Dayton National Cemetery, Dayton, OH

[jeffashman]

I went up to Ohio to take a look at the new marker they placed on my dad's grave, since they didn't have it when we had the service. When you walk around, it really is a sobering place. I had some challenges with the light on a couple, but I liked how they turned out.

1 I cropped this one kind of close, and clipped the top of the marker. My dad joined the ranks last year.
nov03202101 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

2 Autumn tree in the cemetery
nov03202102 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

3 Lined up row by row in quiet rest
nov03202103 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

4 Standing vigil over the cemetery
nov03202104 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

5 Variation on a theme
nov03202105 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

6 The Soldiers Monument on the top of the hill.
nov03202106 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

 

[This child]

I went up to Ohio to take a look at the new marker they placed on my dad's grave, since they didn't have it when we had the service. When you walk around, it really is a sobering place. I had some challenges with the light on a couple, but I liked how they turned out.

1 I cropped this one kind of close, and clipped the top of the marker. My dad joined the ranks last year.
nov03202101 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

2 Autumn tree in the cemetery
nov03202102 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

3 Lined up row by row in quiet rest
nov03202103 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

4 Standing vigil over the cemetery
nov03202104 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

5 Variation on a theme
nov03202105 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

6 The Soldiers Monument on the top of the hill.
nov03202106 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

Like the photo of your Dad's marker. Sorry for your loss.
A good set of photo's.

 

[Scott Whaley]

Lovely shots. Sorry to hear about your dad. I really appreciate his service. I had the same problem with the light in the photos I submitted a few days ago.

 

[K9Kirk]

My condolences to you and your family. Did your dad fly jets in Vietnam?
I used to live right up the road from there but never visited it. It's a nice looking place, nice set, Jeff.

 

[jeffashman]

Like the photo of your Dad's marker. Sorry for your loss.
A good set of photo's.

Thank you!

Lovely shots. Sorry to hear about your dad. I really appreciate his service. I had the same problem with the light in the photos I submitted a few days ago.

Thank you! Bright light on white marble and dark areas in the same pic are a challenge.

My condolences to you and your family. Did your dad fly jets in Vietnam?
I used to live right up the road from there but never visited it. It's a nice looking place, nice set, Jeff.

Thank you! No, he was in Air Weather Service and spent his time in Thailand, due to being an only son. It's a very well maintanined cemetery.

 

[slat]

Sorry for your loss. Very nice set.

 

[jeffashman]

Sorry for your loss. Very nice set.

Thank you!

 

[ntz]

Hello Jeff,

for me as for European guy are these US cemeteries very unusual .. I always thought in past that they are mostly in movies but I work in US based company and I know that almost every american family have somebody buried on these military graveyards ..

I really don't want to complain about photos with funeral themes but I believe that you'll not take it personal .. this is the photo forum and we're here to talk about photography:

#1 is awesome but cropped (or shot) too tight ... it needs more space on the top at least (but I'd give it a bit more space at all sides) but the B&W and the look as whole is just great, I like it ..

#2 is awesome .. I'd love to see that under different atmospheric and lighting conditions - just same composition with different sky and different lighting ..

cheers, ~dan

 

[WalterRowe]

#1 - I agree with other comments that the first one is cropped a bit tight, but you said you did that on purpose. It is a sentimental image for sure knowing that this is your father‘s marker.

#2 - I like the second one though for my personal taste I might crop a little off the bottom. I tend to remove everything that doesn’t add emotional value to an image. For me the driveway along the bottom doesn’t add to the feeling so I would remove a fair amount of it. Maybe crop 1/2 or 2/3 of the space between the base of the tree and the bottom of the frame? Give it a try and see what you think. It’s your picture.

#3 - This has nice geometry and symmetry. I would not change a thing.

#4,5 - Being they are the same image, both look a little tilted to the left and might benefit from straightening to vertical. I like the color #4 version better. For the #5 version it looks desaturated and toned vs black and white. I would love to see a straight black and white version of this.

#6 - This has great proportions. It conveys a great sense of scale and space. Wonderful picture.

Thanks for sharing these.

 

[jeffashman]

Hello Jeff,

for me as for European guy are these US cemeteries very unusual .. I always thought in past that they are mostly in movies but I work in US based company and I know that almost every american family have somebody buried on these military graveyards ..

I really don't want to complain about photos with funeral themes but I believe that you'll not take it personal .. this is the photo forum and we're here to talk about photography:

#1 is awesome but cropped (or shot) too tight ... it needs more space on the top at least (but I'd give it a bit more space at all sides) but the B&W and the look as whole is just great, I like it ..

#2 is awesome .. I'd love to see that under different atmospheric and lighting conditions - just same composition with different sky and different lighting ..

cheers, ~dan

Thank you very much for the feedback! Yes, #1 was shot a little too tight, and I could have zoomed back a bit from 24mm to maybe 20mm. Sometimes I get tunnel vision and don't pay attention to the periphery of the composition. I'll try again next year. As for #2, that will be up to mother nature, since it's a 15 hour drive, if I don't stop to sleep.

#1 - I agree with other comments that the first one is cropped a bit tight, but you said you did that on purpose. It is a sentimental image for sure knowing that this is your father‘s marker.

#2 - I like the second one though for my personal taste I might crop a little off the bottom. I tend to remove everything that doesn’t add emotional value to an image. For me the driveway along the bottom doesn’t add to the feeling so I would remove a fair amount of it. Maybe crop 1/2 or 2/3 of the space between the base of the tree and the bottom of the frame? Give it a try and see what you think. It’s your picture.

#3 - This has nice geometry and symmetry. I would not change a thing.

#4,5 - Being they are the same image, both look a little tilted to the left and might benefit from straightening to vertical. I like the color #4 version better. For the #5 version it looks desaturated and toned vs black and white. I would love to see a straight black and white version of this.

#6 - This has great proportions. It conveys a great sense of scale and space. Wonderful picture.

Thanks for sharing these.

Thank you very much for the feedback as well! I'll give #2 a revisit, as well as #4/5 and post below. Thanks again!

 

[jeffashman]

#1 I went back to the original, and the top was cropped during pp, so I was able to redo it without cropping the top off. Still tight, but with the full marker.
nov03202101bwr by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

#1b I decided to experiment with something I've not done before, and that is to keep one part of the photo in color.
nov03202101bwc by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

#2 I had originally considered cropping more off of the bottom of this one, so I gave that a try, and it works for me comp-wise.
nov03202102 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

#4 I went back and tried to make the sky a little closer to what it was originally, and it looks better. Also straightened it up a smidge. The whites on the shoulder of the cape are blown a little, which appears not to have been an issue in the first rendition. I'll play around with that some more, but the sky does look better.
nov032021stry02 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

#5 More of a B&W rendition, with a tiny bit of straightening.
nov032021stry01 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

 

[WalterRowe]

#1 I went back to the original, and the top was cropped during pp, so I was able to redo it without cropping the top off. Still tight, but with the full marker.
nov03202101bwr by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

#1b I decided to experiment with something I've not done before, and that is to keep one part of the photo in color.
nov03202101bwc by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

#2 I had originally considered cropping more off of the bottom of this one, so I gave that a try, and it works for me comp-wise.
nov03202102 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

#4 I went back and tried to make the sky a little closer to what it was originally, and it looks better. Also straightened it up a smidge. The whites on the shoulder of the cape are blown a little, which appears not to have been an issue in the first rendition. I'll play around with that some more, but the sky does look better.
nov032021stry02 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

#5 More of a B&W rendition, with a tiny bit of straightening.
nov032021stry01 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

Ver nice edits.