By John VanSteenberg
Yesterday, I set out to photograph in a cemetery I like. I saw a note in the local newspaper reporting that it was recently used for scenes in the next Alex Cross movie and I remembered how much I loved to go there to explore. (There are some amazing crypts, dating back 150 years, or more. The grounds are mature and beautifully wooded.)
While exploring, I ‘looked’ at perhaps 50 tombs and photographed several. I was particularly interested in two tombs opposite one another, with contrasting styles from different periods (1850 and 1910). I made several photographs of each individually, showing how different they were.
One of the challenges I like to revisit periodically is to make a picture, and then to examine how many other pictures are right there within 20 feet or so, if you just see them.
I think of this as the difference between 'looking' at something compared to 'seeing' what is really there calling out to you. You see; looking is superficial while seeing is much more selective and specific. Neither is about the size of what is in the scene. Rather, they are about what is really available to image, what to include, what to exclude and how to optimize each selection.
While I thought that both general views of the tombs were good and that I had made some important decisions about what belonged in each frame, I also realized that each was the sum of the designers creativity. So, I got the idea to explore how many other photographs I was perhaps walking past without even ‘seeing’ them. So, I decided to search a bit deeper into the possibilities using one memorial and staying within 20 feet of the original establishing image.
In just a few minutes of focusing my attention, I found about 15 more images. And, in at least one of those, I see a future Picasso-esque image emerging when I have time to go into post production.
I am copying some of them below. The lens was the SP 10-24 for all shots. Files were captured in RAW and JPEG simultaneously. Files were converted from RAW to JPEG using Bibble Labs, Bibble Pro v5. Minor exposure adjustments were made and a couple of images have added vignettes for sky control since the lens has so little fall off.
Top circa 1910. Bottom circa 1850
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