Explored September 16, 2022

Another one from the Reichstag dome on top of the Reichstag building, the seat of the German government. This is the "top of the top", the highest point of the dome that you can reach as a visitor. And yes, the top of the Reichstag dome is open. Always, 24/7/365, and there also is no mechanism to close it, not even when it rains.

A design flaw? No, the open top of the dome is part of the Reichstag building's energy concept. As you can see in some of my other captures from the Reichstag dome (please check my albums, if you like), there's a large funnel at the centre of the dome which was not only constructed to lead diffuse daylight into the plenary hall of the German Bundestag (which is located right below the dome), but also serves as a ventilation system for the plenary hall. Stale air from the plenary hall is directed through the funnel and escapes through the opening at the centre of the dome. Moreover, on its way to the top, it also passes a heat recovery system that can extract usable residual energy from it.

And what happens when it rains? Don't worry, a device directly under the opening of the dome catches the rainwater.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, dear Flickr friends!

Nach oben offen

Das ist die Reichstagskuppel tatsächlich, und zwar bei jeder Witterung. Was sich wie ein Planungsfehler anhört, ist Teil des ausgeklügelten Energiekonzepts des Reichstagsgebäudes, in das die Kuppel mit einbezogen wurde.

Wie Ihr vermutlich wisst, dient der Trichter in der Mitte der Kuppel nicht nur dazu, diffuses Tageslicht in den sich direkt unter der Kuppel befindlichen Plenarsaal zu leiten. Der Trichter dient auch als Belüftungssystem, indem er verbrauchte Luft nach oben direkt durch die Öffnung im Kuppeldach abtransportiert. Nicht nur das, auf dem Weg zur Kuppelöffnung passiert sie auch noch eine Wärmerückgewinnungsanlage, die ihr verwertbare Restenergie entzieht. Die vom Architekten des Reichstagsgebäudes, Paul Wallot (1841-1912), ursprünglich vorgesehenen Belüftungsschächte wurden beim Neubau der Kuppel übrigens wieder freigelegt und ebenfalls für die Versorgung mit Frischluft nutzbar gemacht.

Und was passiert, wenn es regnet? Keine Sorge, eine Vorrichtung direkt unter der Kuppelöffnung fängt das Regenwasser auf.

Ich wünsche Euch ein schönes Wochenende, liebe Flickr-Freunde!

Tags:   Berlin Deutschland Germany Reichstag dome Norman Foster opening Yes, it's open at the top sunset sunset colours sky clouds sun hot summer day dense hazy steel construction cityscape skyline buildings wide-angle photography ultra wide-angle wide-angle distortion Have You Ever Seen The Rain? Creedence Clearwater Revival Reichstagskuppel nach oben offen offen Stahlkonstruktion Sonnenuntergang farbenfroh Stadtlandschaft Himmel Wolken Sonne Weitwinkel Berlino Berlín Berlim Berlijn Berliini Берлін ベルリン 베를린 柏林 Cúpula del Reichstag Domo do Reichstag Reichstag Kubbesi OM Digital Solutions OM SYSTEM OM-1 M.Zuiko ED 7-14mm f2.8 PRO DXO PhotoLab 5 Luminar Neo #madewithluminar

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#windowwednesday

View down the central funnel inside of the Reichstag dome on top of the Reichstag building, the seat of the German parliament (the Bundestag). The funnel is a so-called "light-diverting element" with mirrors that guides diffuse daylight into the plenary hall of the German Bundestag ten meters below and also serves as an exhaust "pipe" that deflects used air from the plenary hall through the 10-meter-wide central opening at the apex of the dome (which you can't see here).

For whatever reason the checked "pattern" of the reflective windows on the funnel's base (theoretically one could take a look into the plenary hall) always reminds me of a gambling table at a casino, hence the title which I've borrowed from one of the best James Bond movies (and I also like the 1967 parody). But of course, there's nothing "royale" or "gambling-ish" about this profoundly democratic place (which, as you know, it hasn't always been). Surrounding the funnel's base you can find the permanent exhibition "From the Reichstag to the Bundestag" which tells the eventful history of the Reichstag building from its beginnings to the present day.

Happy Window Wednesday, Everyone :)

Tags:   Window Wednesday Berlin Deutschland Germany Reichstag building Reichstag dome Norman Foster windows reflections architecture modern dome funnel tornado pattern lines POV perspective looking down centered democracy Reichstagsgebäude Reichstagskuppel moderne Architektur Perspektive Trichter Demokratie Casino Royale 007 James Bond 1967 2006 futuristisch OM-1 M.Zuiko ED 7-14mm f2.8 PRO DXO PhotoLab 5 Luminar Neo #madewithluminar OM Digital Solutions OM Digital Solutions OM-1 Weitwinkel wide-angle spaceship

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...and roofs. So many roofs on which solar panels could be installed, but aren't. That's what I thought when I looked down on the city from the Reichstag dome. There are some roofs with solar panels, but not nearly as many as there could be. Especially not the roofs of the governmental buildings, although that could set a good example. But there are solar panels on some public buildings such as the Futurium (which you can't see in this image). Just for fun, I've marked the one roof equipped with solar panels with an image comment, alongside a few Berlin landmarks and sights.

Processing-wise, this is obviously a slider. The early evening atmosphere of that very hot day back in August had been a little dense and somewhat hazy which made the colours in the original image (an HDR made from exposure bracketing) look a little weird, so I thought I'd try something with the sliders in LR, Color Efex Pro, and Luminar Neo. In the original HDR, there also had been some weird tiny spots (quite many weird tiny spots!), and when I noticed them I was pretty startled because I immediately thought of the dreaded sensor dust – which I've never had on any of my Olympus cameras' senors, and of all things, the new OM-1 should have already gathered sensor dust on its very first proper photo outing?!? Luckily, I remembered that I'd taken a few skyline photos through the not very clean windows of the Reichstag dome, and this was one of those images. Phew ;)

Happy Sliders Sunday, Everyone, and have a nice week ahead!

Tags:   Sliders Sunday Post Processed to the MAX!!! Berlin Deutschland Germany Reichstag dome Reichstagskuppel cityscape skyline sky clouds hot summer day dense hazy buildings colourful Stadtlandschaft farbenfroh Sehenswürdigkeiten Berlino Berlín Berlim Berlijn Berliini panorama urbain panorama urbano stadssiluett şehir silüeti Берлін Скайлайн ベルリン スカイライン (風景) 베를린 스카이라인 (풍경) 柏林 天際線 OM Digital Solutions OM SYSTEM OM-1 M.Zuiko ED 7-14mm f2.8 PRO DXO PhotoLab 5 Lightroom Color Efex Pro Nik Collection Luminar Neo

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Explored April 23, 2022

#900
#sliderssunday

Laowa C-Dreamer 7.5 mm F/2

My 900th photo upload on Flickr :) I stumbled upon this interior photo of the Reichstag dome while flipping through my photo folders in search of a photo that might be a worthy No. 900. Back then the Laowa 7.5 mm F/2 prime lens had been my widest lens. Now that the dome is open to the public again, I can't wait to plan another visit, and this time I will bring the M.Zuiko 7-14 wide-angle zoom along. The dome isn't easy to photograph, and I'm curious if 7 mm is that much wider compared to 7.5 mm in an interior setting and whether I will benefit from the extra flexibility a zoom lens offers.

Processing-wise, this is a slider already for Sunday. Back in 2019 I still had not been used to doing exposure bracketing regularly, so the original RAW file had been a little on the dark side. To reproduce the open, airy atmosphere of the Reichstag dome, I went both into Color Efex and Luminar Neo and individually processed the RAW file using the high-key filters of both programmes. The final result is a combination of the Color Efex and the Luminar Neo image done by blending in the layers in PS. I hope you like it.

Mein 900. Foto auf Flickr :) Anlässlich dieses "Jubiläums" habe ich meine Foto-Ordner nach einem Bild durchsucht, dass der Nr. 900 würdig ist, ich hoffe, ich habe das richtige Foto gewählt. Die Reichstagskuppel ist gar nicht so einfach zu fotografieren. Bei meinem Besuch 2019 hatte ich mein damals weitestes Objektiv dabei, das Laowa 7.5 F/2, eine Festbrennweite. Da die Kuppel erfreulicherweise endlich wieder geöffnet ist, werde ich wohl bald einen weiteren Besuch planen – und dieses Mal wird das M.Zuiko 7-14 mit von der Partie sein. Ich bin schon gespannt, ob der halbe Millimeter mehr am weiten Ende in Innenräumen wirklich einen so großen Unterschied macht. Und ich hoffe, von der Flexibilät des Zooms zu profitieren.

Bearbeitungstechnisch ist das eigentlich schon ein Slider für Sonntag. Ich hatte damals noch nicht regelmäßig daran gedacht, bei schwierigen Lichtverhältnissen Belichtungsreihen zu machen und so war die RAW-Datei ein wenig zu dunkel geraten. Um die luftig-leichte Atmosphäre im Innern der Kuppel wiederzugeben, habe ich mich hier also an einer kleinen High-Key-Spielerei versucht, und zwar sowohl in Color Efex als auch in Luminar Neo. Beide Bilder habe ich dann in PS miteinander kombiniert. Das Endergebnis seht Ihr hier, ich hoffe, es gefällt Euch.

Tags:   sliderssunday Post Processed to the MAX!!! Berlin Deutschland Germany Reichstag Reichstagskuppel Norman Foster Architektur modern Spirale Ultraweitwinkel Weitwinkel Reichstag dome spiral whirlgig high-key pastel airy elegant architecture wide-angle ultra wide-angle people Cúpula del Reichstag Domo do Reichstag Palais du Reichstag Palazzo del Reichstag Clădirea Reichstagului Gmach parlamentu Rzeszy w Berlinie Κτήριο του Ράιχσταγκ Райхстаг (Берлин) 国会議事堂 (ドイツ) 德國國會大廈 Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II Laowa C-Dreamer 7.5 F/2 Venus Optics DXO PhotoLab 5 Color Efex Nik Collection Luminar Neo 3000v120f

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Explored December 17, 2020

Before autumn finally gives way to winter, here's another image from a photowalk with Flickr friends back in November 2018. This a a view westwards from the rooftop terrace of the Reichstag building. While the Reichstag building's rooftop terrace is by no means the highest viewpoint in Berlin, you still have a pretty good view over the city in all four directions. And on that particular(ly cold) day we enjoyed a lovely golden hour up there that ended in a really spectacular sunset later.

Some of the builings you can see here are amongst Berlin's landmarks: there's the Victory Column with the gilded statue of Victoria on top – which was featured in the video for U2's song "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)" from their 1993 album Zooropa, and also in Wim Wender's movie Wings of Desire (1987). The tower on the right behind the Victory column which looks like the Eiffel tower's little brother is the Berlin Radio Tower which was inaugurated in 1926. On the left behind the Victory Column you can see the Teufelsberg ("Devil's mountain"), a rubble mountain which also covers the unfinished Nazi military-technical college (Wehrtechnische Fakultät); on top of the Teufelsberg you can see the remains of a former US listening station (the buildings with those spherical roofs). And the tower at the far right is the Tiergarten Carillon, the closest building to the Reichtags building in that direction. The 42 meter high Carillon is a large, manually played "Glockenspiel" consisting of 68 bells; it's located in Berlin's largest park, the Tiergarten (all those colourful tree tops you can see).

At first I thought I'd crop the image to get rid of the decorative roof element which you can see on the left. But then I thought that it's actually another layer in this multi-layered city image and also a nice anchor or entry point. Regarding the sky I should admit that I needed "a little help from my friends" aka photo editing software (Luminar AI to be precise): While the colours which you see are pretty much true to the golden hour colours we'd had on that afternoon – a warm, golden glow on the horizon that started to rise into the bright blue November sky – there was a fairly large area blown-out from the low afternoon sun which, for me, would have ruined the image. Other than that I've edited the image in Color Efex Pro starting from the preset "Warm Sunset".

Happy Hump Day, dear Flickr friends, wash hands, wear a mask, and stay safe and healthy!

Tags:   Berlin Tiergarten Reichstagsgebäude city skyline panorama silhouette layers soft hazy sunset clouds golden hour trees tree tops autumn colours colourful Siegessäule Goldelse Berliner Funkturm langer Lulatsch Carillon Teufelsberg Abhörstation Berlin Victory Column Berlin Radio Tower Carillon in Berlin-Tiergarten Devil's Mountain hump day U2 Zooropa Stay (Faraway, So Close!) Der Himmel über Berlin Wings of Desire silhouette urbaine silueta de la ciudad linia horyzontu городско́й силуэ́т Берлинская радиобашня Рейхстаг Тойфельсберг 钟琴塔 (柏林) Olympus OM-D EM-5 Mark II M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm 1: 2.8 Macro DXO PhotoLab 4 Nik Collection Color Efex Luminar AI #madewithluminar autumn foliage

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