Domain of the dead and tourists Photo

Photographer’s Note

Let's begin from the facts.
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire. One of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of earthworks surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones. Archaeologists believe that they were erected around 2200 BC and the surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC.

Stonehenge was produced by a culture with no written language and many aspects of Stonehenge remain subject to debate. New archaeological evidence indicates that Stonehenge served as a burial ground from its earliest beginnings to its zenith in the mid third millennium B.C.

Stonehenge is a place of pilgrimage for neo-druids, and those following pagan or neo-pagan beliefs.

When Stonehenge became open to the public it was possible to walk amongst and even climb on the stones. Of course overenthusiastic visitors couldn't do the stones any good so this ended in 1977 when the stones were roped off as a result of serious erosion. Visitors are no longer permitted to touch the stones, but merely walk around the monument from a short distance. English Heritage does however permit access during the summer and winter solstice, and the spring and autumn equinox. Additionally, visitors can make special bookings to access the stones throughout the year.

Of course I'm not that wise to take it all out from my head. The facts above come from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge

OK, now my humble observations:

-Of course there are many tourists and taking a picture without them decorating the frame is not easy. I had to wait for the Asian group to hide behind the stones, I also tried shooting from the ground level so that the ground obscured the people (I don't remember if this was the case, but I'll show another photo taken from frog perspective.)
-This weather was beautiful, but it's hard to feel mystical mood in full sunlight and 30 degrees C. (If it had been raining, I would complain too).
-It seems everybody walks in the same direction which makes the grass on the path look like the effect of UFO activity ;-)

Shot with analogue compact zoom Premier camera, film: Kodak Gold 200. Scanned from developed picture.

holmertz, Kielia, skippy007, saxo042, Henryk_Bilor has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Jeppo (11922) 2008-07-31 2:58

witam Joanna,

jak sie masz??? fajna fotka od anglja!
interesting note..nice contrast with the stones balancing between earth and sky
quality is good although it is just a scan!

bye
Silvio

sevy (13450) 2008-07-31 6:42

Hello Joanna,

A more serious comment from my side this time. We recognize and it is confirmed by your note that it is a scan from a film, it is visible due to the grain in the sky. I am surprize to notice it is something we are not use to see now. We adapt quickly to the rendering (also special in other points) of the digital.
Here, the composition is very good leaving a big part of sky nicely filled by clouds and the lightning put in evidence the colors of the first grounds.
The french version of National Geographic published few ago a very interesting article about stonehenge. Nice to see your photo after that.

Yves.

holmertz (9645) 2008-08-01 1:32

Hello Joanna,
A slightly unusual picture of yours. Normally people play an unwilling part, but this time you deliberately hid them. I guess Stonehenge is the kind of monument that should be seen alone, majestically standing in the empty field. A good picture with fine colours and a nice sky. The noise from the scanning is clearly visible but doesn't disturb me. I think it adds a dimension of a picture taken long ago, some kind of cultural heritage on its own merits.
Have a nice weekend,
Gert

marietom (31944) 2008-08-01 6:09

hello Joanna,

Joli et surprenant paysage, avec une belle composition.
Bonne journée
Marie

skippy007 (7053) 2008-08-03 20:35

Hello Joanna, I like your title for this very famous place but where are the tourists, the English weather did not frighten them away because you have a very beautiful almost clear blue sky & I like the way you have given it lots of room. Nice colour & a good reproduction from film.
Thanks
Santo

saxo042 (15680) 2008-08-23 8:43

Hi Joanna,
A very fine combination of a good picture with an equally good note, really a contribution in the right TE spirit!
Greetings from Gothenburg
Gunnar

MeAT (1174) 2008-09-03 4:02

I think you managed to make a nice shot out of this considering the circumstances! You are right the full sunlight doesn't give the mystical feeling a sunset would nevertheless it gives many interesting layers of colours stacked on top of one another. I would correct the sky grain using Neat Image because that doesn't look good enough.

Good job!

MeAT :)

[workshop] [compare] +

Henryk_Bilor (20365) 2008-12-08 13:50

Witaj Joasiu
Kawal historii na zdjeciu, szkoda tylko, ze nie mozna sie cofnac do tych czasow i dowiedziec sie przeznaczenia obiektu :). Ladne ujecie, kolorki, no i turystow nie widac ;).
Pozdrawiam

Nelu_Goia (2730) 2008-12-11 15:07

Hello Joanna,
You have a big smiley from me for your patience,waiting for the asian tourists to dissappear (luckily they are not that big anyways:))
So many people just snap! and take the shot without even thinking one second about it.
I think you`ve managed to do your best regarding the composition and even the technical part is not that bad,considering the conditions.
A good start for you!
Thanks,
Nelu

marieline (22) 2008-12-16 11:40

Super ;-) Bylam w UK pare razy ale tego uroczego miejsca nie widzialam :-) Super kadr, kolory ekstra, moze tylko troche szumi, albo to moje wrazenie

faubry (32299) 2009-01-23 1:32

very intersting composition with this stones line in background, beautiful blue cloudy sky.
francine