Standing Stones

WernerG

There are many large complexes of standing stones in the Hebrides. This small circle with only 3 large stones still standing is in a sheep pasture belonging to a B&B on the northern coast of Mull.

kdog

I love the composition, Werner. I wonder how it would have looked a little later at sunset. Any idea of the history of these oddities?

WernerG

kdog wrote: »

I love the composition, Werner. I wonder how it would have looked a little later at sunset. Any idea of the history of these oddities?

Thank you joel, most of these stone constructions are believed to be at least 5000 years old and can be found all over the British Isles. The most famous in Scotland (to tourists anyway) are the Callanish Stones in the Outer Hebrides



and the Rings of Brodgar in the Orkneys



both of which are more than just rings of stones, some have tombs, some of other stones near by. The Orkney Islands have many smaller, even individual stones scattered all over the islands. As to their significance, take your pick; religious, astronomical, burial tombs for the elite or all three.

BTW, I can count on one finger the number of sunsets we had in three weeks of touring. Don't let the blue skies fool you, they only last for a few minutes at a time. Never leave the car without rain gear!

Earache

Great images, thanks for posting more.... like that you were able to keep modern humans out of your shots.
I'm dying to visit these sites, so color me jealous!

WernerG

Earache wrote: »

Great images, thanks for posting more.... like that you were able to keep modern humans out of your shots.
I'm dying to visit these sites, so color me jealous!

Thank you Eric. We were there in Sept so that reduced the tourist population by quite a bit but made the weather more variable. As with most family travel photography you take what you can get. If you look carefully at the Callanish stones, at least one of the "stones" is a person. There were several groups walking through the Ring of Brodgar stones but I carved out enough of the scene to show the basic structure. At that time of year many ancient sites in the Hebrides and Orkneys are nearly empty.

As you can see from these three, I got a bit carried away with shooting these stones from very close at extreme wide focal lengths, around 10mm (15mm @ 35). But without a way to look down on the stones to see their arrangement, standing further back and shooting at more normal focal lengths didn't work well.

Earache

WernerG wrote: »

If you look carefully at the Callanish stones, at least one of the "stones" is a person.

Silly me...:D

BTW... imo, very wide-angle is not a negative in these type of compositions - I think it kind of enhances the mystery/drama.

Stumblebum

Perfectly composed! Wish you caught sunrise or sunset there!

byoshi

I like the original image. Great sense of depth and even though its not sunrise/sunset the clouds seem to lead my eye to the stones and formations.

WernerG

Thank you all for your comments. One of the neat things about extreme wide angle lenses is the distortion that occurs on the edges can stretch clouds and create a sense of motion. You do have to be careful what you put on the edges though.