How a Project Idea Develops
When I needed some headspace in February 2024 because of issues related to my day job and my health, I decided to go back to one of the places I’ve written about earlier. It was a bright Sunday morning, relatively mild weather. And although I had taken some of my favorite black and white film photos in this area in late November, I decided to go light this time. I didn’t want to bog me down even more with a heavy camera bag, let alone a tripod.
The area is a former freight train station in Berlin that has been turned into a nature reserve. The area is not really big, and it continues to change as shrubs, vines, trees, bushes, brambles grow relatively untamed. The landmarks in this area are heaps of railway sleepers, both concrete and wooden ones, as well as some other debris that ended up there, like some metal doors. In addition, there are also some abandoned concrete structures, like small bunkers. After all, it was freight train station for the Soviet Army.
Going Light
Going light this time meant that I only took my iPhone (slightly rigged up as I planned to shoot some video) and a compact photo digital camera. I am adding a short note on the gear used at the end of this blog post. What is more important than the actual gear is actually what I’ve achieved by not being weighed down: I was much more mobile and relaxed while I explored the area. I could take in the sights, the lights and shadows, the sounds, and the smells. I could feel the uneven ground under my feet and the crunching of stones when I walked. In other words, I could have a mindful time.
Although I once again ended up only going into a part of the area that I knew from previous visits I still managed to discover some new details, get a better feeling for the topography (the area is relatively hilly by Berlin standards) and the vistas. And while the overall area can be quite eery because of the state it is in, the sun and the other people who enjoyed a walk there made a difference. Unlike at other times, there were also children and their parents in addition to the usual dog walkers.
As I approached the area I took out my rigged iPhone and start filming short clips, trying to keep every one of them under 10 seconds. As even a rigged phone is super light to any camera, I didn’t bother putting it away at all and just carried it in my hand most of the time.
The Project Idea Emerges
While I generally knew that the area borders to active train lines and even to a subway line, one idea that I had earlier emerged again, probably in a slightly more concrete form, with actual places tagged to it. Some years ago, Ivactually recorded the subway from a vantage point that I revisited this time. At a different spot, I did some camera and lens testing, and while doing so, trains passed by in the background. I also noted during my walk how close those trains actually are, how loud they could be…
Still, while I was out there, I didn’t realize that and just continued wandering around. And continued shooting short video clips. In the end, I had collected about 85 short clips and had a good time. Only towards the end I felt slightly uncomfortable as some guy apparently tried to train his big (by the sound of its barks) dog using a dog whistle. On my way out, I had the feeling that they were following me, but this may have been a misconception as the area is in parts quite open and sounds can travel far.
Back at home, I loaded the video clips into my computer and put them all in a simple chronological time-line just to see what I had gotten there. I looked at the clips a couple of times, adjusted the coloring a bit. I noted that I kept coming back to those couple of clips that had trains in them.
In the end, I created another short timeline with only those train clips and some b-roll. A bit of color adjustment, some minor edits on the lenghts of the clips, no music added. Just the sound recorded with the iPhone.
And while I was editing down the short video above (which has no pretentions of being high-quality whatsoever), I started thinking of how I could put this into a small project with very high quality sounds and better video quality. I was drawn to the very different sounds different trains and train types (high speed passenger train passing very slowly vs. freight train) produce.
I began visualizing the future video, either as a behind-the-scenes video on my Youtube channel accompanied by some good field recordings of passing trains that might end up on my Soundcloud.
And while I started thinking about the technical details of the project (which microphones, which recorder, which camera(s), which tripods), I also was mindful of the fact that before I realize the project, I might need to go back to the area soon to stake out suitable spots where I could set up my gear without attracting too many dogwalkers asking questions while at the same time being close enough to the train lines and not too exposed to potential wind gusts.
Going Light Gear
As I said earlier, I decided to use my iPhone 15 Pro that I rigged up with a Neewer Cage, a Neewer Bluetooth grip and a pair of Freewell VND Filters. This worked very well and I prefer the Neewer cage over the Smallrig one as it has a better filter adapter. But I am not 100 percent convinced about the quality of the Freewell filters as they seem to cast an odd tint. I used the free Blackmagic Design Camera app and recorded to a Samsung T5 USB SD drive via USB-C. The SD drive is held by a Smallrig clamp. I recorded the videos in ProRes 422.
As a compact camera, I carried the Ricoh GR IIIx. It is a great little camera but it did struggle with the high contrasts that morning.
Final Thoughts
I would love to promise that I keep you updated on the progress of this project, but there are too many things going on in my life right now that are more important that I rather not. Still, I hope you found it interesting to see how a decision to go light on gear actually sparked my creativity when it was otherwise hiding from the dark shadows of life.