Potsdamer Platz at Night

Potsdamer Platz, rebuilt after reunification as a dense cluster of glass towers in central Berlin, centers on the Sony Center's tent-like glass canopy, which glows in shifting colored light after dark above its circular plaza. The canopy faces upward and outward in all directions, so the strongest shot is made from directly beneath it looking straight up, where the ribbed glass panels converge toward the plaza's center in a radial pattern. Blue hour, in the twenty minutes after sunset, is the ideal window, since the sky retains enough residual color to balance against the canopy's artificial lighting rather than photographing against a featureless black void. Clear or partly cloudy evenings give the best sky color for this balance, and the shot works in any season since it depends on artificial lighting rather than daylight. The plaza stays busy with diners and visitors into the evening, but the open circular space rarely feels cramped, and a tripod is workable directly beneath the canopy on most nights, though weekend evenings bring heavier foot traffic. There is no entrance fee, as the plaza is a public square surrounded by shops and restaurants.