Anta (dolmen) da Granja, a photo from Portalegre, South

Photographer's Note

This is another dolmen (or anta, like is popularly known in Portugal) not so far from the others I posted before and less than 600 meters from the this later post of mine.

Dolmens are the oldest `monuments� we can find in Western Europe. As far as I know, most or all of them were built at least 5000 years ago and they were tombs, (actually not every archaeologist is fully convinced of that). Those in better shape still preserve the cover stone that make them look a bit like huge mushrooms or tables (the word derives from the antique Breton word that means 'stone table'). I have written some more info on dolmens in the note of my first post featuring one.

WS's: Maybe any of them is more effective showing the monument, but the #1 has the sky almost completely white and the #2 looks less interesting to me as a photo. I would love to know what you think.

You can browse all my posts of megalithic monuments in this theme and my posts of the Marvao district here.

Weblinks to info on dolmens: answers.com, Wikipedia.

Location (latitude, longitude): 39.4603,-7.3206

adores, ribeiroantonio, jlbrthnn, feather, xuaxo, axiotea, saylan-cb, ruisc_pt, Didi, Charo, jwmunro, COSTANTINO, jusninasirun, danos, dareco, Docarmo has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

jmdias (116663) 2008-04-16 17:34

jose

sempre me impressionei com a quantidade de antas que podemos encontrar nesta regi鉶, � s� colocar os olhos para fora da estrada e prestar aten玢o para ver alguma. Esta aqui est� meio arruinada mas ainda podemos ver o qu鉶 imponente foi um dia. Belo pov. O verde ao redor ajuda bem na compo, incluindo o detalhe das flores.

abra鏾s

jorge

adores (46979) 2008-04-16 19:29

Ol� Jos�!
Vejo que voltaste 鄐 antas! Esta est� um pouco diferente das anteriores mas est� bonita e bem real. Afinal, uma boa parte delas est� mesmo rodeada de arbustos. Neste caso at� d鉶 uma certa gra鏰 � foto. Tamb閙 goto do c閡 escuro. Acho que esta anta nem � das que est� em piores condi珲es.
H� uma associa玢o na minha zona que vai fazer uma visita nocturna guiada aos megal韙icos,vou ver se consigo ir.

UnTrained (0) 2008-04-16 22:03

Ol� Jos�,
I like those colour combinations of grey from rocks and green from plants, grey from a sky is often a pleasant addition but the resulting light is not always what we want. The more close-up here does not need so much the light for some depth by shadows as the one in the second workshop and has a better sky than the first, I follow your impression about the quality of the three. I like the good texture on the rocks.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

ribeiroantonio (22730) 2008-04-17 0:47

Pelo que vejo na imagem o local parece-me voltado ao abandono. Ser� mesmo que existem boas indica珲es para se poder l� chegar? E, est鉶 todas estas antas devidamente documentadas?
gosto da foto, que nos mostra um bom PDV e tem cores bonitas. Quanto aos WS's, o WS2 d�-nos uma ideia melhor da escala do lugar e o WS1 tem na realidade o c'eu bastante branco mas ao mesmo tempo mostra-nos bem o conjunto das 4 pedras.
Ant髇io

jlbrthnn (76043) 2008-04-17 2:16

Bom-dia Jos�,
gosto muito dos m間alithes em geral. Continuo seduzo pelo mist閞io, e sempre interrogo-me sobre porque e ele como destes monumentos funer醨ios ao passado t鉶 remoto. Excelente imagem, boa uso da vegeta玢o e o c閡.
Passa um bom dia
cordialmente
Jo雔

feather (51130) 2008-04-17 6:00

I agree with your choice for main post, mainly because of the yellow flowers which I think add a lot to the composition. Either PS's RAW converter or Lightroom would have rescued the sky on WS1, but I don't think you have that do you? There is lots of texture in the image from the rocks and that broom-like grass in the forground. The out-of-focus grass at the bottom is a bit of a distraction but not too much, although I think cropping it off would work too, as it would replace the proportions to the same as-shot after your crop from one of the sides. An overall good study of the location
Kath

crckt (7222) 2008-04-17 8:04

Hi Jose,
I like the composition here, but don't you think it is a touch too sharp? Thanks for sharing.
Regards,
Shaeri

xuaxo (6854) 2008-04-17 11:53

Ol� Jos�
Acho que a foto (principal) est� bem assim. Gosto de ver a anta bem rodeada de vegeta玢o, o que n鉶 � assim t鉶 habitual.
Um abra鏾,
F

zeynepe (0) 2008-04-17 12:00

Dear Jose,
This is very interesting place of history. This is one of the reasons that I should visit Portugal.
It is really impressive:)
Kind regards,
Zeynep

rodgerg (55767) 2008-04-17 12:59

Ol� Jos�,

Excelente imagem, boa uso da vegeta鏰o, muita bonito cor bem captas sobrtudo aquelas pedra.

Abra鏾s,
Roger

axiotea (21651) 2008-04-17 20:10

Ol� Jos�

I think, i also like the choice for the main post, especially with the flower adding a nice touch of color , but also like the WS 1 in which the details of the large stones are more visible.

Cheers

Marilyn

sagar (2410) 2008-04-18 4:29

Hi Jose,
This a good shot!!!I think the sharpness is perfect!!! A nice sight of the ancient rocks!!
Regards,
Sagarneel.

mark_mk (266) 2008-04-18 8:47

Hi Jose,
once again a nice shot you took here. The colors are great and these rocks look great. Nice atmosphere, this sky looks pretty nice, seems like it was about to rain. Nice one my friend!

Best regards and with all my friendship
Mark

ruisc_pt (11594) 2008-04-18 14:43

Ol� Jos� Pires
Um bom feriadoi para exortar a mem髍ia dos nossos antepassados e as suas obras.
Na minha opini鉶 como foto tant o ws # 1 como #2 saltaram-me � vista. A cor bem viva do penedo desviou-me do c閡 deslavado como dizes...
Gostei das 3 imagens e especialmente da nota, pese embora a envolvente seja pobre em termos fotogr醘icos e qt a isso nada h� a fazer se quisermos ser realistas...
UM ab e bom f d s
Rui

saylan-cb (12738) 2008-04-19 1:55

Hi Jose,
Very interesting place!Natural colours and beautiful compositions.
Excellent!
TFS/Regards

Didi (61591) 2008-04-19 3:01

Bonjour Jos�
Le vent soufflant l間鑢ement donne un int閞essant avant-plan soft, des herves qui semblent douces au toucher.
Tr鑣 bonne pr閟entation du dolmen par ce ciel couvert.
Amiti閟.

paura (25802) 2008-04-19 3:26

Jos�,
Outra bela composi玢o aqui. Eu gosto desse c閡 algo mais inst醰el como aqui e voc� o apresenta de forma muito competente.

Abra鏾

Paulo

Charo (51290) 2008-04-19 9:30

Hola Jose,
Me alrgra ver esta foto pues cuando yo estuve por ah� no tuve tiempo de ver los d髄menes y menhiras de la zona. Excelente contraste de las piedras con la vegetaci髇 que las rodea.
Cordialmente
Charo

jwmunro (286) 2008-04-19 9:50

Hello Jose -

This Dolmen is a bit different that the ones I have seen in Ireland. These are more like an altar table rather than a grave. At times I wonder if the ancients placed the body on top to let nature take the remains back. Excellent image, properly exposed, with interesting details. Well done!

Thank for sharing.

John

Bluejeans (64251) 2008-04-19 14:51

Oi amigo ,
Tens uma bela colec玢o de fotos de antas muito boa , esta est� o meio do mato , ao abandono :(, com o c閡 nublado a foto ficou dram醫ica , gostei muito das cores , o ws 2 d� uma vis鉶 muito boa do lugar , parab閚s!!
Um abra鏾 Gon鏰lo

jusninasirun (17529) 2008-04-21 4:39

Hello Jose. I like rocks with tall grass in the foreground. The flowers on the bottom right frame adds perspective to this image. Thanks for sharing and best regards. Jusni

COSTANTINO (117940) 2008-04-21 7:08

Hello JOSE,
my favorite colouris the amazing green of your photo.There is a beauty in this photo,
fascinated atmosphere,NATURE...
Greetings from GREECE
cOSTANTINO

danos (110407) 2008-04-30 6:27

Ola Jose,
Yes! i think that this is the real shape of a dolmen.This consists from huge stones that lean each other,sort of! i imagine them.Informative your note in order to understand someone the construction of this monument.

Regards,Danos

dareco (17136) 2008-09-10 14:21

Very beautiful nature! I love the natural and very pretty colors and the pov. TFS and have a happy day!

Docarmo (9767) 2008-11-25 9:33

Ol� Jos�,
Este lugar � um tesouro verdadeiro para a hist髍ia do ser humano e do planeta. Visualmente chamam minha aten玢o esta vegeta玢o a parecer pinceladas de uma pintura, assim como as florinhas amarelas que d鉶 um toque muito especial � imagem.
Parab閚s!
MCV

Photo Information

Copyright: Jose Pires (stego) (24132)
Genre: 风景
Medium: 彩色
Date Taken: 2007-06-10
Categories: Ruins
Camera: Olympus E-300, 14-45 mm Zuiko Digital
Exposure: f/22, 1/25 seconds
Details: Tripod: Yes
More Photo Info: view
Map: view
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Theme(s): Dolmes of the world, old stone, !Norte Alentejano, Cromlechs & Dolmens, !Megalithic monuments [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-04-16 17:20