I move a lot. On the order of every three to five years for my entire adult life. Something I’m frequently asked when moving comes up in conversation is, where is/was your favorite place to live? I’ll get this vague look on my face as I give a vague answer:
ISO 1250 13mm f/13 1/60sec
My favorite? the truth is, there isn’t one. I’ve liked something about them all and disliked something about them all.
My favorite is expressed in that photo above. It’s being in a place and coming across the unexpected, like this grave marker. In a graveyard of standard stones, it was both elaborate and unkempt. Here is the original file:
ISO 1250 13mm f/13 1/60sec
Even when I shot it, I suspected that it might have real potential as a black and white image. I have cropped it using the straighten feature in Photoshop. Then in Lightroom, I converted it to black and white with a green filter. I also sharpened it a bit.
What do you think of the black and white version? I like it, but honestly may go back and try a color version as well. In particular I’m intrigued by the various tones of green in the photo. I love visiting graveyards, do you as well or do you stay away? Your comments are welcome below.
Cheers!
Photography Journal Blog 
Pingback: Place in the World – Beach, Dunes and Sea | What's (in) the Picture?
This time I think I prefer the color. There is something so magnificent in Mother Nature’s reclamation that I think it needs to be shown in all its glory. Very eye-catching and unique submission for the Challenge.
LikeLike
Yes, that’s a point that I hadn’t really even consciously thought of yet, that idea that Mother Nature will reclaim this, even this ornate man-made monument.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very interesting gravesite. I’m boring, but I always prefer the color. I don’t normally set out to visit a cemetery, but I have a friend who loves to investigate them so when I am out with her we usually end up in one. 🙂
LikeLike
Ah, yes, I tend to do that to my friends as well 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like the BW version. It gives a timeless feel to the graveyard, and I think it speaks of both peace and simplicity. All of us come and go in life and create and leave behind memories. I think darker green tones and more shadowing would make for a bold yet haunting colour version.
LikeLike
Thank you, Mabel, and I do think there is something about black and white that tends to suggest timelessness.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If I may be honest, I like the color one as it sets off the stone better ands I love moss.
LikeLike
Thank you very much for your comment, and I do think the color does accent the stone better, that did come off as muted in the black and white version, even though it had been sharpened.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Its a great picture in black and white. I am quite happy to walk round graveyards, and since my mum died have found it very comforting visiting her grave and realizing each time how far forward I have come. Its a good place to reasess life.
LikeLike
I agree with you here, I find graveyards to be a peaceful place to reflect on life.
LikeLike
Pingback: WPC: A Place In This World | Lillie-Put
Love the B&W, Amy. I also enjoy wandering around graveyards. The most interesting one I’ve visited was The Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires. It’s like a small city, with ornate mausoleums lining its streets. I was most fascinated to see the tomb of Eva Peron there.
LikeLike
I’ve heard of that graveyard, but have never been, if I was ever in the area you would find me there though 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m sure that you would take many photos there. 🙂
LikeLike
🙂
LikeLike
For this one, I like the color version a little better.
LikeLike
Thanks very much Amy 🙂
LikeLike
Ha! I *knew* it. A zombie photographer you are. (Kidding 😉😆)
LikeLike
Aww, man, now my secret is out!
LikeLike
I like the black and white version best but it is close. We have both moved a lot – I would have said I averaged every three years but some years like last year and when first leaving home have had numerous in a short space of time. I can understand your love of graveyards, particularly old ones. There is something peaceful about them.
LikeLike
Thank you, and for me, this one is such a toss-up that I probably will go back and create a color version.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A nice shot though coloured one reveal more information about the gravestone. It’s just my opinion.
LikeLike
Thank you and I agree, the color version leaves more detail in, the black and white version is a bit muted on the specifics.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the photo in black and white. ..It gives a more dramatic look. I also like graveyards. ..something compelling about it, also there is usually some beautiful art work 🙂
LikeLike
I agree I love looking at the stones, both out of curiosity for the lives they represent, but also as works of art themselves.
LikeLike
Hi Amy! There IS something about the greenness in the original photo that is appealing. You are right about that. I wonder what might happen if you black-and-whited the red building in the back and maybe the dark-green tree to the left? – keeping the green of the ground and inside the grave site. Just a thought! 🙂
What tenacity to have moved around so much. I admire you!
LikeLike
That red building was one of the reasons I was giving black and white a try. In the color version, I just think it sticks out in a bad way. If I was to create a color version I probably would give desaturating that a try, it would be fairly easy to start with, just move the red slider into negative territory. That’s the quick fix, so probably the best place to start, although sometimes it amazes me when that ends up not working.
As for moving, I have a hard time imagining staying in one place for years, I have friends who have done it, and that seems amazing to me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like the idea of dropping out the red building and keeping the green. Oo! I wonder, what would happen if you did black-and-white on everything EXCEPT the red building! I wonder if it would look spooky. Maybe just cheesy. 🙂
LikeLike
I have to admit, I’m a bit biased against that building, maybe I should reconsider that…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ooh! I was thinking, maybe leaving it in and red would suggest something eerie, because the appearance of the gravesite is so gothic. But just a writer’s imagination!
LikeLike
Yes, red would be evocative I think, I guess I just thought the structure itself was so pedestrian and the grave marker so unique. I was immediately like, that’s gotta be taken out 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yup, I get it!
LikeLike
I like the black and white. It gives this subject a timeless quality or at least it does for me.
LikeLike
Thank you very much, that idea of timelessness does come through in the black and white version. A few other commenters have hit on that idea as well, noting that the color version seems to have more detail in it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I enjoy the way you give us an edited and an original view of your photos. It is great to see some of your process and :helps me improve my ‘eye’.
LikeLike
Thanks very much, I’m glad you find it helpful. I often include it for my own reference, so that I can come back and take a second look, I find that helpful, it’s nice to read that you do too 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Normally i’d prefer a shot like this in b&w, but I really like the colour original. Maybe, as you say, it’s the shades of green. I love graveyards btw — partly it’s the family historian in me, and partly I just like the stillness and the vibe.
LikeLike
Yes, I know you have an interest in your family history, so not a surprise that graveyards would be interesting to you 🙂 I do just like the stillness of them. I also like that, when taken as a whole, they often tell something of the community as a whole.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is a really good point about being to “read” something of the social history from a cemetery/ graveyard. 😀
LikeLike