City - Beacon Hill State - HAMPSHIRE Country - United Kingdom
About
Sometimes ideas are handed to you on a plate. This evening I took my camera for a walk to the top of Beacon Hill south of Newbury (Berkshire, England). This is the site of an ancient Iron Age Fort. It's name is derived from it's use as a means of communicating events by lighting large fires at the top of the hill thus creating a "Beacon". There are a series of hills stretching long distances and the beacon fires would be lit one by one to signal danger or other events.
At the top of the hill are two significant structures apart from the remains of the fort. One is the grave of the fifth Earl of Carnarvon who played a prominent part in the expedition to the Nile Valley of the Kings which led to the discovery of Tutankhamen's Tomb in 1922. It was said that he died as a result of the curse on the tomb.
The other structure is the Trigonometric point. Before Satellites were around, map makers used these "Trig Points" to precisely measure distances to features of the local countryside. A trig point would be placed at the top of the highest ground point within an area.
So given it's name I decided to use the setting sun as a Beacon resting on the highest point on the hill.
A neat shot here Neil. I think I like this one slightly better too as the colours are more saturated. The only thing that bugs me just a tiny bit is that it looks like the sun is just a hair off centre... but that`s just a minor thing. Great idea and good timing. Cheers, Gary
Hi Neil, a good idea, well executed! I like this version a little better, with the pure silhouette against the slightly more saturated colour of the sky. I think for an image like this the detail of the structure detracts from the image. Dave.
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{K:150877} 9/13/2007