof Stahnsdorf. Their fenced-in burial site there is almost like a small park.

6. Person Smoking

Feeling a bit voeuristic here:

7. Water

A reflection of the TV Tower – also it was raining.

8. Hand Tugging on Ear

Terrible photo. I had to stage it and I hate that and I will never do it again.

10. Dangerous Jumping

“Mauerspringer”, the statue commemorating Konrad Schumann.

11. Filthy Shoes

This one is easy: These are my shoes after a visit to the dog park in Park am Gleisdreieck – the smallest and also the closest of the dog parks within walking distance. Unlike the ones on Tempelhofer Feld, there is no grass there so it can get quite muddy. Which also means that when the ground is frozen, it is really unpleasant for the dogs to run on. As can be seen, on this day, it was not frozen.

I bought the shoes pre-Corona, and pre-Max, when I joined Berliner Wanderclub, and they have served me, and are still serving me, incredibly well. I bought them in Camp4 – a shop specialising in clothes, equipment etc. for hiking, camping, cycling …. – highly recommended, very knowledgeable and service-minded staff.

And here is Max in the same dog enclosure, pretending to be young: https://youtu.be/HXSmyXnJ3Cs.

14. Car Rushing By

15. A Frugal Meal

Of all relatively low-cost meals, a dal has to be among the healthiest and most tasty. The recipe for this particular one here.

17. Damaged Goods

I hope to find a better candidate for this one later in the week. This photo is from Berlin’s Historic Harbour.

18. A bird at rest

I assume that means: as opposed to a bird in flight – a.k.a. BIF – a subject of much (mostly male) competitiveness in some photography groups on Facebook – and not a bird actually lying down, asleep.

The first time I went to Märkisches Ufer, I only came away with these photos – no real candiates for the assignment:

And somewhere along the way, I came across this stylish character:

The second time I went to Märkisches Ufer, I did spot what I was looking for.

Some of the cormorants at Märkisches Ufer/Mühlendammschleuse often sit on the lampposts looking decorative, so I set off, despite less than ideal light conditions – that is January in Berlin for you – reluctantly taking my 100-400mm with me. I really need to try to get the hang of that beast. I came up with the below candidates for this item in the assignment. Right now, I am not sure at all which one to submit.

The cupola belongs to the highly controversial, recently completed reconstruction from scratch castle, where the Palast der Republik once stood, in a prime location on Museum Island. In my opinion a monstrosity and a missed opportunity.

While there, trying to get acquainted with the beast of a lens, I also took these:

19. A Disappointment

You can’t go wrong with an invisible sunrise – on this day the sunrise, as seen from my balcony, was definitely a disappointment.

On the other photo is the tombstone of Felix Mendelssohn, which I personally find a bit disappointing, but perhaps unfairly so – perhaps he wanted it this way. It is just very humble – considering not only his talents as a composer but also the fact that his entire family was wealthy and influential – and compared to burial sites of other prominent Germans.

I am not sure which of the two photos I will submit as part of this assignment.

Unrelated to the assignment, on my visit to the cemetery, I also took these photos:

Sunday morning – coming to the end of the week – unless that damn squirrel turns up in the trees at the back of the courtyard, I will not be taking any more photos for this assignment.

While waiting and keeping an eye out, this was the view from my balcony shortly before the sun appeared:

This week’s challenge on 52Frames is “Inspired by a famous photographer”. I started out looking for a dog photographer and found Claudio Piccoli who takes some great photos of dogs in action.

Since Max and I were going to the dog park at Tempelhofer Feld, I thought I would recruit him as a model and give it a go. Not as easy as it sounds, especially without an assistant. So I might seek out a photographer of modern architecture to be inspired by instead :-).

Nevertheless, I took these photos which I think are all rather good:

By the way: Even though Max is soon to enter the category of “senior” dog, sleep is not one of his priorities.