Newgrange, a photo from Meath, North

Photographer's Note

I had posted a photo of Knowth a few days ago, here is today its neighbour : Newgrange. Newgrange is the most know megalithic tombs in Bru Na Boinne, which is an incredible archaeological ensemble, World Heritage site, located in county Meath, north of Dublin.

Newgrange was built about 5,000 years ago. It was surrounded by ground for milleniums. Although it was hidden the place was considered as a special one and gave birth to local beliefs and myths. It was discovered again and studied in 17th century and it was restored the same in 70s. The monument has a diameter of 85 m. It has a 19 m long passage that drives to the chamber tomb in the middle of the monument. Newgrange is easy to recognize thanks to its white belt made of quartz stones. Newgrange is well known too for its megalithic art, in particular the very famous triskells graved in the stones at the entry of the passage.

But what makes Newgrange so special is what happens every year in the chamber tomb : at winter solstice, the sun enters in the passage via a hole over the entry of the passage (called roof box), goes through the 19 m long passage and lights the chamber tomb during 17 minutes just after sunset ! It tells us a lot about astronomy knowledges of the people who built Newgrange.

Unlike Knowth, the chamber tomb is open to public on guided tours you can afford at Newgrange. But given that there is only one winter solstice a year, most of us will just see a reconstitution of the winter solstice phenomenon. During the visit, the lights are switched off in the chamber tomb (not recommended to claustrophobic people !) and some artifical lights reproduce what really happens only once a year ! You can also see this phenomenon for real at winter solstice but you need to be very lucky. There is a lottery every year and only about 50 people have the privilege of being in the chamber tomb at sunset on winter solstice. You also should hope the sun will not be hidden by clouds, which is not rare in Ireland !

I made this panoramic shot by cropping a 24x36 picture. Large version here. Enjoy the beautiful but not at all typically irish blue sky !

mkamionka, Curious_Eye, Yiannis84, Nard, Charo, i9l2y1m8a8t3, macjake marcou esta nota como útil

Critiques | Translate

siudzi (34141) 2012-02-11 4:10

Hi Olivier,

A pleasure to be your neighbor today. This is a great shot with superb eye-catching effect created by lovely vibrant colors. Awesome work taken perfectly! Bravo!

Warm regards,
Malgorzata

mkamionka (61122) 2012-02-11 4:14

Bonjour Olivier,
I have never seen this place in so much light and color!
Excellent presentation, I am really jealous.
Have a great weekend,
M

Curious_Eye (1320) 2012-02-11 5:31

Hello Olivier,

What a fascinating place! A lovely shot with vibrant colours and good POV. TFS!

Regards,
Izabela

Zengi001 (2883) 2012-02-11 5:56

Hello Olivier,
Good contrast of greem and blue here!
Pano format I like a lot!
Tfs,
Engin.

Yiannis84 (2824) 2012-02-11 6:33

Hi Olivier..

What a wonderful image! i thing the advantage is the simplicity of the composition.. i love the simplicity of the picture and the contrast between the tomb and the blue sky! clean & clear photo managed fabulus! very well done

Best regards..Yiannis

Nard (6972) 2012-02-11 9:24

Bonjour Olivier
J'aime bien les 3 bandes formées par le ciel, le dome et l'herbe, le résultat est très harmonieux et les couleurs bien vives. Le format large est très bien vu.
Cdlt
Bernard

Nolme (6829) 2012-02-11 9:51

superbe endroit et magique en plus. Excellent souvenir
Ton texte explique bien le but d'un tel site.

bravo

Charo (51290) 2012-02-11 13:42

Bonsoir Olivier,
Je n'avais jamais vu ou entendu parler de ce monument mégalithique si particulière, et semble également être en parfait état de conservation.
Très bon point de vue, la présence de personnes, de nous donner une bonne idée de l'échelle.
Excellente lumière et les couleurs.
Amitiés,
Charo

i9l2y1m8a8t3 (4814) 2012-02-11 18:56

HI Olivier! From the thumbnail, this picture looks so intriguing, this architecture is really eye catching especially the colors and tones present in this image. Love the brilliant lighting and the format used, great work!

best regards,
Matt

jjcordier (79299) 2012-02-11 22:33

Olivier
Joli lumière sur ce beau tumulus bien (trop bien?) restaurée. Très jolies couleurs et cadrage.
Amicalement
JJ

sevy (58) 2012-02-12 1:25

Bonjour Olivier,

Une photo assez intrigante en premier abord. En petit dans la galerie je me suis demandé ce que c'était.
Une belle lumière qui donne un rendu tres lumineux. J'aime bien ce format panoramique et la présence des touristes qui loin de dégrader la vue, participent à la composition et donne une idée de l'échelle. Sans eux, la photo n'aurait pas eu le même attrait.

Yves.

macjake (96157) 2012-02-13 16:49

Hi Olivier
a very interesting subject.
this is what TE is all about, sharing culturally significant subjects which we can learn from.
strong bright colors, attractive forms and lines and an informative note.
i like it.
cheers
craig

jimkil (1706) 2012-02-20 22:37

Hello Oliver
A famous piece of Irish history is Newgrange, I love the pano crop, the people actually show how small this place actually is.
Fantastic colours and exposure... very fresh looking indeed.
Take care
Jim

cdmonson (5284) 2012-02-23 15:37

Hey there Olivier:

One of my biggest regrets of my Ireland trip was not going here. I have no idea why I didn't go. Still kicking myself for it.

Love this shot. You got a fantastic, very un-Irish sunny day. :) There are a few things that really stand out to me. One is the management of the light: even though it's clearly not ideal light, the picture still looks quite good. Another is the people in the picture. They really help to give it a sense of scale. The best thing about the photo, though, is the crop. Good call to do a more panoramic crop. For one, it cuts out a lot of the more boring grass and sky. For another, it emphasizes how long and low the tomb is. Really nice picture all around.

Clark

Waylim (25436) 2012-02-28 12:37

Hi Again,

Beautiful panoramic view. I love the large version, soo much details. Beautiful day, perfect blue sky the presence of the people gives a good sense of scale and liveliness.

Way

No_One (4) 2014-05-09 11:46

Hi Olivier,
Bravo on this! I have visited this place many times (its only about 20 miles from where I live) and each time I struggle to take a photo I like, its just such a difficult structure to capture. But you have taught me a lesson here, this angle is perfect, and the sharing of the scene between bright blue sky, and lush green grass works brilliantly. Every time, I try to capture it without people, and I see here that is a mistake, as the people give an excellent sense of scale. Especially here, as they are all off to one side and don't intrude on the tomb :)
Thanks for sharing
Noel

Photo Information

Copyright: Olivier THIERRY (chawax) (20764)
Genre: Lugares
Medium: Cor
Date Taken: 2011-06-02
Categories: Arte
Camera: CANON EOS 550D, Sigma 17-70 f/2.8-4,5 DC, Hoya 72mm PL-CIRCULAR
Exposição: f/8, 1/50 segundos
More Photo Info: view
Map: view
Versão da Foto: Versão Original
Relato de Viagem: Irlande 2011
Date Submitted: 2012-02-11 3:56

Viewed: 3650

Points: 32

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