Spring Hols 2009 - Avebury by Turin_Returns
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
Being a teacher has some great advantages. The holidays are one of them. We had the great pleasure to go on a lovely tour of western Britain and I would like to present some of the pictures here.
This view, I am sure, will be familiar to many. It is part of the great ring of forty ton stones that surround the ancient village of Avebury (pronounced A'bəry locally. It is an absolutely stunning as well as mystifying location, considering the engineers had only ancient deer antlers to use in the formation of the six metre deep trench that emcompasses the 28 acres of the village.
Only 27 of the large stones remain erected. Some were recycled as building material, some were destroyed by the christian church as symbols of paganism. The National trust claims that some of the stones are actually still on site, buried. It is considering whether they should be dug up an re-erected.
What do you think?
The background clouds were created in Bryce 5 and added using Micrografx. One day I would like to justify the expense of buying photoshop - so I can combine images better than this poor attempt.

Comments (11)
P.S - My eldest daughter Eilonwy is standing by the stone on the left. She is ten, as is perhaps indicated by the sassy pose.
cool shots of a surreal place
What a beautiful place! Wonderful shot, too...you've set it up perfectly so we can all appreciate the scale of things:-)
I'm not quite sure why but the mods to the photo have such a surreal effect. Definately adds to the already eerie nature of the place.
My intension in adjusting the DoF was to give an uncertain sense of perspective and thus generate a feeling of displacement, as these stones certainly do (to use a pun for those who have seen 'Children of the Stones') in the flesh.
I like the way your daughter's head tilts with the stone. The stone it's self seems to have hair, eyes and a mouth. The two walkers in the background help to give a sense of scale and I like the way the clouds seem to be creeping over the hill, a very effective mist. BTW like your new avatar. Is it you? If it is what's the story behind that look?
Looks really nice and interesting with these big stones.
Простозамечательнаякартинаоченьмиломилопремило! ))))
What an awesome place this must be ... and how in the world did they move 40 ton stones? What dedication to monument building this represents. Nice photo ... and BTW, your daughter's 'tude is quite commanding. :-) PS I have used the latest versions of Photoshop and PaintShopPro ... for the money you can't surpass PSP. I suppose the only advantage to Photoshop is the professional four-colour separation process. I haven't tried it, but the GIMP is supposedly top grade too and free.
having been to this site myself this summer I would love to see it restored. The little pillars they have erected to mark the displaced stones is a bit sad.
Great job and interesting historical information!