Taking Photographs of Cemeteries - some hints and cautions

Ideally, the light should be that of early morning or late afternoon.  You may need to carry a portable light source or reflective surface to photograph headstones in the shade. 

Set your digital camera at the highest resolution to make sure you obtain the clearest result possible.  When  you post it to the internet or email it at a lower resolution, you will still have better clarity.

Take a writing tablet and pencil or pen.  These will be used to document everything you see on the stone before taking the photo.  There are several reasons for doing this.  1) Perhaps the photo will be unclear and you will need to refer back to it. 2) If you are going to all the trouble to take the photos and save them or publish them to the internet, it will be faster to label them (ie:  jones-edward-1836-1852, or jones-edward-closeup).   This is a format many sites use to store photos.  3)  You will easily be able to create a database of those photos in Word or Excel by transcribing the list you have made.  Many researchers are aided by a database to supplement the photographs.  4) It will also help document groupings of family by showing who is buried near whom. 

Share the photos on the internet.  Someone else will be aided by your work!

CAUTIONS

Do not sell your photographs.  (See previous post)

Under no circumstances are you to use chalk, shaving cream, pens, pencils, or other similar items to highlight the engraving on the stones.  This causes irreversible damage to the stone and they are private property.  Doing any of these is considered vandalism.  (Sometimes using plain water will give enough highlight to allow you to read the stone.)  Even if you are a descendant of that person, you do not have the right to damage that stone.

If you see any broken pieces laying nearby, do not move them.

Do not use abrasives or harsh chemicals to clean off stones so that you can read them better - such as wire brush, bleach, etc. -  or to make them "look pretty."  This also causes irreversible damage to the stone.  You do not want to be the reason why 20 years from now someone can not read the stone because it has deteriorated at a very rapid rate from your actions!  I would consider these actions to fall under the heading of vandalism, as they do such major damage.  Numerous cemeteries I have visited have done these horrendous things to the stones - claiming ignorance or good intentions.  That does not excuse the damages done to private property.  As a lawyer told me - - ignorance does not constitute a valid excuse for causing damage.

No items on cemetery grounds are to be removed.  If you see something lying on the ground, do not remove it. There are laws against this!  Trash is another matter - - please leave a site cleaner than you found it.