Pic(k) of the week 26: Making bullets
Integrating a modern shopping center with a 19th century building is a great idea. It is exactly what the guys at the Melbourne Central shopping center (Australia) have done! It makes it very different to the numerous shopping malls in and around Dubai where unfortunately history is not part of the game... One exception where at least they tried, is the Ibn Batutta shopping mall at the West part of Dubai.
On the North side of the Melbourne CBD (Central Business District) one can find the Lead and Shot factory tower. It is a 50m brick tower (completed in 1890) which has been used to make 6 tons of lead shots (i.e. bullets) per week until 1961. The building was saved from demolition in 1973 and was incorporated in the large Melbourne Central complex underneath a 84m high conical glass roof, in 1991. The bullets were made by dropping small lumps of molten lead form the top of the building. By the time they reached the bottom, they had cooled and solidified into shot pellets. Individual shots were then checked for size and roundness and were remelted and dropped if not passed by quality control.
Image details:
Nikon D700 with 24-70 2.8 Nikkor lens
ISO 400, 36mm, f 5.6, 1/125 sec
RAW developed in Lightroom 3
Contrast improved with Nik Tonal contrast
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