Frankfurt at Night
Shots of big cities at night adorn many posters and canvases – the countless colored lights simply have a mesmerizing effect. And with Frankfurt right around the corner, such photos are within easy reach. Geographically, at least.
I don’t need a photo course – or do I?
When I got more serious about photography, I largely used the numerous tutorials on the Internet, be it blogs or video tutorials. And indeed, relatively soon I was confident about handling the camera and knew which settings worked when. This quickly led to the thought, why spend money on photography courses?
It took quite a while before I came to appreciate them after all. The first workshop I attended took me to the Vivarium, Darmstadt’s zoo. In fact, the main benefit was not so much the technical details – even though I was able to pick up a few things – but the exchange with like-minded people, and above all the fact that the course instructor knew the best photo spots.
Of course, you can now scout foreign cities very well in advance on the Internet. This takes some effort and leads to finding the obvious spots, but hardly the hidden treasures. The view from the Osthafenbrücke, with the European Central Bank (ECB) mirrored in the river and the Frankfurt skyline behind it was a tip from a classmate. It just goes to show that a guide who knows the area can be a great asset. And so, finally, a “Sunset with Skyline” photography class in Frankfurt was on the agenda.
Main River and Main Tower
February 2019 was the time. During this season, it gets dark early enough that most offices and stores are still brightly lit after sunset, providing a sparkling backdrop. The meeting point with the course leader Bastian Werner was at the large Euro symbol in the banking district. From there, we first went to the banks of the Main River. From the Eiserner Steg bridge and the numerous other bridges upstream, one has a great view of the skyscrapers reflected in the water behind the river bend.
At the same time, each bridge offers its own angle of view, if only because other – partially illuminated – bridges in the foreground. Also, crossing over to the other side of the river is worthwhile in any case. I will definitely come here more often, because I still have some ideas with this scenery.
But back to the photo course: The highlight at the end was the Maintower. In fact, I didn’t know until then that this skyscraper has a viewing platform that is not only open to the public, but also provides an open view, i.e. with no windows in the way. And as a photographer, you are even allowed to take your tripod with you – something that is forbidden in many comparable places.
From the roof of the Maintower, you can look either west across the main train station to the airport, or east across the shopping area along the Zeil towards the Spessart hills. Ultimately, however, each viewing direction has something to offer, and one is spoiled for choice.
Up on the high roof, the wind turned out to be quite a challenge. Although I have a stable tripod, I quickly noticed that long exposure times inevitably led to blurred images. Again, Bastian and the group gave me good tips, and with a bit of luck during wind breaks, I took a number of shots that are still among my favorites.
The result
It is an impressive sea of lights that stretches out below. My favorite photo of the evening shows the view from the Maintower towards the east with the pedestrian zone and the illuminated Main river bridges:
The second photo shows the view to the opposite side with the main train station. If you look closely, you can see an airplane taking off from the airport in the background. A larger crop of this image was found in my 2019 calendar for the month of November.
