Callanish Standing Stones

[billtils]

Any visit to the Isle of Lewis has to include the Callanish Standing Stones, which pre-date the more well-known Stonehenge by a considerable amount. Below are two of the many shots from last week, both were taken in the evening, one a little before sunset and the other after the sun was below the horizon.

C&C welcome (that's why we post here after all ) but I'd especially appreciate feedback on the sunset one. I've not done any "into the setting sun" shots before and found it quite difficult to decide what to do with the stones, whether to leave them as a more or less solid black silhouette or try to show a little detail. I could have added a shot exposed for the stones and blended but wanted something on the lines shown.

[pschlute]

Regarding the sunset shot I think you have got this just right. There is just enough detail in the stones. Any less and the picture could lose context, any more and it will lose impact.

[billtils]

Thanks for the feedback Peter

[Tom Barry]

I agree with Peter.

[Donald]

If anything Bill, you could go even darker on the stones and the grass, holding onto only the merest detail. That would perhaps give the image an even greater sense of mystery and sense of awe.

[billtils]

If anything Bill, you could go even darker on the stones and the grass, holding onto only the merest detail. That would perhaps give the image an even greater sense of mystery and sense of awe.

Thanks Donald. I'm reasonably happy with the stones but agree the grass could be darker.

[Wavelength]

Both are fine, yet sunset colors add a wonderful punch to the subject; the greyish green of the foreground grass is a bit mismatch; i think Sun needs set more to give a more congruent color....but that is a very small issue only... this is a wonderful image

[Geoff F]

Both are OK but I wonder if you could get away with just a fraction more highlight brightness in the first image? But watch the sky where some masking may be required.

With the second one, I am thinking about a slight reduction to the top; which would mean a different size ratio. Not a lot of crop, but placing the stones fractionally closer to the top edge seems to give a more dramatic scene.

[Manfred M]

The first shot is okay, but the second one is stunning.

If it were my shot, I would deepen the sky but bring out the textures in the rock and foreground grass some more. I would be tempted to lose a bit of sky as well.

A bit of cropping and a lot of dodging and burning gets me this:

[billtils]

... With the second one, I am thinking about a slight reduction to the top; which would mean a different size ratio. Not a lot of crop, but placing the stones fractionally closer to the top edge seems to give a more dramatic scene.

Thanks Geoff. I went back and forth a lot on the amount of sky - the image is supposed to be about the stones, but that sky ...

[Shadowman]

Nice shots, I think there's enough detail on the sunset shot, on the other hand why not more than one concept.

[rpcrowe]

I usually don't appreciate sunset shots but, this image is of the stones with the beautiful sunset as a bonus

[Jim A]

Wow, I do really like Manfred's rendition. However, Bill, to me the ultimate would be to see them again in the snow. A good friend of mine from Inverness posted me (in New Zealand) one of them in the snow. After that, nothing compares, unfortunately! 🤔

[billtils]

Wow, I do really like Manfred's rendition. However, Bill, to me the ultimate would be to see them again in the snow. A good friend of mine from Inverness posted me (in New Zealand) one of them in the snow. After that, nothing compares, unfortunately! 🤔

That would indeed be great image, but often snow = storms and having "enjoyed" a couple of ferry trips from the Outer Hebrides in marginal weather conditions for sailing, not sure I'd be in a rush to try .

[billtils]

When in doubt about colour, go mono, so here's a B&W while I think about the differences in the perspectives from Manfred and Donald.

[Manfred M]

I find that the B&W is extremely effective for this shot, Bill. It takes the scene down to the basics of tonality and contrast and emphasizes the stones in a way the the colour image can't.

I'm working on a couple of images for a print competition and have found myself going down the same path.

I suspect that dodging the dark areas at tops of some of the stones would strengthen the image even more.

[billtils]

Thanks Manfred - glad you like it.

And all the best for your success in the comps.

[Wavelength]

Conversion comes out to be the best....