April Squares: Top Shots: Netherlands American Cemetery

ISO 160 f/11 1/200sec 48mm

Day 26, find other responses here.

Date and Location of Photo: August 22, 2019. Taken at Netherlands American Cemetery. In addition to being another beautifully maintained cemetery, the grave markers are all adopted by families of locals a tradition that I find very moving.

Thoughts on the Edit: I didn’t really feel like I wanted to edit this image too much. I did crop it and boosted the small details slider a bit, other than that, I let it be.

April Squares, an Explanation:

When Becky announced that the April Squares theme was going to be “top”, I thought it over and then sent her a message, then pitched my idea. She was open to my theme within the theme and the result is my response to the April Squares challenge.

I move a lot and I have a move pending. I’ve lived here in England for about four years and will be heading to the United States. Exact dates to be determined, given the current world situation, details have yet to be worked out. My April Squares is a “top shots” reflection on the last four years. Each square represents some moment or place that was meaningful to me. They are in chronological order moving forward in time. I’m attempting to post every day. All photos will be edited in Luminar 3. I hope you enjoy following along, I’ve enjoyed the process of creating. Your comments and thoughts are welcome below.

Cheers!

What I Am Working On: Two Tools, One Task

I was working on this file:

ISO 320 f/11 1/320sec 24mm

I had done a few steps of basic editing when I saw the flag peeking out from behind the grave marker. Interesting how sometimes details like this can be missed at first. I wanted to remove it from my final edit. The really good news is that removing objects from photos has gotten easier and much more natural-looking over the years. In this case, I used both the erase and clone and stamp tools in Luminar. I find the erase tool is good for removal and clone and stamp works well for the clean up of any mess the eraser leaves behind. I would also suggest that you do work like this on the biggest screen you have and make use of the zoom tool as well so that you can get a really good look at what you are doing. The final edit is this one:

ISO 320 f/11 1/320sec 24mm

This final edit has the Luminar Look, Camden Fade, applied to it. The photo was shot at Luxembourg American Cemetery. It is a beautiful spot, a good place to reflect on the sacrifices of those who fought in World War II. Your thoughts on the edit are welcome below. This post was inspired by the Lens-Artist Photo Challenge, Reflections.

Cheers!

Veterans Day

In July I was working on a photography project at Cambridge American Cemetery. My shooting week was documented in this post. I was photographing the grave marker of Finis E. Harris Jr. His family lives in the United States, but right now I am living not far from the cemetery, so I made these images for them:

ISO 500 f/11 1/500sec 30mm

ISO 500 f/11 1/500sec 55mm

ISO 500 f/11 1/500sec 20mm

ISO 25 f/2.4 1/590sec 3.3mm

ISO 500 f/11 1/500sec 18mm

When it came to editing, these photos have had very minimal edits applied. The idea was to show the marker as it is. The cemetery here is a really nice one, beautiful and peaceful. The American Battle Monuments Commission manages this and several other overseas military burial sites. I’ve had the opportunity to visit a few of them. They are all really well run. If you happen to have a family member buried or memorialized at one of these sites, know that they do have a lovely final resting spot.

I was back at the Cambridge site this morning for a Veterans Day service:

View this post on Instagram

Thanks to all veterans, past and present. #veteransday #armisticeday

A post shared by Amy Maranto (@marantophotography) on Nov 11, 2019 at 4:54am PST

Added to A Photo a Week Photo Challenge, In the Neighborhood.

Cheers!

Walls of the Missing

I am planning to visit the Cambridge American Cemetery again soon and as part of that, I was looking through some photo files that I shot this past winter. One of the features in the cemetery is its Walls of the Missing that have 5,127 names on it. It’s an interesting structure in that there are places where you can walk through and it operates as both a barrier to the outside, but also an entrance and exit between the cemetery and it’s exterior. So it’s both a wall and a door. It’s imposing, yet delicate; Both personal and impersonal. During this particular photo editing session, I was working with images that included the Wall:

Hipstamatic, shot with iPhone

Hipstamatic, shot with iPhone

Hipstamatic, shot with iPhone.

These first images are ones that I shot on my iPhone using the app Hipstamatic. One of the features of that app is “randomize” which means you shake your phone, take your photo, and the app applies a random selection of filters. I created a series of those over the course of my visit.

I also brought my Canon 80D:

ISO 400 24mm f/11 1/250sec

 

ISO 400 24mm f/11 1/640

These two photos I edited in Luminar 3 with an eye to accentuating the warm but quickly fading light of a February afternoon.

It was an interesting work session, and I was giving some thought to how different the lighting conditions will be since my next visit will be in July. In that vein, I think it is nice as a photographer to have the experience of shooting the same place at different times of the year. It’s a good exercise in thinking through things like light. It’s also interesting to then have the time of year be part of the narrative of the image.

Do you have a place like this, that you visit regularly over the year in part just to see the changes? What do you think of my various photos, is there a particular one that speaks to you? Feel free to comment below.

Cheers!

Added to Tuesday Photo Challenge, Wall and Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, 5+ Items.