Steel Rigg by bmnorthernlight

Steel Rigg

View from Steel Rigg east along Hadrian's Wall

The wall:
http://365project.org/bmnorthernlight/bits-n-bobs/2012-05-20

Edit: I am not really happy with this - hadrian's wall never quite translates when I try to get some shots. It was quite hazy on Sunday which didn't help either. Any comments and tips more than welcome (and I am not fishing for compliments!).

Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain. The wall was the most heavily fortified border in the Empire. A significant portion of the Hadrians wall still exists, particularly the mid-section, and for much of its length the wall can be followed on foot by Hadrian's Wall Path or by cycle on National Cycle Route 72. It is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern England. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. Hadrian's Wall extended west from Segedunum at Wallsend on the River Tyne, via Carlisle and Kirkandrews-on-Eden, to the shore of the Solway Firth, ending a short but unknown distance west of the village of Bowness-on-Solway. Hadrian's Wall was 80 Roman miles (73 statute miles or 120 km) long.

Place name: Steel - steep bank, hill ridge; Rigg - ridge, long narrow hill, cultivated strip of land
Oh beautiful weather for hadrains wall- great perspective
May 23rd, 2012  
These stones can't be free standing? Did they use some sort of mortar?
May 23rd, 2012  
Ah, familiar sight, really well shot. And so beautiful in the sun!!
May 23rd, 2012  
Nice landscape - never been - its on the list to do one day :)
May 23rd, 2012  
@maggiemae The wall across the front is a dry stone wall, built without mortar usually. It's a boundary wall but not Hadrian's Wall. Hadrian's wall is the grass mound on the right of the picture leading into the row of hills.
May 23rd, 2012  
@mortisa @jesperani @ericaw Thank you! I find it incredibly difficult to find any perspective that translates the sheer scale of it.
May 23rd, 2012  
Gorgeous shot! I am hoping to get up to this part of the UK later this summer :oD
May 23rd, 2012  
I've never really done Hadrians Wall, definitely on the to -do list! I always struggle with these kinds of shots in the Lakes and Peaks - I think the issue is you are never sure with these shots whether the wall is the focus or the landscape. I have tried with better luck moving in closer to the wall and either capturing the textures of the wall in closeup with landscape behind or vice versa, giving a sense of either (does that make sense?)
May 23rd, 2012  
BTW the wall has great texture and it's a nice shot of the area!!
May 23rd, 2012  
@sparkle Thanks Juliette! That's really useful. Did the shot without this boundary wall and it just looked plain boring and there was no other focal point around. I also find that ridge really challenging when it doesn't get more definition due to frost or snow or something...lots to learn and try!
May 23rd, 2012  
@bmnorthernlight it's funny with places like this - they look so much more dramatic in real life often. I've mostly found having a person in the scene and getting closer to the focal point (ie the ridge) is helpful. And ironically bad weather is often better! I'm finding the Dales intersting to shoot - so much green and sometimes can look dull, even though it's not when you're standing there!!
May 23rd, 2012  
@sparkle I know, can you believe after all this horrible weather I wasn't best pleased to have boring blue and hazy skies lol! The landscape would've been so much nicer with some cloud shadows here and there too ;-)
May 23rd, 2012  
@bmnorthernlight LOL, we;re never happy! I went to a really nice castle yesterday and was bored with blue sky and sun and took the low key shot of the stained glass lighting! might try Cirencester Abbey tomorrow, or apparently I'm visiting a company on an old airfield...might be some interesting things about! won't worry aboiut the weather then, unless of course it's cloudy!! LOL
May 23rd, 2012  
Lol, love the view though
May 24th, 2012  
I am a simple soul so can't offer expertise but I do like it; I think the dry stone wall gives it perspective
May 24th, 2012  
another shot where the colors are beautiful!
what is Hadrian's Wall?
May 27th, 2012  
Regarding the edit:
Try reducing the amount of dry stone wall and increasing the amount of sky.
Do you know why the area it is called "Steel Rigg" as steel in a recent invention.
June 2nd, 2012  
@andrewrome365 Thanks for the feedback! will have a play with that. Have added some info in the main text.
June 2nd, 2012  
Just correcting myself! It is the industrial production of steel that is recent - steel itself has been produced for over 3000 years.
June 2nd, 2012  
@andrewrome365 I think it's more likely to come from Scottish place name in origin as it pretty much describes the landscape, the ridge you can see leading off into the distance
June 2nd, 2012  
@paulaag Paula, have added some info on Hadrian's Wall for you! It is a stunning site and the area near Steel Rigg is one of the best preserved.
June 2nd, 2012  
@andrewrome365 Oh and thanks for asking! Made me look it up and I've learned something new about it :-)
June 2nd, 2012  
Lovely shot of the area - Reminding me of home again - thank you :)
The only Hadrian's Wall photos I've ever been happy with of mine have been ones where its sort of marching along a high spot like a backbone.
I wonder if getting down low right close to the side of the wall might give an effective result?
June 12th, 2012  
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