The Limbo Connection's photos with the keyword: standing stones

Keiller had to clear buildings, trees, and undergrowth out of the stone circle before he could begin his grand project. In one case he cleared some tenants out of a cottage he wanted for his mistress - thus far I have not identified the precise location. Some houses were spared despite being within the henge, such as this one.

There are innumerable opportunities for photographers in Avebury, but it is enormously difficult to do anything original. It has all been done before, and better. I regard it simply as a benchmark for my own development in using a camera. I took this picture in the summer of 2011 using a camera and lens which I have since replaced. It is perfectly possible to make wonderful photographs with the most basic of equipment, but every incremental improvement, particularly in lens quality, gives a photographer a sporting chance. At that time I had not discovered that photographing in RAW provided the greatest chance of making a satisfying image. This photograph is a straight-out-of-camera JPEG. Adjustment is possible, but limited. Naively, I once believed a photograph could simply be repeated on another visit to the same place if an improvement was sought. There are so many variables that prevent this. Maybe with patience and skill it can be done, but I lack both. So I am left with a picture which I like but which I know is not original. In fact, I took this photograph because I had been inspired by something similar (and better) by somebody else. And here I have applied some of the Lightroom tools which were not available to me in 2011. If you are a visitor to Avebury and the perspective in the photograph appeals, the settings I used with an APS-C camera were 210mm; f/4.8; 1/400th. (But much depends on where you position yourself and the light, of course).

Photographed in Avebury, Wiltshire, using a Nikon D2Xs with a Nikon TC-16A teleconverter and a Nikkor-H Auto 300mm f/4.5 lens from around 1971. The TC-16A is compatible with only a small number of cameras and although Nikon doesn’t officially recognise the D2X as one of them, it nevertheless operates successfully. The Nikkor-H has been factory AI converted, making a functional set of instruments never really envisaged to harmonise. The TC-16A adds 1.6x to the lens it is mated with, so in this case the focal length was 480mm. You really need a fast shutter speed and a bit of stabilisation using a rig this long. I put it on a monopod and the shutter speed was 1/1500th. Mostly you’re forced into using maximum aperture and ISO even in decent light. The results can be mediocre, but now and again you get a sensation of unusual packed perspective. Of course, perspective depends on where you stand, not which lens you use, but you might never choose a tiny area of a picture to enlarge and get this view.

Nikon D2Xs + Nikon Series E 75-150mm f/3.5 lens on a TC-16A teleconverter. I set the lens at 150mm, and allowing for the teleconverter made a focal length of 240mm.

Nikon D2Xs + Nikon Series E 75-150mm f/3.5 lens on a TC-16A teleconverter.

Avebury stone circle, Wiltshire. Tightly framed for perspective effect with a Nikon TC-16A teleconverter between a Nikon D2Xs and a Nikon 75-150mm f/3.5 series E zoom lens at full stretch. Thus the field of view was about 360mm using full-frame as the yardstick.

Nikon D2Xs + AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED lens.