It’s important to take overview photographs at cemeteries to see the relative position of stones and not just get closeups of each stone. It’s important to take these photographs from several angles. The difficulty in some cemeteries can be keeping perspective and knowing just where you are at in each picture.
Sometimes nearby stones can look very much alike.
I was fortunate when I took pictures at the Dunkard Cemetery in Linn County, Iowa, that there were at least two stones that served as positional guides in most of my photographs. One was a ground-level round stone with a military flag next to it. Another was a large stone with a large shrub on the north side of it. At least one of these stones was in every background photo I took.
What if there had not been such stones? I could have brought someone along with me and had them stand in the same place the entire time I took pictures. A more practical approach would have been to bring something I could have placed on the ground that would have been in every picture. A lawn chair from the trunk of my car, a construction cone, or something large enough to be visible in my overview photos would have been extremely helpful for these shots.
It could have been a cemetery version of “Where’s Waldo?” But it would not have left me wondering later.
Just remember to leave nothing in the cemetery when you leave. Take any photo marker home with you.
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