Old Mennonite Cemetery

[Manfred M]

I was driving past this cemetery early this October morning. The sun had just risen, the cool night had deposited a heavy dew on the grass and the sunlight was heating it up enough to create a low level of haze near the ground.

The whole scene was back-lit.




The traditional Menonnites still drive around in horse drawn wagons and their farms are not connected to the electrical grid. Many people are more familiar with the Amish, these groups (there are multiple splits in the Amish community) split off from the Mennonites in the late 1600s. So far as I can tell, the easiest way to tell these two groups apart is that Amish men have beards while Mennonites are clean shaven.

[Mike Buckley]

I love the detail, the mood and the appearance of a seemingly unlimited number of tomb stones.

[Donald]

Superbly composed. We get the detail AND the sense of scale of the whole cemetery.

[Manfred M]

Thanks Donald and Mike. When I stopped the car I was thinking monochrome, but when I got out and saw the colour of the light, I changed my mind.

Now that I've had some second thoughts about it, I think I might prefer the B&W because it accentuates the light fog that first caught my attention.





The tricky part of this shot was eliminating the industrial park behind the cemetery and the more modern houses off to the right. While this place used to be quite rural, the city of Waterloo has grown all around it. One tiny bit of content aware fill got rid of the most glaring example of this encroachment that I could not eliminate in the shot.

[DEAN01]

Both beautiful, great detail. I like the B&W. You did a good job hiding the modern elements.

[Mike Buckley]

I think the two versions work equally well for different reasons.

[John 2]

Clearly looked after which is nice to see Manfred. My preference is for the lovely subtle colouring of the first. It's a well composed and a very nice shot. One thing that strikes me though is the straight line of light directly above the tomb stones. Is that natural or processing?

[Dave Humphries]

I think I slightly prefer the colour version Manfred,

The biggest (minor) problem I have with the mono is what (has) happened to the darker foliage of the trees; which kind of 'separates' from the supporting branches and float unconnected.

I think the cause is a combination of colour channel levels in conversion* and sharpening - so if mine, I might actually try treating the area above the top of the grave stones (i.e. the trees and sky) with separate processing for both those aspects.

* these work well for the majority of the scene though.

Thanks for an educational thread and a couple of great pictures.

HTH, Dave

[Shadowman]

I was driving past this cemetery early this October morning. The sun had just risen, the cool night had deposited a heavy dew on the grass and the sunlight was heating it up enough to create a low level of haze near the ground.

The whole scene was back-lit.




The traditional Menonnites still drive around in horse drawn wagons and their farms are not connected to the electrical grid. Many people are more familiar with the Amish, these groups (there are multiple splits in the Amish community) split off from the Mennonites in the late 1600s. So far as I can tell, the easiest way to tell these two groups apart is that Amish men have beards while Mennonites are clean shaven.

Nice capture and info.

[Manfred M]

Clearly looked after which is nice to see Manfred. My preference is for the lovely subtle colouring of the first. It's a well composed and a very nice shot. One thing that strikes me though is the straight line of light directly above the tomb stones. Is that natural or processing?

It's totally natural, John. It is a combination of where the dew was evapourating close to ground level and where the sunlight hit it. The shelter provided tombstones held the ground "fog" together but the light wind quickly dissipated it once it got higher. This effect combined with the position of the sun just above the trees lit up the the fog and created this effect.

[DanK]

A very nice image. I much prefer the color. The horizontal bands of color add structure to the image.

We have a number of very old cemeteries in this area--one within a short walk of my house has many graves going back well into the 17th century--and I have tried numerous times to capture an interesting view of them. Almost none of them have been worth anything. It's surprisingly difficult to do. You've managed it well with this one.

[Manfred M]

I think I slightly prefer the colour version Manfred,

The biggest (minor) problem I have with the mono is what (has) happened to the darker foliage of the trees; which kind of 'separates' from the supporting branches and float unconnected.

I think the cause is a combination of colour channel levels in conversion* and sharpening - so if mine, I might actually try treating the area above the top of the grave stones (i.e. the trees and sky) with separate processing for both those aspects.

* these work well for the majority of the scene though.

Thanks for an educational thread and a couple of great pictures.

HTH, Dave

Thanks for the input, Dave. Unfortunately (from a PP standpoint) we are on the road again and I'm editing on the laptop. It's the Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend and we are down in Southern Ontario (~ 6 hour drive from home, visiting family and friends.

Your suggestion is something I will be able to look at when I get home in a couple of days.

[ST1]

Well spotted and captured Manfred, the colour version would be my preferred image but that's not to say that the B&W isn't a keeper. Hopefully when you return home you may share a reworked B&W version.

[Dave A]

I like the color image best although not by much over the monochrome. I've probably driven by that area often as most of my family live in Kitchener so I'm there several times a year. Lots of history and worthwhile places and things to capture there.

Dave

[Manfred M]

Almost none of them have been worth anything. It's surprisingly difficult to do.

Thanks Dan. I will have to agree. This is probably the third time I've tried to make something of this very interesting old site and I haven't had a lot of luck. I've tried afternoon "golden hour" and late afternoon shots as well.

Today I was just driving by the site when I saw the light, so I turned in to the parking lot as started to work the scene and finally came up with something that seems to have worked.

[IzzieK]

Both are very good shots. I have not done cemetery shots at all and I like the black and white version as well...a good project to tackle for later.

[NorthernFocus]

Nicely composed and shooting backlit accentuated the ground fog. Both versions work well IMO though it seems a natural fit for B/W. Well done.