join me for a walkabout one of germany’s most beautiful cities where i test out for the first time kodak gold 200 in medium format.
I visited Dresden a while after my Berlin trip, but I decided a break from pure black & white Berlin photography was in order and so here we are visiting Dresden. I had heard Dresden was a beautiful city but was not expecting it to be one of the nicest cities I have visited in all of Germany and it makes sense that it is nicknamed “Florence on the Elbe”. I was blessed by great natural lighting, clear skies, and ample rolls of film for a long photowalk over two days. I visited this historical city and was also fortunate enough for some solo hiking in the Saxony Switzerland area (that is for a future post).
My film stock choice was an inaugural 5 roll pack of Kodak Gold 200, which I had procured in Fotoimpex in Berlin. I also had a few rolls of Fomapan 400 with me. These were paired with my Hasselblad 501c camera with an 80mm and 150mm lens and 2 film backs.
According to Kodak:
The new 120 format Kodak Professional Gold 200 is an affordable, entry-level color film featuring an ideal combination of warm saturated color, fine grain, and high sharpness. It is designed for photographers shooting at any level for daylight and flash capture. You can also expose this film under photo lamps (3400 K) or tungsten illumination (3200 K) with filters. It also features wide exposure latitude—from two stops underexposure to three stops overexposure.
My walk started off at the Dresden Zwinger, one of the most important baroque buildings in Germany. Unfortunately the rather large interior gardens were completely under construction so all I managed was some shots of the outside. More history on this palace here.
The amazing Fürstenzug, a large mural of a mounted procession of the rulers of Sazony. The lighting was falling on this mural spectacularly well so I spend more than a few minutes immersed in my waist level Hasselblad viewfinder enjoying the view. More on the history here.
I feel like at every turn you make there is just an amazing scene in front of you.
Some black and white shadow play - I spent ages at this scene and even took pretty much the same image from different sides. The lighting was spectacular though.
I am particularly pleased with this shot, although pity about a slight light leak in the frame.
A shot from my phone (I prefer the b&w one!).
Looking at the back of the Frauenkirche, which is surrounded by other historical buildings and museums.
I really liked the lighting in this scene, so much so that I took it in both colour and black & white.
I like the composition of this shot but unsure about the final colour rendering, some of the other shots had more a balanced colour profile.
Nothing like a deep dark black part of a black & white shot!
My favourite image of the day.
There is something Kafkaesque about this shot.
Dresden’s famous Frauenkirche. It has a fascinating architectural history, with its distinctive high dome (12,000 tons of sandstone) at 67m high apparently a feat comparable to Michelangelo’s dome for St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
It is impossible to visit this Church without understanding how badly it (and the city) were bombed during the war (some source images of the rebuilt a bit further down). The whole square has been redeveloped (as has most of the city). There is a large statue of Martin Luther right outside. More on the history of this church here.
Historical photographs showing the reconstruction of the Frauenkirche, finally completed in 2005.
(Source: https://www.frauenkirche-dresden.de/wiederaufbau)
Some shots of the inside of the Church, with its unusual theatre like architecture (all shot on my phone).
Includes a shot outside with Kurt Vonnegut’s seminal book about Dresden ‘Slaughterhouse five’ (thanks Isa for the recommendation!). I had heard of it but never read it (it is really very good even if a bit strange) and copies in multiple languages greet you upon entering any Dresden bookshop.
A shot of the famous walking promenade along the banks of the River Elbe.
My last shot of the roll and a really nice sunset (not that you can see it in b&w!). I rested my camera on the bridge railing and took the shot as the light was disappearing.
overall observations
As you can probably tell, I really enjoyed this visit. I experienced some of the best natural lighting I have seen in a long time and was pleased I had both colour and black & white film for my Hasselblad, with its convenient ability to change film backs.
I am still in awe as to how well reconstructed this city has been; it is hard to conceive this considering how flattened it was. It also is a city with a rich medieval history dating back to the 12th century, being the second largest city on the river Elbe after Hamburg. More on its fascinating history here.
I really enjoyed tried out the new medium format Kodak Gold 200, although with the little time I spent trying it out I would say it does not seem to be as versatile as Kodak Portra 400, but for its price point I wouldn’t expect it to be. My non scientific observation is that when the lighting is strong and more or less equal across the composition it works extremely well. I was surprised as to how it managed some areas of high dynamic range but then a bit perplexed by the colour balance in some of the shots (which absolutely could be down to poor self light metering I might add). On the whole though a great medium format film and I will definitely be picking up another 5 pack given it’s “relatively low” price point. It was nice to shoot the Fomapan 400 film too and I only bought some as a distraction from my countless Ilford HP5 rolls that I picked up in Berlin.
In summary, Dresden is not to be missed. Easily accessible by train from Berlin and relatively easy from Munich (via Leipzig). I would go back in a second, especially to explore some of the Bohemian nightlife areas north of the river.
I hope you enjoyed these shots as much as I did taking them!
See you next time,
Neil
bonus material - the ddr museum
I visited this really cool and quite large museum with everything related to East Germany.
