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Three old gravestones show the wear of years.
Old gravestones tend to be more elaborate, more ornate. Old cemeteries also often provide elderly trees, shade and contrasts in light and dark. - 2
Some grave monuments are art in themselves.
Get out of the car and walk. Cemeteries have roads through them, but they were designed to make it easy to visit family graves. Walking will help you see the photos that present themselves. Famous photographer Ansel Adams largely is known for his photos of Yosemite National Park. Adams was very good, but it is hard to take a bad photo in Yosemite. The same is true for older cemeteries. - 3
This tiny old gravestones sits in pieces, worn by weather over many years.
Look for poor people’s gravestones, as well as those of the rich. The rich tended to make giant monolithic monuments to themselves, and their gravestones tend to be ornate and grand. They are the easiest to spot and to photograph well. The gravestones for poor people, however, are better representatives of real life. Gravestones are sad, but they tell a story. - 4
The sky was altered to give a stormy look for this masoleum.
Shoot in color, but convert to black and white or sepia tone in Photoshop for digital or film. The reason is color often won’t reveal the full beauty of the cemetery unless there are bright flowers or patriotic flags. Don’t just convert the photos to grayscale, either. Use Desaturate because it gives you far more flexibility when toning the photos. For a really stark black-and-white image, use Equalize. For a softer tone, use Diffuse Glow in the Filter Gallery. For really old gravestones, try sepia toning. With the image desaturated, go to Variations under Adjustments. Mixing Yellow and Red in Variations will give a soft, old-fashioned sepia brown look to the photos. - 5
The rich and the poor lie near each other in this cemetery.
Look around for more cemeteries that aren’t major affairs. In the 18th and 19th centuries, many families — especially those who were farmers — tended to bury their family members in small lots. They may be along a road or in the middle of a field. Also look at hilltops. Most old cemeteries were placed on hills because the land couldn’t be farmed.
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