What I’ve Learned from “Working the Cemeteries”
Last Updated May 5, 2018
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I’ve loved cemeteries as long as I can remember. I think I became a genealogist just so I would have a good explanation for how often I visited them. While I go mainly to take photos for Find A Grave or Billion Graves, I find other reasons as well; the calm, the time to think, the sense of history, etc. Over the years I’ve learned some great lessons while “working the graveyards” as my friend loves me to say. These tips and insights will definitely help new graveyard addicts and might even be useful for those of us who’ve “gone off the deep end” so to speak 😉
1) Watch out for ant beds! Seriously, how many times do I have to learn this lesson?? With a camera up to your face, moving from stone to stone quickly, it’s easy to forget to LOOK before you STEP.
2) Get out of the shot! The first time I took a photo of a lovely and huge headstone for someone I realized that the glossy front of the stone had a perfect reflection of me and my camera captured over the names and dates of their loved ones. Not so cool. So I had to find an angle where I could get a good shot of the stone and not have me plastered in it. It can be a challenge but so worth the effort. Ditto for shadows by the way.
3) Use the sun. Taking shots at a slight angle can often make an unreadable stone suddenly come to life when the shadow cast in the etched names reveals what is hidden when looking directly at it. There are headstones I swear look totally different on cloudy versus sunny days. Vice versa, on cloudy days you can take photos without worry of your shadow being in the shot.
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10) Don’t put off taking photos too long – things sink! I’ve been amazed over the few years that I’ve been documenting one particular cemetery in Houston how much the stones weather or sink in a short period of time. Now, we’re in a swamp like environment so not everyone will have the sinking problem. But weather is everywhere and it will affect the stones. Once I realized how quickly it was happening I took advantage of every cool/sunny day (not that often here) that I could to take photos. When it comes to gravestones: A photo today is worth more than a photo tomorrow!
11) Respect the graves. This should really go without saying, and it’s something I’ve tried to teach my kids. They sometimes come with me on my picture taking sprees and my general rules are: don’t step or sit on the stones, don’t disturb flowers or other mementoes family has left, and walk, don’t run, through the cemetery.
12) Even non-famous people get buried in famous cemeteries. In early days when I visited cemeteries considered “famous” (like Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina) I wouldn’t take many photos. I assumed that since the place was so well known, it must have been thoroughly documented. WRONG! Now, I always take random photos when I visit cemeteries far from home. Knowing that I won’t get back anytime soon, I document what I can on the off chance that the photo hasn’t been entered online yet. EVERY TIME, no matter how “famous” the cemetery is, I end up adding memorials for stones as yet un-photographed.
13) “Do you ever get creeped out?” This is by far the number one question I get from my non-graveyard obsessed friends. And the answer is yes. I don’t think we can help but let our imaginations get away from us occasionally. But it has never stopped me from going – although I did shorten a visit once. What you do need to be aware of in cemeteries is the living. In my urban hood the cemeteries are often in not so great parts of town and tucked out of the way. There are some I won’t go to at all without my husband and I generally don’t wear my jewelry. While nothing has ever happened to me personally, I know it does happen. Always be aware of your surroundings.
Featured Image: Olivewood Cemetery, Houston, Texas – The self-etched headstones can be particularly hard to read.
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