Stonehenge Winter Solstice

Thanks for everybody's comments, stars and even favouriting - after a good sleep, have only just looked thru all the images, as a pan/scan slideshow. Tangerine Dream double album in the CD player...It ran for an hour! As I had the camera on 'continuous low' drive, many are duplicates, some are mis-focussed, often cos people move about in front of the subject, and a few exposure oddities - shooting right into the low sun required up to nearly 2 stops extra, but generally I'm quietly impressed.

As for equipment - what DO you take to such a huge event? Well, I didn't require any of the fast lenses that I foresaw for the pre-dawn period, as I was I stuck in a traffic jam at that point. So, the 85mm f1.8 stayed in its case, as did the 50mm f1.4. I did choose the DX D7000 over the FX D700, mainly on lightness and portability grounds and it also meant I didn't have to take a really long zoom.

So, the two fisheye's, (8mm & 16mm) which ironically create a better effect when NOT being on the format they're designed for, the Sigma 14mm, becoming a very useful - and 'corrected' 21mm, but then nothing until the Tamron SP 70-300mm, which proved very useful, its 450mm eqv. picking out the faces but also the distant landscape details - it's easy to forget that on such a beautiful morning, how lovely the local landscape it is and great for walking. I then did add the compromise Nikkor DX 18-200mm, with which I could use a decent polariser and of course, light levels weren't an issue, so this lens did OK.

I also took a monopod, but didn't use it - I have had a habit of hoisting the camera on it above my head, on time delay at previous Solstices. Not quite sure why not, but I just didn't think of doing this, this year. You simply go with the flow. The flashgun also remained unused. So, it all adds weight, but an fair all-round kit, with the 8mm becoming the slight surprise star of the show - I'd added it really for experimental reasons.

With a commercial shoot at a charity toy Emporium this morning, in Ringwood (another bus journey) I'm afraid it'll take me a while to catch up on other's images and still longer to read the tracked replies, so apologies in advance. Between Christmas Eve and day after Boxing Day when I'm staying with my father would be an excellent time for this except it's a internet-free zone down there (80 year old's don't feel the need!) but I will be taking my entries day by day and backdating them when I get back.

I deleted the entry I had up originally as I wanted to show more the enormity and grand occasion that was this morning's winter solstice, with the sun absolutely amazing, warming both the 1000's (tens?) and the stones themselves, it being more like late autumn than mid-winter.

This was taken using the Sigma 8mm f3.5 circular fisheye lens, but on the DX cropped Nikon D7000, and this image is uncropped. It's even better when viewed 'large'!

There were the Druid services later, but these attracted new visitors and film crews, getting any good shots impossible. I did get a vantage point earlier and took some with the 14mm lens, a shot with a whole group chanting with their arms round each other was almost my Blip.

I got lots of character shots plus lots of studies of the Stones themselves. Paying tourists (Solstices are free) don't get access all areas and despite the people you can get some really good images of the main upper parts of them and which might have been a better choice for Blip ratings but wouldn't show the occasion, or the people that make these events.

My original text, with the first pic, describing the mayhem getting there still stands and is now here, cut and pasted:

Despite leaving early and having good time, new traffic procedures meant we were directed by police to the completely wrong road and after queuing for an age, we were then marshalled away from Stonehenge.

When asked, nice Mr Policeman said simply that parking was now full and closed and told us to go to Salisbury (which is, of course where we'd come from!). Hadrian, the driver and his pal were so angry and annoyed they drove off for breakfast whilst us other three (had two young musicians, too) walked, the site was still over a mile away!

By the time I got there, the sun had been up for some 20mins - now, just got in a 2pm and it's been a great morning with 600 photos and a video. The site was open until 11.30, some 2.5 hours after the allowed/allotted time.

Having been on my feet pretty all that time and walking the 3 or 4 miles back down into Amesbury to get the bus back home, plus the heavy rucksack of photo-gear I'm really rather tired.