If there is anything beyond Castles that I love about Scotland it is stone circles. Yes, I know that there are circles found in other countries, and yes, there is Stonehenge etc... BUT, this is the northernmost one in the UK, and there is evidence of travel from this area to Stonehenge, it is one of the few Henges with a completely circular Stone Circle inside it. It is just COOL, and I am fascinated by it and all of these types of sites, which is why there are so many photos in this post (I took a LOT more than I am posting here, these are just my favorites.) I love to ponder the uses, nobody is completely sure how they were used, there is no right or wrong answer, that they WERE important was clear, the effort involved was huge and 3,000 BC was a time where mere survival was not a given and the effort to sustain life and family/community was all consuming. The community effort involved to move and erect the monuments was not inconsequential, the fact that the effort was put in and that they survived this length of time speaks to the importance they had to the people who built them.

How then to do justice to the setting and the stones? I don't know if you fully can even with multiple days to try to photograph them and different weather or amounts of cloud cover. I had a few hours and somewhat decent skies. I think I did OK, one complication was that the path into the inside of the circle was closed, though there had been two people inside when I got there. I make a point of being respectful and though I could not see the harm in going inside I stayed on the periphery. The circle is surrounded by a Henge or ditch, and the area inside the stones is a little elevated. Meaning I was shooting up into the sky which makes things a little less varied in regards to composition. This first photo is one of my most favorite ones, the perspective of the lone stone and the others lower and spread out and the sunburst was pleasing. I do believe that sun, star and moon placement relative to the stones was part of what these were constructed for. What do you think?

 The heather was a beautiful shade and has been/remains a favorite accent to the landscape that is Scotland.  

I have this sometime vision/dream of being outside of a circle like this it is night time and there is a person standing inside the circle in front of each stone with a torch flickering in the wind. They walk together to the center to light a pyre on top of which is an important person who has passed. Solemn acknowledgement on each face of the shortness of our time on this earth and the interconnectedness of those who have been and those who continue for now.  Likely not historical fact, just a fanciful vignette in my head, but the feeling stays with me.    

The incoming cloud deck, limiting my opportunity to try for anything with stars or milky way at night still provide a beauty all of their own.   

Do you think the individual stones were named, or had stories about them? Did the people who worshipped here have favorites?   

Having made the full circuit of the circle I wanted to capture more detail rather than the wider view, moving to more telephoto focal lengths with my 70-210 makes it possible to compress distant things together and highlight what I want and remove distractions. 

As clouds roll in lighting became more of an issue, exposing for the stones vs the sky quickly became a choice I had to make, exposing for the sky was more rewarding.   

I left Brodgar with some reluctance, wishing I could expect clear sky at some point was unfruitful and I needed sleep before the explorations of the next day. And my lovely wife was waiting in the car patiently. I was/am melancholy thinking that I am unlikely to ever be able to visit again, having the photographs helps.

Thank you for viewing, as always comments are welcome. Hope you enjoyed the photos.