This huge building is part of a complex called Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen and was once a huge steel industrial area. Today the Turbinenhalle and its ancilliary buildings, which used to produce power for the nearby steel ovens, are used as event halls, discos and, apparently here, as a casino and fitness center next to each other. Which is kind of a funny combination :-).

With four different rose bushes this summer on the balcony,
there was always an open blossom somewhere!

More Zinnia colours!

Another SX1 autumn test shot, this is our “backyard” in its November outfit, made pretty with a bit of HDR. On the far left you can still see the Geraniums on my balcony blooming!

A (successful?) attempt to photograph the Cactusflowers with the flash.

Zinnia, providing some directions. “And on the left, we have more Roses…”

A closer look at the old water tower in Oberhausen from the previous photo. It was originally built in 1897 and has actually only been in use until 1965, when it was decommissioned from its original use. Today its interior is being used as an office building, but the RWW logo from our local water company is still present on the reservoir.

One last tele-macro test shot with the SX1 I took of some of my model trains. This is a Minitrix gauge N model of a V200 series diesel locomotives, specifically the later V200.1/221. This is not actually a model from my childhood – I bought this about ten years ago from Ebay, although I do have a very old cast-iron model in H0 of a V200 from the 1960s. I think I’m going to take photos of all the model trains sometime now that I’ve got a good camera for it!

Red, Green and Yellow.