The place to learn about your ancestors and family history

Celtic Giraffe Research

Preparing to do Cemetery Photography | Tombstone Photography Basics

Anyone involved in family history research will most likely get involved in cemetery photography. You may only get involved to the extent of photographing individual cemetery stones or your endeavors may progress to photographing an entire cemetery. In any case there are certain basics that must be considered before setting out on a cemetery photography project.

Before you do any photography it is important to know your camera and how it works. We will not get into that detail here. It will suffice to say that it is important to read your camera’s manual several times. You may get tips in there on how to be a better photographer as well. In cemetery photography you will be dealing with photographing in some strange lighting situations, trying your best to show the inscriptions on the tombstones in a clear fashion despite the suns glare and dirt on the tombstones.

The Camera

We highly suggest you use a digital camera in doing cemetery photography. Things are a whole lot easier with one. Set your camera on a fine or best setting, as this will give you a decent size image to work with but not hog up all of your camera’s memory. A camera with a zoom lens is almost mandatory. Due to lighting conditions, brush or fences, many times you have to stand back from the cemetery stone to get a picture. You will want the flexibility of a zoom lens. Although you need to use your wide angle as much as you can so that you are closer to the stone and can block out any extra light getting into your camera lens. You will also want a camera that allows you to disable the flash. A flash will generally wash out a tombstone photo and make the inscription unreadable in the final photo.

If you need a camera, we personally recommend one of these:

(enter amazon)

Here is a check list of items you should bring on your cemetery photography outing.

Camera related

An extra set of camera batteries

A very soft cloth (like eyeglass cleaning cloth), for cleaning the camera lens

An extra camera card, for digital cameras, or film for film cameras

A strap should be on the camera for your neck or wrist

For cleaning tombstone

A spray bottle of water for cleaning the stone

Rags for wiping dirt off the stones

A soft tooth brush for detailed cleaning

For yourself

Water bottle

Suntan lotion

Mosquito repellant

Hat

Gloves

Hiking shoes and socks

GPS (if you have one)

Note tablet and a few pencils or pens

Those are the very basic items you will need as a minimum. You will be surprised at how handy every thing we mentioned will be. If you are doing cemetery photography in the summer months it does get hot, humid and buggy. In addition you should be in good enough shape to take bending over and squatting a lot, as you must get relatively even with the tombstone, down at its level, to get a suitable picture. Of course if you are only photography one or a few stones it will not be as bad.

Keep in mind that there are dangers involved in cemetery photography. Aside from the ordinary bugs, spiders and ticks you may encounter snakes. As well there is always some danger in driving to out of the way places, so make sure you have maps, a cell phone, a flashlight and all the basics you will need if something happens. Some cemeteries are very remote (along with beautiful and peaceful). You should always be leery of muggers as well. We don’t mean to frighten you, as usually nothing bad ever happens. But you should be aware of the dangers and prepare.

In the next article we will continue on with some specifics…