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Niagara River, old power plant
Lens: Sigma 8-16, AD* 60-250 Camera: K-5 Photo Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario ISO: 100 
Posted By: normhead, 06-01-2013, 05:59 PM










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06-01-2013, 06:41 PM   #2
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What a magnificent structure! It boggles my mind that there was a time when so much effort (and money) was put into the aesthetics of something as utilitarian as a power plant. It's a shame they don't give tours. Looks like it would be pretty interesting.

I found an article by a guy (he has a team, actually) that has explored the tunnels deep beneath this plant. He's explored the tunnels under the Ontario Generating Station, too. Fascinating stuff. If I had the guts, the skills, and the equipment, I'd love to do that stuff. I guess the rest of us have to settle for pictures, but they are amazing pictures!

Toronto Power Company | Vanishing Point
Ontario Generating Station | Vanishing Point
06-02-2013, 01:51 AM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by First Poster Quote
Niagara River, old power plant
Great shots of an amazing building, do they not harness the power anymore?

If so, I wonder why they didn't "recycle" the building or at least use it for something else.

I know the answer is going to be down to cost somewhere along the line, but it just seems such a waste.
06-02-2013, 05:39 AM   #4
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Great series the power of man harnessing the power of water.

06-02-2013, 06:56 AM   #5
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Nice series Norm. There is something about the last one that really catches my eye and I keep going back to it. Like the lines and textures and the DOF makes it so interesting.
06-02-2013, 02:46 PM   #6
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Original Poster
QuoteOriginally posted by scratchpaddy Quote
What a magnificent structure! It boggles my mind that there was a time when so much effort (and money) was put into the aesthetics of something as utilitarian as a power plant. It's a shame they don't give tours. Looks like it would be pretty interesting.

I found an article by a guy (he has a team, actually) that has explored the tunnels deep beneath this plant. He's explored the tunnels under the Ontario Generating Station, too. Fascinating stuff. If I had the guts, the skills, and the equipment, I'd love to do that stuff. I guess the rest of us have to settle for pictures, but they are amazing pictures!

Toronto Power Company | Vanishing Point
Ontario Generating Station | Vanishing Point
Thanks for the quotes, good stuff.

QuoteOriginally posted by kerrowdown Quote
Great shots of an amazing building, do they not harness the power anymore?

If so, I wonder why they didn't "recycle" the building or at least use it for something else.

I know the answer is going to be down to cost somewhere along the line, but it just seems such a waste.
The simple answer is Ontario Hydro is incredibly biased against small projects, I actually had a freind trying to demonstrate some new power source, that was turned down a test project, because he couldn't build a test generator small enough. If you put a low head generator on this plant it could easily crank out 500 megawatts, just from my limited understanding of things, possibly more, but that isn't enough for Ontario Hydro to look at it. However, if the town of Niagara Falls itself wanted to take it over and gve their citizens extremely cheap power, they could probably do that. Ontario Hydro has been very good at lending their expertise to municipalities that go that route. Orillia Ontario where I lived for 2 years had very reasonable power rates because they'd developed three local rivers with small dams. This isn't testimony that would stand up in court, just my take on the situation.

By the way right now Ontario Hydro is boring a new tunnel to make use of the water power, but it's a massive undertaking compared to what this old plant would provide.

QuoteOriginally posted by daacon Quote
Great series the power of man harnessing the power of water.
Thanks Daacon...

QuoteOriginally posted by slowpez Quote
Nice series Norm. There is something about the last one that really catches my eye and I keep going back to it. Like the lines and textures and the DOF makes it so interesting.
It's really a bit of long lens magic. That was taken with the 400 mm lens, and it really compressed the image, flattening it out. So the fall off from front to back isn't nearly as dramatic as if it were taken with a normal lens. Your eye tries it's best to make sense of it, but it's not a perspective your eye would ever see, so there are no neural path ways that would help explain it. It just looks way flatter than it should, given the distance and angle at which it was taken.
06-03-2013, 12:53 AM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by normhead Quote
it's a massive undertaking compared to what this old plant would provide.
Thanks for the extra insight, I wonder if an update was perhaps the reason behind it all.

06-03-2013, 04:37 AM   #8
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Nice shots Norm. You're down in my neck of the woods! I can't tell you how many times I have walked, cycled, driven past this building without taking a minute to appreciate it as you have here. Thanks for sharing!
06-03-2013, 05:20 AM   #9
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I enjoyed viewing this set Norm. I also really like the effect you captured on that last shot.
06-03-2013, 07:03 AM   #10
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Some excellent shooting Norm! Interesting too! A change from your usual subjects, which I always love.
Regards!
06-03-2013, 07:07 AM   #11
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Some very nice shots (and info) - TFS - J
06-03-2013, 08:29 AM   #12
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Love these old monuments to technology.


They are almost as interesting as the falls themselves.

Tom G
06-04-2013, 09:37 AM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by fotogaffer Quote
Nice shots Norm. You're down in my neck of the woods! I can't tell you how many times I have walked, cycled, driven past this building without taking a minute to appreciate it as you have here. Thanks for sharing!
Take your camera next time...

QuoteOriginally posted by leptim Quote
I enjoyed viewing this set Norm. I also really like the effect you captured on that last shot.
Thanks for commenting leptin

QuoteOriginally posted by Rupert Quote
Some excellent shooting Norm! Interesting too! A change from your usual subjects, which I always love.
Regards!
Thanks RUpert, I'd love to say we were looking for a chnage of scenery, but, the truth is, the black flies drove us south.

QuoteOriginally posted by Jean Poitiers Quote
Some very nice shots (and info) - TFS - J
Thanks for commenting.

QuoteOriginally posted by 8540tomg Quote
Love these old monuments to technology.


They are almost as interesting as the falls themselves.

Tom G
We didn't even get to the Falls, we started out that way but got sidetracked by the wildlife and buildings.
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