The Limbo Connection's photos with the keyword: The Red Lion

The Red Lion is said to be haunted. There are many tales of unusual things happening in the pub. Indeed, it is claimed that the whole of Avebury is haunted. There are many accounts, but one sticks in my mind quite vividly. In the early part of the last century, Edith Olivier was driving through the stone circle when she became aware of a fair being held amongst the stones. She later discovered that there hadn't been a fair like the gathering she saw for over fifty years. Maybe time has a bit of elasticity. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Olivier hersalisburystory.com/stories/edith-olivier Just a note concerning the packed perspective effect in this picture. It was taken using a Nikon D2Xs with a Nikon TC-16A teleconverter and a Nikkor-H Auto 300mm f/4.5 lens dating from around 1971. That gave a focal length of 480mm which with a cropped sensor gives the equivalent field of view of 720mm. Using it was fun but carrying it around with a monopod was tiring.

This was never a good photograph. It was under-exposed and badly composed, yet there were engaging components such as capturing a record of the typical behaviour of visitors to Avebury. I was in conversation with another visitor on a different occasion who was unimpressed by the antiquity. She memorably summarised it thus: "I walked a bit, and saw a pile of stones. I walked a bit more and saw another pile of stones". Maybe Avebury's antiquity is best left to archaeologists. It's a fine place for a bit of exercise though. I have attempted to rescue the better aspects of the picture by using the Lightroom software but there are limits with the jpeg quality. Nikon D90 and AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G lens at 190mm (about the limit of its best performance). I've bought and sold two of these cheap and flimsy lenses which have their strengths and are light in weight.

I spent an exciting hour photographing everything with a Nikkor 20mm f/3.5 AI-S lens on a Nikon D700 camera. The yard in front of the pub was abandoned and it was plain the summer was over.

Posted previously, but this is a brighter edit. My recent visit to Avebury on 4 October, 2018, reminds me of this scene photographed almost exactly three years before. The light at this time of year can be compelling if the clouds allow the sun to illuminate the stones. Nikon D2Xs + Nikon Series E 75-150mm f/3.5 lens on a TC-16A teleconverter.

An unusual combination of a jurassic Nikon lens - the Nikkor O.C 35mm f/2 - and a long discontinued Canon digital camera - the EOS 30D. I could have used a Nikon camera instead but sometimes I feel contrary. The effect of 35mm focal length on the 30D is a field of view equivalent to a 56mm lens on a film camera of the 35mm era (not that there were any 56mm lenses, but there were plenty of 55mm ones). It is possible to employ aperture-priority with this set-up, but I seem to get on better with everything in manual. It's like using a Zenith EM with a Helios 58mm f/2 lens. This is where I came in.

Nikon D700 + Nikon 75-150mm f/3.5 series E zoom lens.

Outside the 'Red Lion' at Avebury, Wiltshire. Nikon D2Xs + AF Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 lens.

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.