One of my favorite compositions from our recent shootout. My image below is pretty close to SOOC. I had to clone out sensor dust, boost contrast and add a touch of color. That's it really.
I'd like the forums take on this shot with some PP. You can go light, extreme, HDR or even add digital art. I'd like your take. Be creative, I just ask that you respect the model. She was a real sweetheart.
Full RAW file here: www.hassasphotography.com/hassas/TheGraveyardShot.zip
vuilang wrote:
I found it unreasonalbe/unethical to pose (for modeling purposes) on someone's graveyard.
is she looking down at something? grass?
Well, the graveyard was real and yes there were dead bodies in the ground but they were all from the 1800's. I'd say 2 out of 10 had legdable writing on the headstones. Most were wood. Does that make it any more ethical.
She's looking down a bunch of weeds. Dead boutique? Corpse Bride? Graveyard?
Sam Hassas wrote:
Well, the graveyard was real and yes there were dead bodies in the ground but they were all from the 1800's. I'd say 2 out of 10 had legdable writing on the headstones. Most were wood. Does that make it any more ethical.
She's looking down a bunch of weeds. Dead boutique? Corpse Bride? Graveyard?
~Sam
I'm not sure "ethical" is the word I'd use to describe if shooting in a cemetery is appropriate or not. The residents obviously won't care what you do there, and nobody is going to get hurt if you do. I suppose it's one of those things that everyone has to decide for themselves... For me personally, I wouldn't do this type of shoot in a cemetery (even an old one). Just out of respect for the dead....for me old cemeteries are usually quiet places you can reflect on the lives of the people there, and the world they inhabited. Once upon a time they were living, breathing people just like you and me...they laughed, they cried, they loved. At some point they passed on, and were laid to rest there by people who cared about them. That is the last place the went, and the last place they will ever be. I think that deserves a certain amount of respect...
I have gone and shot a couple of historic graveyards...the one in Butte, Montana (well, one of them-there are several), has graves dating back into the 1880s. Also took a bunch of pictures at Elkhorn Ghost Town and took a few at the cemetery there...a very sad place. A large number of the graves there are children who died in a diphtheria epidemic in 1888.
I don't know...like I said, it's up to the photographer to decide what they're comfortable with. The images from the graveyard are fantastic no doubt, but I wouldn't personally be comfortable shooting there... YMMV, of course.
When I spoke with the caretaker about shooting there, he mentioned one of the famous gold rush portrait photographers was buried there. I couldn't find the casket and didn't write down his name...but in a way I felt as if we were paying homage. I know I'd be stoked if someone other than a bird made good use out of my headstone.
Alright Chief, here's my go at it. To me a graveyard usually means something darker. So I went with a more darker, almost goth feel. Not sure if it works, but it's how I see this image anyway.
Sam Hassas wrote:
I'd really like to see someone tackle a night rendition, (moon, bats, eerie, smoke) of this shot. I. admittedly am not that talented. Takers?
~Sam
Not enough time to play with this one right now Sam...
If the master Sam doesn't mind...this is how I see it. Felt I had to get rid of the sun to make it more moody. Very quick edit - excuse the quality. Just used the jpg - my computer/camera raw doesn't seem to recognise your raw files.
BTW This is from rather moody person, who would love a chance to shoot in a cemetry.
