Standing Watch

[Loose Canon]

This is a couple of shots of the Holder Family Cemetery. It is located near the confluence of Holder Creek and Bear Creek, just above where Bear Creek converges with the Buffalo National River in Arkansas, USA.

This is a pioneer plot and the Holders were some of the original homesteaders in the area. There are stones dating back to the early 1800’s here and I am told slaves are also buried here. Though the Holders never had any themselves, they allowed slaves to be buried in their family plot, which is unusual. As was not unusual in those days of hard pioneer living, some of these lives were preciously short. There are hand hewn stones here, which are native limestone and selected from the ground in the area. Some stones are unmarked. The most recent headstone was from the 1950’s and is a more modern granite, which is not native to this area.

The tree you see stands watch over these graves. Three full grown adults could not join arms around the trunk. I have seen plenty of centurions and I believe this tree to be at least 200-250 years old. Of course, I have no way of knowing for sure.

One thing I do know for sure. This tree has seen a lot of sadness throughout the Ages.





I haven’t done a lot of B&W. C&C would be welcome and appreciated.

[Peter Ryan]

I was admiring your B & W work when I finally got to the last statement. I think these shots suit B&W and you have done a great job.

I like both shots.

[Camellia]

Hi Terry

These are great photos - very moody. I can't make any suggestions to improve them. I like the way you've positioned the heastone in the lower right corner - it leads me to the tree. The perspective of looking slightly up at the gate is perfect. Well done!

R

[RockNGoalStar]

Beautiful shots...

How do you get the sun to look like that? With such uniform rays and minimal lens flare...

[MiniChris]

Star filter

[Loose Canon]

Peter, Raylee, Tommy? Thank you for commenting on the photos.

Tommy, to get the sunburst effect I stopped down to f/22. No filters were used, but a lens hood was. Shot from a tripod @ 1/60 shutter on manual. Checked for blinkies and watched the histogram and adjusted shutter until just the sun was overexposed. I adjusted my angles if I had any lens flare trying to keep the composition as much as possible.

As it turned out I had the slightest bit of flaring that I couldn’t see in the field on the camera’s view screen. It occurred in a spot that was easily taken care of in post.

[RockNGoalStar]

Thanks for the explanation Terry It's a wicked effect!