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Salam / Hi to all my beloved friends..

 

My old Picture....

Happy Chinese New Year / Gong Xi Fa Chai

 

Chinese New Year - often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar - is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. Despite its winter occurrence, in China it is known as "Spring Festival," the literal translation of the Chinese name 春节 (Pinyin: Chūn Jié), owing to the difference between Western and traditional Chinese methods for computing the seasons. The festival begins on the first day of the first month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: Zhēng Yuè) in the traditional Chinese calendar and ends with Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day. Chinese New Year's Eve, a day where Chinese families gather for their annual reunion dinner, is known as Chú Xī (除夕) or "Eve of the Passing Year."

  

© István Pénzes.

Please NOTE and RESPECT the copyright.

 

1st January 2025, @home

 

Hasselblad X2D 100C

Hasselblad XCD 135mm f2.8

Elinchrom 400ELB

Quadra HS

Elinchrom Deep Octa 70

I hate war, but have a deep respect for the man and woman that do the ultimate sacrifice so we can enjoy our freedom.

 

Macro Monday project - 05/25/09

“Memories”

- Hummingbird has always believed in creating new and worthy flights for the children and young people of Brazil. YOUNG WARRIORS is just another in the long history of successful flights over the past 20 years....

So why not join us: www.facebook.com/JovensGuerreiros

 

- Beija-Flor sempre acreditou em criar novos e dignos vôos para as crianças e jovens do Brasil. JOVENS GUERREIROS é apenas mais um na longa história de vôos bem sucedidos nestes últimos 20 anos....

Então junte-se a nós: www.facebook.com/JovensGuerreiros

From 2006 to 2023 the Dennis Head Old Beacon was shrouded in scaffolding as part of its restoration and conservation. You see, it's a scheduled monument and worthy of respect.

 

That's why just out of shot all that ratty old scaffolding remains in an untidy pile. They even shovelled out centuries of guano and put in mesh to stop the birds from filling it up again.

 

This whole thing was so mired in bureaucracy that they even needed an application and approval to take down the scaffolding and remove the heritage listing from the keeper's cottage because it was supposed that it was already included in the listing for the tower!

 

These things are why I wonder if that rusty old chair, these pieces of rotting wood, a lobster pot and that blue plastic sandal inside the ruins of the cottage effectively reflect the true respect held for this treasured monument.

 

Arabic calligraphy - 3d modelisation

Rendered by Zaki Jawhari from Digital-Slaves

www.kaalam.com

It's what the traffic sign on top says, but in downtown Sao Paulo, we, both drivers and pedestrians, are too busy to mind this kind of stuff like traffic light, crosswalk and own safety...

One of the stops I was really looking forward to was our visit to Wrigley Field. I've been to Chicago several times, but never had the opportunity to visit the "Friendly Confines". The Cubs were not playing the weekend we visited so we elected to take the Wrigley Field Tour. The tour was really great. We learned all about the history of the park and were given access to the box seats, bleachers, press box, club houses and even were allowed in the dugout and field. Pretty cool experience!

 

Wrigley Field

Addison & Clark

Chicago, IL

©All photographs on this site are copyright: ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) 2011 – 2021 & GETTY IMAGES ®

  

No license is given nor granted in respect of the use of any copyrighted material on this site other than with the express written agreement of ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams). No image may be used as source material for paintings, drawings, sculptures, or any other art form without permission and/or compensation to ©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams)

  

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©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams)

  

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It's Christmas eve, Friday December 24th 2021 and the weather is a sombre grey with a touch of rain in the air, much the norm for Christmas in the UK for as many years as I can remember.

  

Photograph taken at an altitude of One hundred and three metres at 12:29pm on Wednesday December 22nd 2021 off Church Lane close to Bay Pond in the heart of Godstone, a village and civil parish in the county of Surrey in England.

 

Local school children had hand painted Christmas decorations and placed them in the trees and on fence panels and hanging branches in the lane leading beside Bay Pond and onwards to St Nicholas Church and St Mary's Chapel. A lovely festive sight on a cold winter afternoon in Godstone.

  

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Nikon D850 Focal length 170mm Shutter speed: 1/50s Aperture f/13.0 iso640 Hand held with Tamron VC Vibration control set to ON in position 1 Image area FX (36 x 24) NEF RAW Size L (8256 x 5504) 14 bit uncompressed file AF-C Priority Selection: Release. Nikon Back button focusing enabled. Focus mode: AF-C AF-Area mode: 3D -Tracking watch area: Normal 55 Tracking points Exposure mode: Manual exposure mode Metering mode: Matrix metering White balance on: Auto1, 0, 0 (4750K) Colour space: Adobe RGB Picture control: (NL) Neutral (Sharpening +2) Active D-Lighting: Low

  

Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2. Nikon GP-1 GPS module. Lee SW150 MKII filter holder. Lee SW150 95mm screw in adapter ring. Lee SW150 circular polariser glass filter.Lee SW150 Filters field pouch. Hoodman HEYENRG round eyepiece oversized eyecup.Mcoplus professional MB-D850 multi function battery grip 6960.Two Nikon EN-EL15a batteries (Priority to battery in Battery grip). Black Rapid Curve Breathe strap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag.

     

LATITUDE: N 51d 14m 48.78s

LONGITUDE: E 0d 3m 46.33s

ALTITUDE: 103.0m

  

RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF FILE: 94.6MB

PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 50.30MB

     

PROCESSING POWER:

  

Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.10 (9/05/2019) LD Distortion Data 2.018 (18/02/20) LF 1.00

  

HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit Version 1.4.1 (18/02/2020). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit Version 1.6.2 (18/02/2020). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 2.4.5 (18/02/2020). Nikon Transfer 2 Version 2.13.5. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.

   

Met this guy in the metro, with his beautiful Nikon.

He is still using his analogue cameras and b&w films, which he develops himself.

Respect!

 

 

#AbFav_MULTI_COLOUR_ 📱

 

Fishing nets have been used widely in the past, including by stone age societies.

The oldest known fishing net is the net of Antrea, found with other fishing equipment in the Karelian town of Antrea.

The net was made from willow, and dates back to 8300 BC.

The remnants of another fishing net dates back to the late Mesolithic, and were found together with sinkers at the bottom of a former sea.

American Native Indians on the Columbia River wove seine nets from spruce root fibres or wild grass, again using stones as weights.

For floats they used sticks made of cedar which moved in a way which frightened the fish and helped keep them together.

With the help of large canoes, pre-European Maori deployed seine nets which could be over one thousand metres long.

The nets were woven from green flax, with stone weights and light wood or gourd floats, and could require hundreds of men to haul.

Fishing nets are well documented in antiquity.

They appear in Egyptian tomb paintings from 3000 BC. In ancient Greek literature, Ovid makes many references to fishing nets, including the use of cork floats and lead weights.

Pictorial evidence of Roman fishing comes from mosaics which show nets.

In a parody of fishing, a type of gladiator called retiarius was armed with a trident and a cast net.

In Norse mythology the sea giantess Rán uses a fishing net to trap lost sailors.

References to fishing nets can also be found in the New Testament.

Jesus Christ was reputedly a master in the use of fishing nets.

Fishing nets have not evolved greatly, and many contemporary fishing nets would be recognised for what they are in Neolithic times.

 

I would have that on my wall... LOL

 

Thank you for all your words, time, comments and faves. Very much appreciated. M, (*_*)

 

For more of my work: www.indigo2photography.com

PLEASE RESPECT THIS: IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved

 

nets, netting, abstract, harbour, industry, colour, horizontal, "Nikon D7200", "Magda indigo"

Please NOTE and RESPECT the copyright.

victor carreras © all rights reserved

 

500px.com/Victor-Photography

"When you show respect for your craft, it will respect you back. I have felt the full force of what disrespect brings.. and what consequences follow as a result." - Torkihr

 

Torkihr is by far the most skilled of his Fe Matoran brethren, second only to his brother, in which they share the same prosthetic arm. The Nynrah Ghosts met him some years ago and have most likely survived that long through is cut throat precision and ruthless combat skills.

 

He is not without fault. However, such stubborn behaviour has cost him an arm and a leg, in the most literal sense possible.

 

I give thanks to Gigamesh-Mocs for the mechanical arm as well as the apron Torkihr wears.

A dreadful grey day but a visit to the Big Buddha statue enlightened the soul.

©All photographs on this site are copyright: DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) 2011 – 2021 & GETTY IMAGES ®

  

No license is given nor granted in respect of the use of any copyrighted material on this site other than with the express written agreement of DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) ©

  

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I would like to say a huge and heartfelt 'THANK YOU' to GETTY IMAGES, and the 38.366+ Million visitors to my FLICKR site.

  

***** Selected for sale in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on January 13th 2021

  

CREATIVE RF gty.im/1295937892 MOMENT ROYALTY FREE COLLECTION**

  

This photograph became my 4,807th frame to be selected for sale in the Getty Images collection and I am very grateful to them for this wonderful opportunity.

  

©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams)

 

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Photograph taken around at 09:51am on September 6th 2012 off Kirkstone Pass at a height of almost 350 metres at the summit of a road so windy and tricky they named it 'The Struggle', past Glenridding and heading towards Ambleside and Lake Windermere, part of the Lake District in Cumbria, England.

  

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Nikon D7000 Focal length: 10mm Shutter speed: 1/125s Aperture: f/16.0 Iso200 Hand held. RAW 14-bit Size L (4928 x 3264) Lossless compressed file. Manual exposure Auto white balance. Colour space: Adobe RGB. Matrix metering.

   

Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5-5.6 DX EC HSM.UV filter. Nikon GP-1 GPS

  

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LATITUDE: N 54d 26m 59.98s

LONGITUDE: W 2d 56m 20.12s

ALTITUDE: 344.0m

  

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PROCESSING POWER:

  

Nikon D7000

  

HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit Version 1.4.1 (18/02/2020). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit Version 1.6.2 (18/02/2020). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 2.4.5 (18/02/2020). Nikon Transfer 2 Version 2.13.5. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.

   

Just a Mum....

 

A woman, renewing her driver's licence .

Was asked by the woman at Registry to state her occupation.

 

She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.

 

'What I mean is, ' explained the woman at Registry,

'do you have a job or are you just a ...?'

 

'Of course I have a job,' snapped the woman.

 

'I'm a Mum.'

 

'We don't list 'Mum' as an occupation, 'housewife' covers it,'

Said the recorder emphatically.

  

I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation.

The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient, and possessed of a high sounding title like,

'Official Interrogator' or 'City Registrar.'

 

'What is your occupation?' she probed.

 

What made me say it? I do not know.

The words simply popped out.

 

'I'm a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations.'

 

The clerk paused, ball-point pen frozen in midair and looked up as though she had not heard right.

 

I repeated the title slowly emphasizing the most significant words.

Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written, in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.

 

'Might I ask,' said the clerk with new interest, 'just what you do in your field?'

 

Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply,

'I have a continuing program of research, (what mother doesn't)

In the laboratory and in the field, (normally I would have said indoors and out).

I'm working for my Masters, (the whole family)

and already have four credits (all daughters).

Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities, (any mother care to disagree?)

and I often work 14 hours a day, (24 is more like it).

But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.'

 

There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she completed the form, stood up and personally ushered me to the door

 

As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants -- ages 13, 7, and 3.

Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model, (a 6 month old baby) in the child development program, testing out a new vocal pattern.

 

I felt I had scored a beat on bureaucracy!

And I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than 'just another Mum.' Motherhood!

 

What a glorious career!

Especially when there's a title on the door.

  

Does this make grandmothers - 'Senior Research associates in the field of Child Development and Human Relations?

And great grandmothers - 'Executive Senior Research Associates?

I think so!

I also think it makes Aunts - Associate Research Assistants.'

 

May your troubles be less, Your laughter be more,

And nothing but happiness come through your door!

Happy Mother's Day dear girlfriends!

*** Please NOTE and RESPECT the Copyright ***

 

© Gary Prince - All Rights Reserved

 

This image may not be copied, reproduced, published or distributed in any medium without the expressed written permission of the copyright holder.

I have so much respect for this guy, getting out there and earning the pennies to keep the wolf from the door.

Traditional respect!!!!!

©All photographs on this site are copyright: DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) 2011 – 2020 & GETTY IMAGES ®

  

No license is given nor granted in respect of the use of any copyrighted material on this site other than with the express written agreement of DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) ©

  

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I would like to say a huge and heartfelt 'THANK YOU' to GETTY IMAGES, and the 36.404+ Million visitors to my FLICKR site.

  

***** Selected for sale in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on January 16th 2019

  

CREATIVE RF gty.im/1090841458 MOMENT OPEN COLLECTION**

  

This photograph became my 4,354th frame to be selected for sale in the Getty Images collection and I am very grateful to them for this wonderful opportunity.

  

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Photograph taken at an altitude of Three hundred and fourteen metres at 08:50am on Friday 24th August 2018, having paid twenty five euros for a trip on the East wing lift up to the highest viewing platform on the Tour Eiffel located at Champ de Mars, 5 Avenue Anatole France, 75007 in Paris, France. Here we look over part of Paris including the fountains in Jardins du Trocadero towards Place du Trocadero and Esplanade du Trocadero in Paris, France.

  

The Eiffel Tower was originally designed by Gustave Eiffel and constructed between 1887-1889 as the entrance to the worlds fair in that year. It is now the worlds most visited paid monument, standing 324 metres tall (1,063ft) with three floors and eight lifts and was the tallest building in the world from 1889 to 1930.

     

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Nikon D850 Focal length 46mm. Hand held with Nikkor VR vibration reduction enabled on Normal setting. shutter speed 1/60s Aperture f/10.0 iso64 RAW (14 bit uncompressed) Image size L 8256 x 5504 FX). Colour space. Adobe RGB. AF-C focus 51 point with 3-D tracking. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto 0 white balance (8030K). Nikon Distortion control on. Vignette control Normal.

  

Nikkor AF-S 24-120mm f/4G ED VR. Phot-R ultra slim 77mm UV filter. Nikon EN-EL15a battery. Matin quick release neckstrap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag. Nikon GP-1 GPS module.

  

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LATITUDE: N 48d 51m 30.00s

LONGITUDE: E 2d 17m 40.00s

ALTITUDE: 314.0m

  

RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 94.7MB

PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 21.20MB

  

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PROCESSING POWER:

 

Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.01 (16/01/2018) LD Distortion Data 2.017 (20/3/18)

 

HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB SATA storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit (Version 1.2.11 15/03/2018). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit (Version 1.4.7 15/03/2018). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 1.3.2 15/03/2018). Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.

   

Sept 15, 2016 - West of Kearney Nebraska, US

 

Prints Available Click Here

 

I was surprised to see redevelopment of some severe storm cells just off to west of Kearney Nebraska.

 

Warnings were issued shortly before 8:30pm. I had to work in 2 hours so I didn't get many shots in before I had to leave.

 

Tons of cloud to cloud lightning, with an impressive late season shelf cloud just to the northwest of my location.

 

*** Please NOTE and RESPECT the Copyright ***

 

Copyright 2016

Dale Kaminski @ NebraskaSC Photography

All Rights Reserved

 

This image may not be copied, reproduced, published or distributed in any medium without the expressed written permission of the copyright holder.

 

#ForeverChasing

#NebraskaSC

Processed with VSCOcam with q3 preset and Snapseed

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Viladecans, Barcelona.

This is a creative commons image, which you may freely use by linking to this page. Please respect the photographer and his work.

 

This photo was taken at the Gloucester Point end of the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge (in Virginia). Before the bridge was constructed, residents on either side of the York River depended on ferries. At that time Gloucester Point (where I grew up) was a loosely connected rural community of perhaps 200 people. Today it’s an unincorporated place of about 9,500.

 

“The George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge (known locally as simply the Coleman Bridge) is a double swing bridge that spans the York River between Gloucester County and York County between Yorktown, Virginia and Gloucester Point, Virginia. It connects the Peninsula and Middle Peninsula regions of Tidewater Virginia.

 

Originally built in 1952, it was reconstructed and widened in 1995 through an unusual process which greatly reduced the time the important commuter artery was out-of-service from conventional methods. The current 3,750-foot (1,140 m)-long double-swing-span swing bridge carries U.S. Highway 17, a 4-lane arterial highway. The movable span is needed to allow ship access to several military installations that are upstream of the bridge, most notably, the U.S. Navy's Naval Weapons Station Yorktown. The roadways are almost 90 feet (27 m) above the river at the highest point of the bridge. The bridge is the largest double swing bridge in the United States, and second largest in the world.

 

The toll bridge was named for George P. Coleman, who from 1913 to 1922 was the head of the Virginia Department of Highways and Transportation, predecessor to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).”

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_P._Coleman_Memorial_Bridge

  

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

 

Copley.

This outback town was named Copley although the district was already known as Leigh Creek. It was surveyed by Edward Copley Playford an uncle of the then Premier Thomas Playford. It was created in 1891 and named after the Commissioner of Lands at that time William Copley who was serving in the Thomas Playford’s government of 1890-1892. It soon had a timber framed railway station called Leigh Creek station but it now has a defunct stone railway station. Copley used to have a galvanised iron school by around 1900 named Leigh Creek School but it was changed to Copley School in 1916 as was the railway. The stone school building from around this time still remains in use. The town hardly developed but it did have a two storey stone hotel built in the 1890s. Copley still has the superb Quandong bakery/ gallery shop, a transportable UAM – United Aboriginal Missions church and combined Post Office and general store. Whilst creating a dam for the railway siding at Copley in 1888 brown coal (lignite) deposits were discovered. Exploratory work was undertaken in 1892 and further work was done in 1906 and 1917 but the science to effectively use brown coal, unlike black coal, was not available. It has high moisture content and low heat content and releases high levels of carbon and was first used in Australia in 1949 for power generation in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley. At the same time SA Premier Sir Thomas Playford began using the brown coal for SA for power generation. It is the gateway to Nepabunna and is mainly occupied by Aboriginal families who have decorated the town fences with scenes and Aboriginal motifs. By the school is a memorial to all the Aboriginal people of the region. It is beautifully worded and also pays respect to mother earth and land.

 

In respect of 'Boat Trains" It doesn't come any more up market than the Venice Simplon Orient Express. This luxury train operated by P&O Sea Containers at the time was part of a luxury travel experience offered as a through package from London to Venice by train one way and fly back or vice versa.

From an enthusiast point of view the train was booked for some rare haulage in the shape of one of the Dover Train Ferry heavy shunters namely a class 33/2. The engine used to run light from Dover Town Yard to Folkestone East Junction to await the arrival of 1Y46 11.15 London Victoria to Folkestone Harbour VSOE service. The train would arrive from London behind a class 73 and on entering the Folkestone East Train Roads would stop for the class 33/2 to be attached to the rear for the reversal and descent of the 1/37 Folkestone Harbour branch. With the closure of the branch and cessation of ferry services from Folkestone VSOE passengers are now de-trained at Folkestone West and a luxury coach conveys them to Calais in France via the Eurotunnel vehicle shuttle.

 

33 203 is seen descending the incline with 1Y46 approaching the footbridge at Folly Road Level Crossing. 73 211 can just be seen attached to the rear for the return working. Passengers disembarking from the VSOE would catch the 14.30 ferry to Boulogne where their journey would continue on the 15 coach Wagon-Lits Pullman cars across Europe. (See next image in photostream)

©All photographs on this site are copyright: DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) 2011 – 2020 & GETTY IMAGES ®

  

No license is given nor granted in respect of the use of any copyrighted material on this site other than with the express written agreement of DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) ©

  

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I would like to say a huge and heartfelt 'THANK YOU' to GETTY IMAGES, and the 35.629+ Million visitors to my FLICKR site.

  

***** Selected for sale in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on March 30th 2020

  

CREATIVE RF gty.im/1215321537 MOMENT ROYALTY FREE COLLECTION**

  

This photograph became my 4,142nd frame to be selected for sale in the Getty Images collection and I am very grateful to them for this wonderful opportunity.

  

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This One point three seconds long exposure was taken at an altitude of Nineteen metres at 05:57am on Sunday 22nd March 2020, in the golden hour around sunrise, (Sunrise was at precisely 05:56am),off Rectory Lane in the grounds of Foots Cray Meadows, over the River Cray in Bexley, Kent, England.

This bridge is known locally as Five arches bridge.

  

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Nikon D850 Focal length 35mm Shutter speed: One point three seconds long exposure. Electronic front-curtain. Aperture f/11.0 iso64 Image area FX (36 x 24) NEF RAW L (8256 x 5504). NEF RAW L (14 bit uncompressed) Image size L (8256 x 5504 FX). Focus mode AF-C focus. AF-C Priority Selection: Release. Nikon Back button focusing enabled. AF-S Priority selection: Focus. 3D Tracking watch area: Normal 55 Tracking points.AF-Area mode single point & 73 point switchable. Exposure mode: Aperture priority. Matrix metering. Auto ISO sensitivity control on (Max iso 800/ Miniumum shutter speed 125). White blance on: Auto1. Colour space: RGB. Actve D-lighting: Normal. Vignette control: Normal. Nikon Distortion control: Enabled.

  

Nikkor AF-S 16-35mm f/4.0G IF ED VR. Lee SW150 MKII filter holder. Lee 100 77mm adapter ring. Lee SW150 0.9 (3 stops) ND Grad soft resin. Lee SW150 Filters field pouch.Mcoplus professional MB-D850 multi function battery grip 6960.Two Nikon EN-EL15a batteries (Priority to battery in Battery grip). Matin quick release neckstrap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag. Nikon GP-1 GPS module. Hoodman HEYENRG round eyepiece oversized eyecup.Manfrotto 055Xprob Carbon Fiber Tripod 3 Sections. Neewer 9750 Gimbal tripod head with Arca Swiss standard quick release plate. Jessops Tripod bag.

    

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LATITUDE: N 51d 25m 36.23s

LONGITUDE: E 0d 7m 54.06s

ALTITUDE: 19.0m

  

RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 94.3MB

PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 50.60MB

   

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PROCESSING POWER:

 

Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.10 (9/05/2019) LD Distortion Data 2.018 (18/02/20) LF 1.00

 

HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit Version 1.4.1 (18/02/2020). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit Version 1.6.2 (18/02/2020). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 2.4.5 (18/02/2020). Nikon Transfer 2 Version 2.13.5. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.

   

Mural in Mamaroneck, NY for Chinese Martial Arts Cultural Center 2014

Sir Floyd Lawton was a respected man in Gotham. He was an ace class pigeon shooter with his top of the range rifle, customized by him. He had fortunes,women, and a good life. Though in October 13th his wife was assainated. This drove Floyd isane and he swore to kill the man who did this. He got his rifle and some gear ready, to find his wifes assain. The only man who would who killed his wife would be, Roman Sions. Sions wouldn't tell him straight away, only after a "few jobs". Sions used Floyd's skills to his advantage by getting Floyd to kill the people Roman had a fued with. Soon word got around Gotham that a great assain was in Gotham. They called him Deadshot.

 

This is my second entry for Gotham City War Steampunk contest

惺惺相惜

 

Discovery Meadow Park, San Jose, CA

4th of July Firework

La parroquia se ubica en una pequeña hondonada con respecto al resto de la ciudad de Taxco. Tiene una planta de cruz latina, con una nave lateral que sirve de capilla para el altar de las Ánimas. Posee dos torres gemelas de estilo churrigueresco y una capilla decorada con azulejos de talavera, característicos de la arquitectura novohispana.Santa Prisca cuenta con nueve retablos, trabajados en madera y recubiertos con hoja de oro. El estilo de los retablos forma una unidad con el conjunto arquitectónico, es decir, se trata de una muestra del barroco novohispano de mediados del siglo XVIII. El retablo mayor está dedicado a la Purísima Concepción y a los santos patrones de la ciudad de Taxco de Alarcón: Santa Prisca y San Sebastián. En las capillas del transepto del templo se ubican otros dos importantes retablos, uno dedicado a la Virgen de Guadalupe y el otro a la Virgen del Rosario.Los temas centrales de la construcción son: la patrona Sta Prisca, San Sebastián, los evangelistas, las conchas (que simbolizan el bautismo de Jesús), las hojas de laurel (que simbolizan el triunfo de la fe) y las uvas, que representan la sangre de Cristo. En el interior se hallan pinturas de Miguel Cabrera, llamado «el divino», pintor oaxaqueño nacido en el siglo XVII, al que José de la Borda encargó los cuadros que decoran el edificio.

 

es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Templo_de_Santa_Prisca_de_Taxco

 

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June 11, 2013 - Kearney Nebraska US

 

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It was unexpected... Though its June and there is always a chance.... Was about asleep when I saw the flash in the window...

 

Had everything ready but didn't have much time to capture the incoming storm front. It had picked up speed and was moving directly at my location according to radar.

 

Check out this Mammoth Roll Cloud out in front of this storm!

 

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28th September 2019, @home

 

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Photograph taken at an altitude of Eight metres, at 13:37pm on Tuesday 24th September 2019 off British Columbia Highway 14 and West Coast Road 14, on the shoreline of Jordan River looking out across the Salish sea as rainstorms approach.

  

The shoreline here is a stone's throw from where the River Jordan enters into the Salish Sea.

  

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Nikon D850. Focal length 24mm Shutter speed 1/125s Aperture f/16.0 iso250 RAW (14 bit uncompressed) Image size L (8256 x 5504 FX). Hand held with Nikon VR vibration reduction enabled. Focus mode AF-C focus 51 point with 3D- tracking. AF-Area mode single point & 73 point switchable. Exposure mode - Aperture priority exposure. Nikon Back button focusing enabled. Matrix metering. ISO Sensitivity: Auto. White balance: Natural light auto. Colour space Adobe RGB. Nikon Distortion control on. Picture control: Auto. High ISO NR on. Vignette control: normal. Active D-lighting Auto.

  

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LATITUDE: N 48d 25m 11.05s

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ALTITUDE: 5.0m

  

RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 92.6MB

PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 48.30MB

     

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The well-known and respected Freeman Maple tree at Lake Marmo, Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois. Processed with my brand of Orton effect.

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Photograph taken at an altitide of Six hundred and five metres at 09:29am on Tuesday 10th September 2019 off the Crowsnest Highway 3 between South Okanagan grasslands protected area and Osoyoos Lake, at Spotted Lake in Osoyoos, British Columbia, Canada.

  

Spotted lake is asaline endorheic alkali lake situated in the Similkameen valley of BC conating depoits of magnesium sulphate, calcium and sodium sulpahtes, silver and titanium. In the summer months due to evaporation circles of mineral deposits are outlined in the lake to stunning effect. The lake is known as Kliluk to first nations people who purchased and protected the lake in October 2001. It is now fenced off and first nations people ask that visitors do not enter the land, or at least respect it.

  

Of all the days to visit Spotted lake, it had to be raining and overcast! So sadly there was little to see of the amazing circles and colours, reason enough I guess for me to one day return in Spring or summer.

  

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Nikon D850. Focal length 46mm Shutter speed 1/10s Aperture f/16.0 iso250 RAW (14 bit uncompressed) Image size L (8256 x 5504 FX). Hand held with Nikon VR Vibration reduction set to normal. Focus mode AF-C focus 51 point with 3D- tracking. AF-Area mode single point & 73 point switchable. Exposure mode - Aperture priority exposure. Nikon Back button focusing enabled. Matrix metering. ISO Sensitivity: Auto. White balance: Natural light auto. Colour space Adobe RGB. Nikon Distortion control on. Picture control: Auto. High ISO NR on. Vignette control: normal. Active D-lighting Auto.

  

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LATITUDE: N 49d 4m 43.74s

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Deutschland / Nordrhein-Westfalen - Tagebau Hambach

 

seen from Viewpoint Berrendorf / Forum terra nova

 

gesehen vom Aussichtspunkt Berrendorf / Forum terra nova

 

The Tagebau Hambach is a large open-pit coal mine (German: Tagebau) in Niederzier and Elsdorf, North Rhine–Westphalia, Germany. It is operated by RWE and used for mining lignite.

 

The mine is on the site of the ancient Hambach Forest which was purchased by RWE in 1978. They then cut most of it down and cleared it to mine. Only 10% of the forest area remains. RWE plans to clear half of the remaining area of the forest between around 2018 and 2020; this plan was met with massive protests in autumn 2018, and was temporarily stopped in October 2018 by the supreme administrative court of North Rhine–Westphalia (Oberverwaltungsgericht für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen).

 

Begun in 1978, the mine's operation area currently (as of end of 2017) has a size of 43,8 km2, with the total area designated for mining having a size of 85 km2. It is the deepest open pit mine with respect to sea level: the bottom of the pit with up to 500 metres (1,640 ft) from the surface is 299 metres (981 ft) below sea level, the deepest artificially made point in North Rhine–Westphalia.

 

The open pit operator RWE, then known as Rheinbraun, initiated the permitting process for open pit mining in 1974 and was able to commence operations in 1978. The first excavator began its work on 15 October 1978. This was accompanied by the resettlement of local villages and towns and the largest forest area in the region, the Hambach Forest, was largely cleared. On 17 January 1984, the first brown coal was mined.

 

Hambach is the largest open pit mine in Germany with an area of 3,389 hectares (as of 2007) with an approved maximum size of 8500 hectares. About 40 million tons of lignite are produced annually in this mine. It has recently been estimated that 1772 million tons of lignite are still available for mining. The lignite was created from extensive forests and bogs, which developed in the Lower Rhine Bay between 30 and 5 million years ago. The geology of the Lower Rhine Bay is characterized by long-lasting subsidence movements in the last 30 million years, which led to the deposition of up to 1300 m thick sediment layers through the North Sea and many rivers, which today consist of lignite seams up to 100 m thick.

 

At 299 m below sea level, the deepest point of the Hambach open-pit mine forms the deepest artificial depression in North-Rhine Westphalia.

 

Since 1995, the giant bucket-wheel excavator Bagger 293 is used to remove the overburden. It hold several Guinness records for terrestrial vehicles.

 

The opencast mine annually produces a spoil amount of 250 to 300 million m³. The ratio of overburden to coal is 6.2:1. The extracted lignite is transported via the Hambach industrial spur to Bergheim - Auenheim and from there transported via the North–South industrial spur to the power stations Niederaussem, Neurath, Frimmersdorf and Goldenberg near Hürth-Knapsack. The overburden was until 16 April 2009 partially transported by conveyor belt to the Bergheim mine, which has run out of coal and therefore been refilled and recultivated. The visible mark of the open pit is the Sophienhöhe spoil tip, which is considered to be the largest man-made hill, towering over the flat landscape by 200 metres.

 

From 2013, the open pit area is to be extended southeast. For this, the villages Morschenich and Manheim must be relocated. The A4 motorway and the Hambach industrial spur, via which the lignite is transported to the power stations, were laid around three kilometres to the south parallel to the Cologne-Aachen railway line. In addition, a small piece of the federal highway 477 was moved east.

 

The open pit mine was put into operation in 1978. Every year about 0.3 cubic kilometres are moved, so that coal and soil with a volume of about 18.6 km³ will be mined by the time the coal runs out in 2040. By April 2009, the overburden, which was hitherto incurred in Hambach is now transported by conveyor belt in the now exhausted Bergheim mine to fill this in again. Now it is tilted exclusively on the western edge of the opencast mine and on the Sophienhöhe. Due to the accumulation of about 1 km³ of material at the Sophienhöhe and the extracted coal, a residual hole is created, which is to be filled up with water after completion of the mining activities.

 

A lake with an area of 4 ha and a depth of up to 400 m is planned. Size and volume depend on whether the west-located open pit Inden after its decarburization as well as the mine Bergheim filled with material from the open pit Hambach or left open. Lake Hambach would then be the deepest and (in terms of volume) after Lake Constance the second largest lake in Germany. How to fill the opencast mine is still controversial. Some voices suggest taking water from the Rur and / or the Erft or even filling the open pit with a pipeline of Rhine water. However this happens, the filling of the open pit mine is expected to take several decades. Thus, a completion of this artificial water is not expected before the year 2100.

 

In addition to the complete flooding is also possible to build a pumped storage power plant. A patent from 1995 states that such a pumped storage plant in the Hambach opencast mine can be realized and can provide a multiple of the pumped storage capacity currently available in Germany. The increased use of renewable energy makes this option more important and is being followed with interest by the Mining Authority.

 

On May 6, 2020, Meyer Burger, a manufacturer of solar cell production machinery, presented its idea for a huge solar park in the Hambach open-cast mine.[9] This would generate electricity with a capacity of around ten gigawatts, which would roughly correspond to the capacity of the Weisweiler, Neurath, Niederaussem and Frimmersdorf coal-fired power plants, which are currently dependent on the open-cast mines. Considerations for a later use of the area of 50 square kilometres include flooding to form a lake landscape. According to Meyer Burger CEO Gunter Erfurt, it would be conceivable to cover Lake Hambach with solar modules. Up to 50 million solar modules with a capacity of 10 gigawatts could be installed - as a floating solar park, as has already been realised in other parts of the world.

 

According to Meyer Burger CEO Gunter Erfurt, the construction of a state-of-the-art plant for cell and module production is currently being evaluated. In an interview with Radio Rur, Uwe Rau replied that such an idea was feasible, as a major advantage of the Hambach opencast mine was the power transmission lines already in place due to the power plants, which could thus continue to be used.

 

RWE Power AG announced in May 2020 that photovoltaic projects for the Sophienhöhe are conceivable.

 

Andreas Pinkwart, Minister for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitisation and Energy of North Rhine-Westphalia, also expressed his support for the project.

 

Since around 2012, an area within the remaining part of the Hambach Forest has been occupied by environmentalists to prevent its planned destruction by RWE.

 

The occupation involves a settlement with around two dozen tree houses and numerous road barricades. The barricades were erected to prevent mining company and police vehicles from entering.

 

In November 2017, environmentalists entered the mine and temporarily halted operations. They were met with police using horses and pepper spray.

 

In 2004, Greenpeace activists demonstrated against climate damage in the Hambach mine due to power generation using lignite. They flew over the open pit with a hot air balloon, occupied an excavator for several days and painted it partly pink. On 13 May 2009, the joint action of the local action group of citizens' initiatives against the relocation of the A4 and Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND) failed before the Federal Administrative Court. The plaintiffs tried to stop the relocation of the A4, which was deemed necessary for the planned extension of the open pit mine and justified this, inter alia, with feared noise pollution as well as the possible threat to the protected Bechstein bat and other species. In 2009, the construction of the new section of motorway began, in September 2014, it was opened to traffic.

 

Since 2008, there have increasing complaints about possible damage to the hill in the Elsdorf-Heppendorf area; since the burden of proof lies with the complainants, it is difficult to prove the mining operator guilty. The newly formed brown coal committee therefore decided on 16 April 2010, to set up the Bergschaden Braunkohle NRW reclamation service for damage victims in the Rhenish lignite mining area. The former chairman of the Higher Regional Court Hamm Gero Debusmann was appointed chairman of the recourse office. He is already chairman of the conciliation body mining damage in the coal industry. He can be contacted if attempts at reconciliation with RWE Power remain unsatisfactory. The procedure is free of charge for the applicant.

 

In November 2012 and March 2013, the police cleared tent and hut camps of mining opponents in the remaining Hambacher Forst. In 2012, a squatter had to be fetched from a six-metre deep tunnel and the following year two activists were roped off a tree platform. Later, a new camp was built at another location in the Hambacher forest.

 

In September 2018, a journalist died after falling from the tree structures built by activists.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Der Tagebau Hambach ist der größte von der RWE Power AG betriebene Tagebau im Rheinischen Braunkohlerevier. Er betrifft die Gemeinden Niederzier, Kreis Düren, und Elsdorf, Rhein-Erft-Kreis. Der Tagebau Hambach ist aufgrund der mit ihm einhergehenden Abgase der Kohleverbrennung und weiterer Umweltzerstörung, unter anderem der Rodung des Hambacher Forsts, umstritten. Über 1000 Jahre alte Ortschaften wie Manheim müssen dem Tagebau weichen.

 

Der damals noch unter dem Namen Rheinbraun firmierende Tagebaubetreiber leitete 1974 das Genehmigungsverfahren für den Tagebau ein und konnte 1978 mit dem Aufschluss beginnen. Der erste Bagger begann seine Arbeit am 16. Oktober 1978. Damit ging die Umsiedlung von Ortschaften einher und das größte Waldgebiet in der Jülicher Börde, der Bürgewald – bekannter als Hambacher Forst –, wurde weitgehend gerodet. Am 17. Januar 1984 wurde die erste Braunkohle gefördert.

 

Hambach ist mit einer Betriebsfläche von 4.380 Hektar (2017) bei einer genehmigten Maximalgröße des Abbaufeldes von 8.500 Hektar der größte in Betrieb befindliche Braunkohletagebau in Deutschland. Laut RWE lagerten im Geschäftsjahr 1973/74 geschätzte 4.500 Mio. Tonnen Braunkohle in einer Tiefe bis zu 500 Metern. Gegen 2011 standen noch geschätzte 1.772 Mio. Tonnen Braunkohle zum Abbau zur Verfügung und es wurden auf dieser Fläche jährlich etwa 40 Mio. Tonnen Braunkohle gefördert. Die Braunkohle entstand aus weitflächigen Wäldern und Mooren, die sich in der Niederrheinischen Bucht vor 30 bis vor 5 Mio. Jahren entwickelten. Die Geologie der Niederrheinischen Bucht ist gekennzeichnet durch langanhaltende Senkungsbewegungen in den letzten 30 Mio. Jahren, die zur Ablagerung eines bis zu 1300 m mächtigen Sedimentpaketes durch die Nordsee und durch viele Flüsse geführt haben, in dem sich heute bis zu 100 m mächtige Braunkohleflöze befinden.

 

Mit 299 m unter NHN bildet der tiefste Punkt des Tagebaus Hambach die tiefste künstliche Senke Nordrhein-Westfalens.

 

Der Tagebau fördert jährlich eine Abraummenge von 250 bis 300 Mio. m³. Das Verhältnis von Abraum zu Kohle beträgt 6,2 : 1. Die geförderte Braunkohle wird über die Hambachbahn nach Bergheim-Auenheim und von dort aus weiter über die Nord-Süd-Bahn zu den Kraftwerken Niederaußem, in die Kraftwerke Neurath und Frimmersdorf in Grevenbroich sowie nach Goldenberg bei Hürth-Knapsack transportiert. Der Abraum wurde bis zum 16. April 2009 zum Teil per Band zum Tagebau Bergheim befördert, der bereits ausgekohlt ist und deshalb verkippt und rekultiviert wurde. Weithin sichtbares Markenzeichen des Tagebaus ist die Hochkippe Sophienhöhe im Nordwesten des Tagebaus, sie gilt als größter künstlich angelegter Berg, der die ebene Bördenlandschaft um 200 Meter überragt.

 

Seit Oktober 2014 leitet der Bergbauingenieur Thomas Körber den Tagebau.

 

Seit 2013 wird die Tagebaufläche südöstlich erweitert. Dazu werden die Ortschaften Morschenich und Manheim umgesiedelt. Die Autobahn A 4 und die Hambachbahn, über die der Transport der Braunkohle zu den Kraftwerken geschieht, wurden um rund drei Kilometer nach Süden parallel zur Eisenbahnstrecke Köln–Aachen verlegt. Außerdem wurde ein kleines Stück der Bundesstraße 477 Richtung Osten verlegt.

 

Im August 2020 wurde bekanntgegeben, dass an der Abbruchkante ein Brunnen aus dem 2. Jahrhundert ausgegraben werden konnte.

 

Die CO2-Emissionen aus der Verbrennung der 2019 noch verbliebenen Braunkohle würden rechnerisch für eine Erhöhung des natürlichen CO2-Gehalts der Atmosphäre um ca. 0,7 Promille weltweit ausreichen, oder zusammengezogen eine CO2-Verdoppelung auf der Gesamtfläche Deutschlands bewirken, gerechnet mit 4 kg CO2 je m2 und einer Tonne CO2-Emissionen je Tonne Braunkohle. Das entspricht einer Gesamtmenge von 2,4 % des CO2-Budgets (9,9 Mrd. t CO2), welches sich Deutschland bis 2050 gesteckt hat.

 

Der Tagebau Hambach ist an Feinstaub-Emissionen in seinem näheren Umfeld beteiligt. Der Anteil des vom Tagebau herrührenden Feinstaubs wird vom Landesamt für Natur, Umwelt und Verbraucherschutz Nordrhein-Westfalen (LANUV NRW) mit 25 % angegeben.

 

Für das Jahr 2004 wird vom LANUV NRW für Überschreitungen des Feinstaub-Grenzwertes von 50 µg/m³ kein vollständiges Messjahr aufgelistet, der erlaubte Jahresmittelwert von 40 µg/m³ wird jedoch mit 30 µg/m³, der an der Messstation Niederzier festgestellt wird, deutlich unterschritten.

 

Seit Anfang 2005 gelten EU-weit neue Grenzwerte für Feinstaub-Emissionen. Unter Federführung der Bezirksregierung Köln wurde ein Aktionsplan zur Feinstaubminderung in der Umgebung des Tagebaus Hambach erarbeitet, der am 29. September 2005 in Kraft trat. Der Tagebaubetreiber hatte bereits vorlaufend mit der Umsetzung von Maßnahmen zur Feinstaub-Reduzierung begonnen. Im Jahr 2006 wurden in Niederzier 35 Überschreitungen des Grenzwertes verzeichnet, was genau den erlaubten Überschreitungstagen entsprach. Der Jahresmittelwert sank für diesen Zeitraum auf 29 µg/m³.

 

Nach der EU-Richtlinie 1999/30/EG sind ab dem 1. Januar 2005 maximal 35 Überschreitungen des PM10-Tagesmittelwertes von 50 µg/m³ pro Jahr zulässig. Seit dem 1. Januar 2010 darf der einzuhaltende Tagesmittelwert für PM10 weiterhin 50 µg/m³ betragen. Seit dem Jahr 2010 sollte der Jahresmittelwert für PM10 nur noch 20 µg/m³ betragen. Dies ist durch die Richtlinie 2008/50/EG vom 21. Mai 2008 (Anhang XI) wieder entschärft worden, so dass ab 2010 weiter der Jahresmittelwert für PM10 40 µg/m³ gilt.

 

Folgende Maßnahmen zur Bekämpfung von Feinstaub werden laut RWE im Tagebau umgesetzt:

 

Anpflanzen von Bäumen auf der Abraumseite

Grasbewuchs auf brachliegenden Flächen

Straßen werden befestigt und Bandanlagen auf festen Untergrund gestellt, was Staub vermindert

Berieseln der oberen Sohle auf der Baggerseite

Berieseln der Nordwand

Berieseln von Kohlebunker und Kohlebändern

beim Baggern wird Wasser auf den Abraum gesprüht.

 

In Betrieb genommen wurde der Tagebau 1978. Jährlich werden etwa 0,3 Kubikkilometer bewegt, sodass gegen Ende der Auskohlung im Jahr 2040 Kohle und Erdreich mit einem Volumen von etwa 18,6 km³ abgebaut sein werden. Bis April 2009 wurde der Abraum, der bis dahin in Hambach anfiel, zum Teil durch Bandanlagen in den ausgekohlten Tagebau Bergheim geschafft, um diesen wieder zu füllen. Nun wird ausschließlich am westlichen Rand des Tagebaus und auf der Sophienhöhe verkippt. Durch die Anhäufung von rund 1 km³ Material an der Sophienhöhe und durch die entnommene Kohle entsteht ein Restloch, das nach Abschluss der Abbautätigkeiten mit Wasser aufgefüllt werden soll.

 

Als Bergbaufolgelandschaft ist ein Tagebausee mit einer Fläche von 4200 ha, einer Tiefe bis 400 m und einem Volumen von 3,6 Mrd. m³ geplant. Größe und Volumen hängen davon ab, ob der westlich gelegene Tagebau Inden nach dessen Auskohlung ebenso wie der Tagebau Bergheim durch Material aus dem Tagebau Hambach verfüllt oder offen gelassen wird. Der See Hambach wäre dann der tiefste und (nach Volumen) nach dem Bodensee der zweitgrößte See Deutschlands. Wie der Tagebau befüllt werden soll, ist noch umstritten. Einige Stimmen schlagen vor, Wasser aus der Rur und/oder der Erft zu entnehmen oder gar den Tagebau über eine Pipeline mit Rheinwasser zu füllen. Wie dies auch geschieht, die Füllung des Tagebaus wird voraussichtlich einige Jahrzehnte in Anspruch nehmen. Somit ist mit einer Fertigstellung dieses künstlichen Gewässers nicht vor dem Jahr 2100 zu rechnen.

 

Am 6. Mai 2020 stellte zudem Meyer Burger, ein Hersteller von Solarzellen-Produktionsmaschinen, seine Idee für einen Solarpark vor. Dadurch würde Strom mit der Leistung von etwa zehn Gigawatt erzeugt, was in etwa der Leistung der heute von den Tagebauen abhängigen Kohlekraftwerke Weisweiler, Neurath, Niederaußem und Frimmersdorf entspreche. Überlegungen für eine spätere Nutzung des Gebietes mit einer Fläche von 50 Quadratkilometern sehen die Flutung zur Seenlandschaft vor. Gemäß Meyer Burger CEO ist es denkbar, den Hambacher See mit Solarmodulen zu bedecken. Bis zu 50 Millionen Solarmodule mit einer Leistung von 10 Gigawatt könnten installiert werden – als schwimmender Solarpark, wie er in anderen Teilen der Welt bereits realisiert wurde.[14] Gemäß Uwe Rau ist ein wesentlicher Vorteil des Braunkohletagebau Hambach, dass Stromübertragungsleitungen aufgrund der Kraftwerke bereits vorhanden seien und genutzt werden könnten.

 

Gemäß RWE Power AG ist ein Photovoltaik-Projekte für die Sophienhöhe vorstellbar.

 

Unterstützend äußerte sich auch der Minister für Wirtschaft, Innovation, Digitalisierung und Energie von Nordrhein-Westfalen, Andreas Pinkwart.

 

Neben der vollständigen Flutung des Tagebaurestloches besteht auch die Möglichkeit, ein Pumpspeicherkraftwerk zu errichten. Ein Patent von 1995 führt aus, dass ein solches Pumpspeicherwerk im Tagebau Hambach realisierbar ist und ein Vielfaches der aktuell in Deutschland verfügbaren Pumpspeicherkapazität zur Verfügung stellen kann.[18] Durch die zunehmende Nutzung erneuerbarer Energien gewinnt diese Option an Bedeutung und wird vom Bergamt mit Interesse verfolgt.

 

Die RWE Power AG gab im Mai 2020 bekannt, dass ein Pumpspeicherwerk zumindest für die Sophienhöhe keine Lösung sei, da dort die Anlage eines Obersees nicht möglich sei. Hingegen seien Photovoltaik-Projekte vorstellbar.

 

Es gibt ein weiteres Konzept zur Speicherung von elektrischer Energie. Dabei soll aus dem Restloch des Tagebaus Wasser nach oben gepumpt werden und bei Strombedarf wieder an Turbinen vorbei nach unten gelassen werden. Abhängig von der Größe der realisierten Anlagen sind dort gemäß Konzept Speicherkapazitäten von einigen 100 bis einigen 1000 GWh möglich, die Speicherkosten sollen bei 1 bis 2 ct/kWh liegen.

 

An Pfingsten 2004 demonstrierten Greenpeace-Aktivisten im Tagebau Hambach gegen die Klimaschädigung durch die Braunkohleverstromung. Sie überflogen den Tagebau mit einem Heißluftballon, hielten mehrere Tage einen Bagger besetzt und strichen diesen zum Teil rosa an. Am 13. Mai 2009 scheiterte die gemeinsame Klage der lokalen Aktionsgemeinschaft der Bürgerinitiativen gegen die Verlegung der A 4 und des BUND vor dem Bundesverwaltungsgericht. Die Kläger versuchten, die zur geplanten Erweiterung des Tagebaus notwendige Verlegung der A 4 zu stoppen, und begründeten dies u. a. mit befürchteten Lärmbelastungen sowie der möglichen Bedrohung der unter Naturschutz stehenden Bechsteinfledermaus und andere Arten. 2009 wurde mit dem Bau des neuen Autobahnteilstücks begonnen, im September 2014 wurde es dem Verkehr übergeben.

 

Seit 2008 werden vermehrt Beschwerden wegen möglicher Bergschäden im Bereich Elsdorf-Heppendorf laut; da die Beweislast bei den Beschwerdeführern liegt, ist der Nachweis gegenüber dem Bergbautreibenden schwierig. Der neugebildete Braunkohlenausschuss beschloss deshalb am 16. April 2010 die Einrichtung der Anrufungsstelle Bergschaden Braunkohle NRW für Betroffene von Bergschäden im rheinischen Braunkohlenrevier. Zum Vorsitzenden der Anrufungsstelle wurde der ehemalige Präsident des Oberlandesgerichts Hamm, Gero Debusmann, berufen. Er ist bereits Vorsitzer der Schlichtungsstelle Bergschäden im Steinkohlenbergbau. Er kann angerufen werden, wenn Einigungsversuche mit RWE Power unbefriedigend geblieben sind. Das Verfahren ist für den Antragsteller kostenfrei.

 

Im November 2012 und März 2013 räumte die Polizei Zelt- und Hüttenlager von Tagebaugegnern im verbliebenen Hambacher Forst. 2012 musste ein Platzbesetzer aus einem sechs Meter tiefen Erdversteck geholt und im Folgejahr zwei Aktivisten von einer Baumplattform abgeseilt werden. Später entstand ein neues Camp an einer anderen Stelle im Hambacher Forst.

 

Am 23. Oktober 2016 fand eine Demonstration im Hambacher Forst statt, um das letzte Stück des Waldes zu schützen. Es nahmen laut Polizeiangaben über 1000 Personen teil, die sich in Rot kleideten, um eine rote Linie auf der alten A4 bei Buir zu bilden. Sie wollten mit der Aktion ein Zeichen gegen die Abholzung des letzten Stückes des Hambacher Forstes setzen.

 

Am 5. November 2017, einen Tag vor Beginn des Weltklimagipfels in Bonn, besetzten rund 3.000 Aktivisten Teile des Tagebaus, um darauf aufmerksam zu machen, dass wenige Kilometer vom Konferenzort entfernt mit dem rheinischen Braunkohlerevier die ihren Angaben zufolge größte CO2-Quelle Europas liegt.

 

Die Hambach-Gruppe war eine 1977 gegründete Initiative von jungen Wissenschaftlern der RWTH Aachen, die sich kritisch mit Braunkohleabbau und dessen Folgen beschäftigte; beispielsweise dem Aufkauf und Abriss von Ortschaften durch den Tagebau und somit der Vertreibung der dort ansässigen Bewohner. Von 1984 bis 1985 war der spätere Politiker Rüdiger Sagel Geschäftsführer dieser Bürgerinitiative in Aachen. Ihre Aktivitäten endeten vor 1990.

 

Die Aktionsgemeinschaft der Bürgerinitiativen gegen die Verlegung der Autobahn A4 war ein von 1992 bis 2013 aktiver Zusammenschluss von sechs örtlichen Bürgerinitiativen der Ortschaften Arnoldsweiler, Buir, Manheim, Merzenich und Morschenich gegen den Tagebau Hambach und die Verlegung der Bundesautobahn 4. Der Aktionsgemeinschaft gelang es erstmals, die enormen und irreversiblen Umweltschäden des Tagebaus Hambach in groß angelegten Aktionen darzulegen und so den betroffenen Bürgern vor Augen zu führen, dass Widerstand möglich ist. Die Aktionsgemeinschaft hat viele Widerstandsformen – wie z. B. regelmäßige Waldspaziergänge – erfunden, um auf das Abbaggern des Hambacher Forstes aufmerksam zu machen.

 

(Wikipedia)

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