I enjoy walking through graveyards, but that was not what I was doing this past week when I saw this grave marker:
ISO 800 120mm 0ev f/11 1/125
I was walking through a garden at the time, and this grave marker just happened to be in it. I was happy to have my longer lens with me so as not to be tempted to trample in the garden even in its off season. I bracketed this photo and later created the HDR version that you see above. I also used several filters in Photoshop that, while I think still look realistic, dramatically changed the photo. Here is the original:
ISO 800 120mm 0ev f/11 1/125
You will see that I cropped the photo as well, mostly to remove the plant label, but also to get rid of some of the sky which I felt wasn’t particularly helping this photo. I had never been to this garden, but as I was walking though I thought that it was a place I would like to come back another time. I love visiting gardens as they go through their yearly cycle of blooming and dying. I feel the same way about graveyards, which tend to be gardens in their own right. It might seem dark and creepy to some but to me it is the opposite.
How about you, do you have a favorite place to visit in all the seasons? What do you think of my edits? Feel free to leave a comment below.
Cheers!
Photography Journal Blog 
I like what you did, It adds details and mood, perfect 🙂
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Thanks!
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Time | Musings of a Random Mind
Interesting unexpected find. In surprisingly good condition though.
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Yes, it’s near a restored house and garden, so while it was a surprise to me to find it there, I suspect it has been well cared for for many years.
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I think your edits worked really well here. Good call to crop out the plant label and most of the sky.
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Thank you very much.
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Really pulls at the heart strings, doesn’t it?
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Yes, to me it’s like an excerpt from a novel.
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I like water, shores. And here we have a lot of them because I live close to the Gulf of Bothnia.
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Nice to have that close by.
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Pingback: Time (Book Reader) | Chris Breebaart Photography / What's (in) the picture?
looking at the picture, i imagined how time flies. well done.
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Thanks!
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She died young. 31? In labor? War? Disease? It would be great if we could find out the history of Mary. Either travel in time to the past or simply ask her relatives..
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It does seem like the cover to a novel doesn’t it, so much more than is written there.
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Hi PJB. I agree that you did a great job cropping the shot and using the post-processing filters. It really highlights the texture of the gravestone and its age.
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Thank you, when I was originally shooting the image, I was hoping to include the sky, but it just didn’t work out that way for the final image.
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Nice shot and processing. I had a similar idea for the time challenge. I love graveyards and have several posts about them. I don’t think they are creepy, I find them calming. Puts things in perspective.
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I agree, I think it does as well.
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It is interesting that February is abbreviated Febr. when I use Feb. these days.
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It is interesting how our use of language evolves over time.
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Definitely creates a mood of intrigue and age with the editing.
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Thank you!
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You brought that that ‘it’ too life. Very beautiful. I would have tried to keep that portion of sky and color it blue.
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Yeah, even in the HDR version the sky was only meh, so I just cropped it.
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Your pictures are beautiful
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Thank you so much, I appreciate you taking the time to look around and comment.
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I really like the HDR version and enjoying comparing the two – I went back and forth a few times. I also love how you had a lens to use so you did not have to walk on the area – when i used to teach students during nature hikes in Northern California we would sometimes talk about the life that is living beneath the layers – and that was nice to read. And what a great find to have while equipped with your weapon of choice. ha!
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Yes, I do try to be respectful of the ground I am walking on. In this case you could tell that someone really cared about this garden.
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And after reading the comments I realized the Febr!! How did I miss that? Great snapshot into history in so many ways – and the “wife of” part had me thinking about woman’s identity at that time – hmmmm
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It does say something about how we label ourselves and how society labels us.
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Yes- very different “times” – and as I just per used some Victorian Valentine’s Day cards I was reminded of how much I like living in the now – not a perfect time and I know some could argue for the charms of other periods – but I’m quite content – especially with women’s rights – never think about it too much – but so grateful
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Don’t you think in part it has to do with just being comfortable with the time you live in, in that it is what you are use to?
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Thanks for liking my entry for this week’s challenge. I too love walking through graveyards and imaging the stories they hold.
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Part of the fun of writing these posts is then going to visit other blogs and looking at what others have done. Thank you for your visit and taking the time to comment.
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The difference is huge! Very nice that You love graveyards too. When shooting church photos, I always visit graveyards also.
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It’s nice to know I am not the only one!
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This picture is the perfect portrayal of “Time stands still for no man.”
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Yes, that would work. Thanks very much for looking around my blog, and taking the time to comment.
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