Friday at the Cemetery

[ColColt]

Where did you spend your Friday afternoon? Me and my dog spent some time at the cemetery. I had just gotten a new to me Pentax 6x7 with two lens and it brought back memories. I hadn't had one in about 20 years and one of the last places I went to with it was a local old cemetery. So, we headed off today to take some pics.

As I began to take some photos I noticed it had filled up quite a bit since I was last there and I had forgotten about the Lullabyland section. That place tears at the heart because it's a section of the cemetery devoted to little ones that didn't make it past a year old with some not even a day. Not even having had a chance in life I noticed it too had filled up quite a bit. Some things I'll never understand.

For most of the photos taken today I used the 75 f4.5 lens with yellow filter and Tri-X 120 later developed in HC-110 Dilution H for ten minutes. Here are the results of some of them.

120TX4a by David Fincher, on Flickr
120TX2a by David Fincher, on Flickr
120TX6a by David Fincher, on Flickr
120TX5a by David Fincher, on Flickr

 

[mooseontheloose]

Nice shots David. Friday was one of the few days I didn't spend at a cemetery, as I've photographing quite a few over the past few weeks. Of course, I have nothing developed yet, but will post some once I do.

I've noticed that quite a few cemeteries have these sections for young children/babies who didn't make it - they're always heartbreaking.

 

[pbromaghin]

9/11/01 was about the worst day of my life. A friend died when the tower collapsed. Today I spent it at work, thankfully ignorant. No comemerations here.

 

[ColColt]

I've noticed that quite a few cemeteries have these sections for young children/babies who didn't make it - they're always heartbreaking.

That was the first one I had ran across. As I looked them over I stated thinking, that could be me; it could have been my sister or brother. It made me feel most fortunate and grateful for the long life I've been given.

I can't imagine how all those people felt the day the towers collapsed. I would suspect the horror was similar to those on the Titanic or Hindenburg knowing their minutes were about up. It had to have been an indescribable feeling.

When we got to the cemetery I had wished for better lighting-non contrasty but, the film seemed to handle it rather well. I much prefer and have taken some of my best pictures on an overcast day or what Kodak called a "cloudy, bright no shadows" day but, we don't get to pick the weather so, you work with it.

 

[Sirius Glass]

9/11/01 was about the worst day of my life. A friend died when the tower collapsed. Today I spent it at work, thankfully ignorant. No comemerations here.

At least I did not have that. In addition to the usual feeling about 11 September that others feel, the government sponsor immediately called back all the unspent money on the project which I was on and so the contract was cancelled. So as a result of 11 September I was out of work for a while.

On a lighter note: ColColt, you seem to have been at a dead end.

Why do cemeteries surrounded by fences? Because people are dying to get in.

 

[optiken01]

Nice shots. Love the contrast. Yesterday I stopped and took some pics with my autocord at a tiny old cemetery until the rain forced me to retreat to my car and move on. I'm really interested to see how they come out


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[ColColt]

And here I thought I was the only one that took the camera to a grave yard. That one I was at is a very old one dating back to the mid 1800's. There's some interesting etchings on some of the tombstones.

At the top of one it was inscribed "Immortality". Below it read...

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints on snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the the gentle autumn rain
When you awake in the morning's hush,
I am the swift upflinging rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight
I am the soft star-shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there, I did not die.

 

[cuthbert]

The second picture is VERY sad.

 

[DWThomas]

I think graveyards are definitely interesting subjects, especially old ones. There is often a lot of creative art in the monuments, as well as interesting textures to explore on eroded stones, and often very settled, mature plantings.

I can't help wonder if having a special section for infants is an modern outgrowth of how rare those deaths have become in these days of advanced medicine. There is a shot (there was a url link here which no longer exists) of a twin tablet-style gravestone taken in a local family cemetery where the deceased were two months and five days old. It dates back to 1831. I've read stats that nearly half of children born a century or two back were lucky to make it to age five. The answer to "How many kids do you have?" was sometimes expressed as "five living" or whatever the numbers were. A few things have improved with time.

 

[ColColt]

I don't know, some of those little graves were dated 2012.

 

[Nodda Duma]

Most graveyards around here date to the 1600s or 1700s. There's two graveyards locally that are suppose to be haunted. My 9 yr old daughter *insists* on visiting them after dark. So last fall one moonless night we went to visit. Lots of spooky fun. They are in Hollis, you can look them up.

Thanks for sharing and letting me enjoy a memory. I'll have to take my camera to photograph the cemeteries later this fall.

 

[ColColt]

That's one place you won't find me after dark. Like my Granny use to say, they can't hurt you but they can make you hurt yourself. Besides, my lens are too slow to use after dark. I got out of that one didn't I?

 

[HiHoSilver]

I have enjoyed and also grieved thru cemetaries. The historic ones interest me, having come across a small local one, maintained only by local donations. As it turns out, some there were born before the Lewis & Clark expedition - only 26 yrs after declaration of independence. Our european members can surely find sites much older, but this connects with our history here. I was surprised to see people here within a single generation of independence. 'Many laid to rest before the Civil War.

There were monuments for the very very young here also.

 

[ColColt]

They're an interesting place and I can't but wonder what sort of person some were and the lives they led. What were their fears, accomplishments and daily routines. It's the young ones that bother me most, not having the slightest chance at life.

 

[benjiboy]

At my age I try to spend my Fidays at somewhere more cheerful .

 

[Andre Noble]

I no longer shoot in cemeteries and extend that to memorials. If anyone interested I can tell you why from personal experience over the years. Summary: It's not good. Earthly life is for the living.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I no longer shoot in cemeteries and extend that to memorials. If anyone interested I can tell you why from personal experience over the years. Summary: It's not good. Earthly life is for the living.

An occasional photographic visit is one thing, but I agree that life is for the living.

 

[ColColt]

I can understand that line of reasoning if you have a life, I don't. I moved to this state back in 1974 due to a job offer. Being single I had no family and the only ones I knew were co-workers. Not long after I moved I got interested in photography, taught myself about exposure, f-stops, etc and bought my first Nikon. I had no one to take picture of, no wife, kids, grand kids or even a dog. I'd go out in the front yard of the house I was renting and take pictures of squirrels, the trash can, transformers, cars passing and that sort of thing. Then, I found out about an old cemetery two miles away and started going up there now and then spending an hour or two taking pictures. It was a good place to wile away the time.

I retired three years ago and have no family as I've outlived them all. I have an 11 year old dog. Recalling the time spent at the cemetery long ago is why I decided to go back and see how things had changed and they had quite a bit. I took my dog with me and shot two rolls of film and just looked around a lot. Occasionally, I go downtown and do some street shooting as I use to do during lunch hour when I was working. It was fun and I enjoyed it as I did a couple weeks ago when I decided to go back. That area too has changed in the last 30+ years and I can look back at the negatives I still have when I shot a lot back in the 80's.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I can understand that line of reasoning if you have a life, I don't. I moved to this state back in 1974 due to a job offer. Being single I had no family and the only ones I knew were co-workers. Not long after I moved I got interested in photography, taught myself about exposure, f-stops, etc and bought my first Nikon. I had no one to take picture of, no wife, kids, grand kids or even a dog. I'd go out in the front yard of the house I was renting and take pictures of squirrels, the trash can, transformers, cars passing and that sort of thing. Then, I found out about an old cemetery two miles away and started going up there now and then spending an hour or two taking pictures. It was a good place to wile away the time.

I retired three years ago and have no family as I've outlived them all. I have an 11 year old dog. Recalling the time spent at the cemetery long ago is why I decided to go back and see how things had changed and they had quite a bit. I took my dog with me and shot two rolls of film and just looked around a lot. Occasionally, I go downtown and do some street shooting as I use to do during lunch hour when I was working. It was fun and I enjoyed it as I did a couple weeks ago when I decided to go back. That area too has changed in the last 30+ years and I can look back at the negatives I still have when I shot a lot back in the 80's.

Well now you are old enough to buy a Geezer Pass for $20US, $10US if you buy it in person.
[http://www.nps.gov/lavo/planyourvisit/upload/-Final-OMB-Approved-Senior-Pass-App80-pdf.pdf].
Then get in your car and visit the National Parks of the western US. You will find plenty of things to photograph.

 

[ColColt]

$10 in person...not a bad deal. Thanks for the offer. I'd love to see the parks but can't drive that far due to vascular problems. I'd have to stop every hour and it would take a century to get there. I've been to Main and Niagara Falls(both sides) but no mountains. In Ogunquit I saw this lady painting the lighthouse and decided it might be a good pic to take. Shot with the big Pentax 6x7.

120FP4ab by David Fincher, on Flickr

 

[Sirius Glass]

Then time for a road trip. Take a train or a bus and then rent a car to see the National Parks near by. The repeat the process.