Castlerigg Stone Circle

Posted by Ian Bramham (Manchester, United Kingdom) on 13 March 2008 in Landscape & Rural and Portfolio.

This stone circle in the Lake District in North West England dates from about 3,000 BC.

I used an ND Grad filter on the camera to get this sky but it was a really stormy day with intermittent rain.....I was lucky to be able to get this photo.

If you like the photos on this blog and have got a minute to spare please vote for it at 'VFXY Photos'. The link is highlighted in green just below. It's currently ranked in their top 10.

Links to other Photoblog sites that I have found inspirational:
http://hugopoon.aminus3.com/
Hugo Poon records his home city Hong Kong in photographs so beautiful that they inspired me to start taking my own photos. Deeply humanist in his vision, Hugo claims that he is not a photographer. Why not visit his photoblog and decide for yourself.

VFXY Photos | Cool Photoblogs | Listed on Photoblogs.org

Comments (27)

Michael Rawluk from Prince George, Canada

Stunning tones. You did a great job with the sky.

13 Mar 2008 1:01am

@Michael Rawluk: Thanks very much Michael!

Stu from Kyoto, Japan

Excellent capture Ian. Very dramatic sky and love how the valley disappears off into the misty distance. You should contact the tourist board as this is definitely worthy of a calendar or some such. Bravo.

13 Mar 2008 2:02am

@Stu: Thanks Stu.....that's very kind of you!

Alfredo J. Martiz J. from Tokyo, Japan

Fantastic photo, such a dramatic feeling!

13 Mar 2008 2:21am

@Alfredo J. Martiz J.: Thanks Alfredo!

Dimitrios from ATHENS, Greece

SUPERB BALANCE, GOOD IN B+W

13 Mar 2008 2:44am

@Dimitrios: Thanks Dimitrios!

Ana Lúcia from Leiria, Portugal

This is a spectacular view.

13 Mar 2008 3:40am

@Ana Lúcia: Thanks Ana....I'm really pleased that you liked it!

Rhys from Darlington, United Kingdom

a stunner. nice work.

13 Mar 2008 3:42am

@Rhys: Cheers Rhys!

Lorraine from Gatineau, Canada

What a mood, I want to sit in the middle and listen...

13 Mar 2008 4:48am

@Lorraine: Thanks Lorraine....this place has a very special feel to it and the surrounding mountains are very dramatic!

GJC from Kyoto, Japan

The low horizon line is very effective in this composition at emphasizing the space and the grandeur. Though I tend to prefer your color work, this is a very fine b&w.

13 Mar 2008 4:52am

@GJC: Thanks GJC....I also tried a pano crop which worked as well but it needs to be viewed larger than 800 pixels wide.

Suzanne Labbé from Granby, Québec, Canada

Chef d'oeuvre.

13 Mar 2008 5:50am

@Suzanne Labbé: Well I'm still learning but I hope to produce something worthy of your description one day :-)

Saeed from Tehran, Iran

Very Nice shot

13 Mar 2008 6:53am

@Saeed: Thanks Saeed!

Stefan Thaler from Thiersee, Austria

Wonderful, nice work!

13 Mar 2008 7:06am

@Stefan Thaler: Thanks Stefan!

Henry from Boston, United States

This is a really nice shot. The scope, the texture and the tones are beautiful. Great stuff.

13 Mar 2008 7:49am

@Henry: Thanks Henry....the first version I produced was very flat but someone told me to try photoshop's 'curves' tool (thanks David!) and that brought out the mid tones in the photo much better.

Michael Skorulski from Cigel, Slovakia

It is a gorgeous composition. My eye is continually drawn to that fantastic sky. The image is as magical as that place probably was to the people 5000 years ago.

13 Mar 2008 8:14am

@Michael Skorulski: Thanks Michael....yes, this place really does have a magical feel to it and it's easy to see why the original builders chose this site surrounded by the beauty of the mountinous lanscape.

Monte Stevens from Fort Collins, United States

Great image and luck very little to do with it. Love the sky and your composition. Your tones are great. Well done!

13 Mar 2008 12:42pm

@Monte Stevens: Thanks Monte!......this was the first photo where I've used photoshop's curves command after getting a great tip from another photoblogger...it really brought out the mid tones in the photo.

Jeffster from Long Island, United States

Great b&w...the sky, composition & contrast all work well together.

13 Mar 2008 1:26pm

@Jeffster: Thanks very much Jeffster!

Momo from Montpellier, France

just fab...a little spooky...then ancestors are prowling about...very nice Ian...

13 Mar 2008 5:39pm

@Momo: Thanks Momo...it would be great to get the chance to try some moonlit night photography here someday!

amy from Rocky Mountain House, Canada

Oh how you wield that wide angle!! Fantasitc comp and b/w, Ian!

13 Mar 2008 8:44pm

@amy: Thanks very much Amy.....first ever use of 'curves' on this photo!

M. Isabel from Lima, Peru

FANTASTIC.

13 Mar 2008 9:29pm

@M. Isabel: Thanks Isabel!

Will from Gainesville, United States

wow....another beautiful shot:)

13 Mar 2008 9:46pm

@Will: Thanks Will!

sherri from Little Rock, Arkansas, United States

How beautiful. The sky is extraordinary. Love it!

13 Mar 2008 11:51pm

@sherri: Thanks Sherri....it was a really stormy day and those clouds were tearing across the sky at a great pace!

jkjond from Grange-over-Sands, United Kingdom

"this place really does have a magical feel to it and it's easy to see why the original builders chose this site surrounded by the beauty of the mountainous landscape."

It is cos they couldn't get planning permission in the valley.

14 Mar 2008 3:04am

@jkjond: Ha Ha!.....it's great to hear from you!......planning permission ahhhh, tell me about it!

How have you been keeping?.....I'm going through a frustrating patch at the moment with my photos as I don't feel I've been out enough with the camera and I'm getting withdrawal symptoms :-)

jkjond from Grange-over-Sands, United Kingdom

I'm going through an odd patch. I've been really busy with work, ill with flu and laid off running with a sore calf, and to cap it all I watched England turn out on the pitch against Scotland last week - or at least I saw a bunch of blokes with England shirts on, no evidence that any knew anything about the game. The positive side is that as I haven't been able to get out much I'm pretty well up to date with work, and lets face it, if England decide not to turn up this tomorrow they won't do any worse - though I'll hopefully be doing something more important, such as washing my hair.

I think I've taken one shot in three weeks, then reprocessed a couple from a few years ago. I was amused to see someone mark my shoe pic as a fave - so looked at their portfolio to see nothing but shoe pics! It was quite interesting for the first few pages... But that is one of the strengths of flickr, if it can be photographed then there is a group who appear to do nothing but.

I had a play with channel mixer for the first time since CS3, quite fascinating. I'll have to consider it as a further option for some images. How are you getting on with it? I thoroughly recommend you dig out an old nef without reference to a previous conversion and see where you go with it.

14 Mar 2008 3:58am

Viewfinder from Bradenton, United States

Small wonders like these are always fascinating exercises in trying to figure out a simple question: why?

14 Mar 2008 6:45am

Japanalia from Yokohama, Japan

The shot is another attractive creation of yours, well balanced and in just the right tonality! But it always makes the viewer think what was the use of arranging these boulders in circle....and then again it makes you contemplate the idea that the "priests" might have waited for a message from above!

14 Mar 2008 8:36pm