The Ring of Brodgar Photo

Photographer’s Note

If you are into stone circles and ancient neolithic monuments, then the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland are well worth a trip.

This is the Ring of Brodgar - "the finest known truly circular late Neolithic or early Bronze Age stone ring" according to http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/brodgar/index.html

These places are special - it's such an amazing feeling standing next to stones that were placed there by our ancestors over 4000 years ago! And on Orkney it is so uncrowded compared to places like Stonehenge.

This was taken on an old 1 megapixel camera so I know the resolution is not brilliant. In terms of PP I've just sharpened and added a frame.

Donald, GLEM, snunney, marknunnerley, Glint, UlfE, pboehringer, tigra, siolaw, stego, ChrisJ, VeeJayCee, dmarizz, evanrizo, Wandering_Dan, cfreire, Fellini, MLINES has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Donald (134) 2007-01-20 7:06

Hi Leon, it a great photo, a beautiful place!, I have only been to Orkney once in my life and I was into film at the time, I must go again some time.
Well captured and for 1 megapixel it is very good! but it maters not so much about the size, as it still was composed beautifuly.
A true Skill.
Cheers
Donald

feather (49848) 2007-01-20 7:13

You have made a perfect diagonal with the 3 fg stones to lead us into the frame. The light and colours are really good; it's hard to realise this is with a 1 meg camera. The need to sharpen has created a few halos but nothing drastic. Well done
Kath

snunney (33988) 2007-01-20 7:21

Hello Leon,
A very good perspective on these standing stones. I particularly like the positioning of the three foreground stones in the frame. Very pleasing lighting and tones and good clarity.

GLEM (2998) 2007-01-20 7:22

hi Léon,
ces formes sont toujours très intéressantes et posent beaucoup de question quant à leur signification. Jolie prise de vue, avec toutefois une petite correction possible sur la netteté.

tfs

mesutilgim (36210) 2007-01-20 7:43

Hi Leon,
Very good capture. Good pow and composition.
And the best thing, your notes. İn fact that is what TE is for !
Thanks for sharing
MESUT ILGIM

ben4321 (9781) 2007-01-20 9:27

The low resolution and lack of sharpness is a bit of a shame, as this scene is very appealing and your composition is good, although I would have preferred it if you had included all of the shadow of the stone in the foreground.
The colours of the heather, grass and sky work well together, but they're a little flat. Taking it in the early morning or evening with warmer light would have given you better colours.
Digital in 2003; you were a pioneer!
Definitely worth a return trip with a higher resolution camera.

Cheers,
Ben

marknunnerley (2768) 2007-01-20 9:58

Leon, a really nice shot. Only one thing wrong. The pp isn't right. It looks pixilated and unsharp somehow. It's difficult to put my finger on it as I haven't got the origonal shot. OOps, just seen the bottom of your note. Don't feel bad about it now ;) As I said, good shot and like how you have chosen one of the stones just left of centre and then it wanders off around, instead of taking a more obvious, everything in it shot. Nice one Leon. Shame about the resolution.
br,
Mark

Glint (2997) 2007-01-20 12:06

Hello Leon,
Good composition with lovely colours. The stones and their shadows too lead us into the picture. The stone in the foreground is perfectly placed.
All done with a little camera too. Just goes to show that is the photographer's eye not the camera that is the most important tool.
Bev

UlfE (8835) 2007-01-20 15:01

Hi Leon,

A really impressive shot with a 1 megapixel camera. The composition is superb and I am not sure if inclusion of the shadow of the stone in the foreground would have made it any better. One thing that makes it so good is that the first stone dominates the picture. Excellent frame that suits perfect to the colours of the photo.

Cheers,

Ulf

pboehringer (770) 2007-01-20 17:02

Leon, that composition is wonderful. Quite simple but VERY effective! Your POV including the purple flowers in the forground and the sea with mountains is a great plus. I'm not quite convinced of the grey (grey?) frame.
TFS, Peter

tigra (2966) 2007-01-20 21:31

Hello Leon
Thanks for the interesting note and nice illustration.
I had never heard about this place before, but I would certainly visit it, when I go to UK next time:)
Katia

four (490) 2007-01-21 5:36

Really pleasing viewpoint and natural colours.
The low resolution gives something of the look of an ageing guidebook print, which is quite attracive in it's way.

siolaw (25692) 2007-01-21 7:09

Hi Leon
A superb compo of that spectacular place and monoliths... good light and soft colors, nice sharpness. The POV is also well chosen
TFS
Laurent

stego (22318) 2007-01-21 20:58

Hi Leon,
For an old 1 megapixel camera is very good. It's a pitty the definition, but it manages to be very nice and shows very well how wonderful the place is.
Execelent pov.
TFS, Regards, José.

martburn (533) 2007-01-27 14:16

Hello Leon,
What a great name 'Brodgar'. Despite the pixel count it's a very evocative image. I love old stone too. I try to go country walking as much as possible to appreciate the British landscape. Cheers,

Martin

ChrisJ (69430) 2007-01-28 3:32

Hi Leon

Well composed, with excellent colour & reasonable sharpness. I like the horseshoe shaped layout of the giant stones. Tfs!

VeeJayCee (2410) 2007-02-02 10:27

I've always found it difficult to decide just how much or how little to show when photographing stone circles and composition generally can be a problem. No such problems with this well composed image. Although I would crop a little from the left, the placement of the stones is spot on. A very good image from a 1MP camera.

dmarizz (2316) 2007-02-06 3:16

Hi Leon,
you got quite a "timeless" picture. From a technical point a view it can be not perfect, but the subject for sure deserved a shot. It would be great to see the same composition under a more "dramatic/cloudy" sky to cope with this kind of ancient subject. Thanks for posting, Dario

PS Your gallery is quite varied and interesting. Congratulations indeed.

evanrizo (456) 2007-03-13 17:52

Hi Leon.
Great work, the perspectiveworks very good, the lihtness is beautyful.
The colors are wonderful, a really excellent photo.
Tfs.
Evan

broglia (3341) 2007-06-01 5:58

Hi Leon, the Orkneys are todays "featured destination" and this shot is on the home page. Great perspective created by the stones, and the compo is excellent. Nice range of subtle colours. All the best, Roberto

EdytaEdi (40) 2007-07-19 1:57 [Comment]

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cfreire (11635) 2007-11-08 6:45

Hi Leon
Beautiful and interesting composition. The light on the rocks created a nice impression. Nice colors and framing. Regards, Consuelo

siislam (290) 2008-03-03 11:30

Beautifully composed, well done.

Wandering_Dan (3169) 2008-03-03 11:36

This brings back memories! I was there maybe 15 years ago, only the weather wasn't nearly as nice - well, it was the middle of January. So you've got the heather and the sky and clear water to work with, and did it very well. Nice setting of the scene, too.

One thing I'll add your description: the ring of Brodger is said to be about a thousand years older than Stonehenge. Also, it's within 1 degree of bring a perfect circle. (OK, two things.)

PS: I'd forgotten about this shot when I posted mine a few days ago, and then it showed up on the Welcome page again. Different angle of the same scene.

ag1993 (634) 2008-03-03 12:03

Hello,
Good shot. Nice pov and great framing.
Regards
Andrea Gatt

Fellini (4952) 2008-06-15 0:30

Wow..wonderful capture Leon !!!
I like this composition, a perfect p.o.v. my compliments...well done.
Best regards
Alex

MLINES (10824) 2008-06-15 1:03

Hi Leon,
Good composition of this interesting place. 4000 years is a very long history. The perspective is good. TFS. Murray.