Winter solstice has passed

[HighlandDougie]

I took this today at about 3.30 . Just after that a big cloud happened along, which blew everybody's chances of a photo of the sunset through the central stones, but seeing this was pretty special anyway.

Not a druid in sight, and the sunset on winter solstice is the key thing..........

Plenty of tourists about the place though.

Great pic, TS - it really emphasises the scale of those stones. Rather mightier than those at Callanish, although Callanish has a setting that is mightily (I almost wrote, "bigly") impressive in its own right.

[Bryn]

The only one I have from slightly earlier ( I think) that fits your criteria has the sun rather " ballooning" through the stones, ( sorry, don't have the technical language) and completely obscuring the lintel. This was on my phone, the last one on my camera.

Thanks. Great image of the geotextile mats, too.

[Joseph K]

It was a fine day here too. And I too took some pictures. Unfortunately I have never been able to upload pictures on here, but they're on my Facebook, for what it's worth.

[teamsaint]

It was a fine day here too. And I too took some pictures. Unfortunately I have never been able to upload pictures on here, but they're on my Facebook, for what it's worth.

You need to use Imgur, JK. It can’t be that tricky if I can do it.

[greenilex]

South Today had some agreeable film of druids and morning crowds. I think the moment was unusually late, well on towards morning on 22nd December...but the alignment is summer dawn, winter sunset, I think.

Why is he Pendragon, anyway? Was his dad a big Chinese flying lizard?

[Serial_Apologist]

South Today had some agreeable film of druids and morning crowds. I think the moment was unusually late, well on towards morning on 22nd December...but the alignment is summer dawn, winter sunset, I think.

Why is he Pendragon, anyway? Was his dad a big Chinese flying lizard?

Maybe he led a five-a-side.

[Bella Kemp]

I read this every year on this day:

A Nocturnal upon St. Lucy's Day
BY JOHN DONNE
'Tis the year's midnight, and it is the day's,
Lucy's, who scarce seven hours herself unmasks;
The sun is spent, and now his flasks
Send forth light squibs, no constant rays;
The world's whole sap is sunk;
The general balm th' hydroptic earth hath drunk,
Whither, as to the bed's feet, life is shrunk,
Dead and interr'd; yet all these seem to laugh,
Compar'd with me, who am their epitaph.

Study me then, you who shall lovers be
At the next world, that is, at the next spring;
For I am every dead thing,
In whom Love wrought new alchemy.
For his art did express
A quintessence even from nothingness,
From dull privations, and lean emptiness;
He ruin'd me, and I am re-begot
Of absence, darkness, death: things which are not.

All others, from all things, draw all that's good,
Life, soul, form, spirit, whence they being have;
I, by Love's limbec, am the grave
Of all that's nothing. Oft a flood
Have we two wept, and so
Drown'd the whole world, us two; oft did we grow
To be two chaoses, when we did show
Care to aught else; and often absences
Withdrew our souls, and made us carcasses.

But I am by her death (which word wrongs her)
Of the first nothing the elixir grown;
Were I a man, that I were one
I needs must know; I should prefer,
If I were any beast,
Some ends, some means; yea plants, yea stones detest,
And love; all, all some properties invest;
If I an ordinary nothing were,
As shadow, a light and body must be here.

But I am none; nor will my sun renew.
You lovers, for whose sake the lesser sun
At this time to the Goat is run
To fetch new lust, and give it you,
Enjoy your summer all;
Since she enjoys her long night's festival,
Let me prepare towards her, and let me call
This hour her vigil, and her eve, since this
Both the year's, and the day's deep midnight is.[/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE]

[teamsaint]

South Today had some agreeable film of druids and morning crowds. I think the moment was unusually late, well on towards morning on 22nd December...but the alignment is summer dawn, winter sunset, I think.

Why is he Pendragon, anyway? Was his dad a big Chinese flying lizard?

Correct AFAIK, Greenie. You would think the druids would be clued up. There is even a big brass arrow in the ground near the Heel Stone pointing out the winter sunset alignment. .....anyway, just as well.It was a piece of cake getting in at about 2.30 on a NT card.
Incidentally, a helpful guide told us that you get very much the same alignment effect for about ten days either side of the Solstice, perhaps unsurprisingly, so might be worth keeping an eye open for a really clear day, and heading towards the A 303 for a look sometime.

[Joseph K]

You need to use Imgur, JK. It can’t be that tricky if I can do it.

Thanks, I'll look into it.

[Joseph K]

Here goes...

[teamsaint]

Four lovely photos there JK. The third one really captures the beauty you can find even in the depths of winter.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

South Today had some agreeable film of druids and morning crowds. I think the moment was unusually late, well on towards morning on 22nd December...but the alignment is summer dawn, winter sunset, I think.

Why is he Pendragon, anyway? Was his dad a big Chinese flying lizard?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendragon

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Four lovely photos there JK. The third one really captures the beauty you can find even in the depths of winter.

- and posted just two hours after not knowing how to!

[Joseph K]

Four lovely photos there JK. The third one really captures the beauty you can find even in the depths of winter.

(And the first shows how much rain we've been getting. Quite a few flooded paths hereabouts).

[Dave2002]

Thanks. Great image of the geotextile mats, too.

Cropping can work wonders. There are several possible photos from this original - with appropriate cropping. The bright sun - even on a winter's day it's still relatively bright - presents problems though, and it's hard to know whether the overall effect "should" be grey, dark, light, or with a reddish tint. Realism or mood - that's often an issue with photos like this one. Is it a record shot, or something else?

The mobile phone shot is nice, as there are rays of light patterning the ground, but the lintel is blown away by the light sun.
The camera shot picks up some of the pinkiness of the sky at that time, though it might have been more prominent a bit later on.

Which mobile model were you using - and I guess camera too? I'm looking for new ones of both.

Well done for being there - and taking the shots though, and it doesn't look as horribly wet as some other parts of the south.