Only the décor remains, Manheim ...

After Borschemich and Immerath the third place I visited was Manhein. This village has to go since Tagebau Hambach has to expand. Here I was struck by the fact that a lot of the houses are rather recent and not just a bunch of old and worn out houses.

There are still villagers that have not moved yet and a group of refugees has been relocated in some of the empty houses. The refugees I saw lingering around, in pairs, were mostly men aged around 20-30 years. Of the 30 I saw on the streets only two were women. Something to reflect on...

Anyhow, I'm used to derelict places that are worn out, but walking around streets with "abandoned" recent houses gave me a strange feeling. You will see what I mean when looking at the pictures.
Even the Bundesautobahn 4 has to be partially "umgesiedelt" ...

As for the gear used, only the Fuji X-E1 and the XF14mm, as usual.

Only the décor remains, Immerath ...

The second village I visited after Borschemich, see Only the décor remains, Borschemich ... was Immerath. Same story here, they have to move for Garzweiler2. A few inhabitants still live here but eventually they will have to leave. A part of the village is already destroyed, the local hospital for example. A vast sensation of solitude and desbelief gets hold of you if this is a first visit. Everybody (almost) moved and left the décor of their life behind . Strange ...

Images taken with the Fuji X-E1 and the XF14mm as usual.
On to the pictures now...

Baraque Michel...

After seeing images of a fellow photographer I decided to visit the same place he did, the Baraque Michel.
The Baraque Michel is with its 674m altitude the second highest place in Belgium. Not very high you will tell me but you have to know that Belgium is not well known for its mountainranges. The name Baraque Michel should have as origin "the house of Michel" as a certain Michel-Henri Schmitz founded an inn on this place. The inn I didn't visit since it has been very modernised but the nature here, called The High Fens, is still very big and untouched and has been declared a natural reserve in 1957.
I was quite lucky as this morning the fog was still present, creating a more atmospheric mood.

All the pictures have been taken with the Fuji X-E1 and either the 18-55mm or the 35mm. The 35mm has been used to take the images with the Brenizer technique, a technique I love to make details come out.
Anyhow, now on to the pictures...

Left to rot and desintegrate...

I went to France a few weeks ago, in first instance to photograph decaying naval ships awaiting their final destination cfr the scrapyard. See my previous post " Final destination" for this : http://am-fotografie.blogspot.be/2014/10/final-destination.html

But France has more to offer of course and has also a few ship cemetaries where ships are left to rot and desintegrate. A lust for the photographic eye if you are into decay, water and clouds...

Anyhow, being there I visited 3 such cemetaries : Le Fret, Rostellec and Camaret-sur-mer. In Le Fret only a few carcasses, in Camaret-sur-mer the ships a placed in such a place to be considered as a touristic attraction and then we have Rostellec that is the most photogenic place of the 3 with the biggest choice of decay. As I later saw, it was forbidden to go near the wrecks ... but my French isn't that good so I didn't understand the sign ;)

For the more adventurous "infiltration" of the Navy ships I opted for my Fuji X-E1 coupled with only the 18-55mm kitlens and my choice was just the same here, my Nikon D600 remaining in the car as merely backup camera...as it often does or not to say always these days.

So much for the little story, now on to the pictures...

Rostellec

Le Fret

Camaret-sur-mer

Op stap met de Fuji X-E1...Walking around with the Fuji X-E1...

De laatste paar dagen menig wat km's te voet afgelegd, vergezeld van de Fuji X-E1 en zijn 18-55mm. Het weer was van de partij en het landschap in Sippenaeken en Visé mocht er zeker wezen...

The last few days I walked quite some km's, accompagnied by my Fuji X-E1 and his trusted 18-55mm. The weather was just fine as were the landscapes in Sippenaeken and Visé...

Sippenaeken :

Visé :

Het blauwe uur...

"Het blauwe uur" is een verschijnsel dat voorkomt net voor zonsopgang of net na zonsondergang, ook gekend als twilight. Niet volledig dag maar ook niet helemaal nacht. Op dat moment kleurt de hemel zich in een mooie donkerblauwe/paarse schijn en kun je meer dan prachtige foto's nemen. De benaming "uur" is echter wel heel ruim genomen want meer dan een half uur duurt het niet...

Hieronder enkele voorbeelden van blauwe uren ...

In het Frans kent men ook de term " Entre chien et loup", een periode tijdens de schemering waar de mens het verschil niet meer kan maken tussen een hond en een wolf...

WWW 2...

Nog een paar nieuwe beelden van deze reeks die me best wel bevalt...

Borgharen bij Maastricht..

Wederom Borgharen...

 Maasmechelen voorzijde van de brug...

en als laatste beeld voor deze keer Maasmechelen met de achterzijde van dezelfde brug...