Cemeteries don’t have to look morbid

I take a lot of photos in cemeteries. Besides the fact that the local cemetery is the nicest place in town, landscape wise, certainly nicer than the park, I like visiting it for all of the textures and history. When I travel I actually seek out old cemeteries, the older the better. And although I am a fan of the ‘creepy’ cemetery photos I find it a challenge to take photos in them that don’t look too – uh, how can I say this – too much like a cemetery? Sure the creepy shots are cool and mysterious but I find that I’m always spending more time on details and trying to avoid the big picture.

So I thought I would show some recent photos I took at the Magnolia and Bethany Cemeteries in Charleston, South Carolina. I usually end up going with black and white photos for my cemetery shots to emphasis textures but these looked best in color. I don’t think they would work at all in black and white, so I took advantage of the bright, sunshiny day and processed for maximum color. Maybe a bit too much – I could probably tone that red down a little. ;-). Unfortunately I didn’t have the time to explore the cemeteries in depth, I had a long drive ahead and just did a quick drive through to see the place. I grabbed a few quick shots in bad light for souvenirs, but I would have liked to really spend some time there. Maybe upon return.