19th century Oregon Cemetery

Location
Talent, Oregon (far from the madding crowd)
Name
Miguel Tejada-Flores
The other day I spent some time in an old 19th century cemetery, in a neighboring southern Oregon town - Ashland. It's a tranquil, shady place, with trees and shadows providing a bulwark against the heat of a late summer sun. And many of the gravestones seemed to be almost calling out to me. Including this one - celebrating a life that began in 1852 -

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1852-1888
by La Chachalaca Fotografía, on Flickr

The novelist George Eliot writes: "...but the realm of silence is large enough beyond the grave...."

It's a silent place, on an afternoon in 2014. A time to think .... or, like this grave motto - to be "hopefully waiting"...

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Hopefully Waiting the Resurrection
by La Chachalaca Fotografía, on Flickr

Everywhere you turn, a great sense of light bisecting the shadow -

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In the shadow of his wings
by La Chachalaca Fotografía, on Flickr

And then the very human sense of loss, some more painful probably than others - losing a newborn after only a few days -

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Aged 3 Days
by La Chachalaca Fotografía, on Flickr

This next one - "Gone So Soon" - made me think of something Douglas Adams (he of "Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy" fame) once wrote - “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”

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Gone So Soon
by La Chachalaca Fotografía, on Flickr

And then my favorite, a quotation at the bottom of a larger funerary pillar, which one had to squint to read, because of the light and shadow -

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I am the vine, you are the branches
by La Chachalaca Fotografía, on Flickr

It wasn't all 19th Century, quite a few went into the 20th - including this one -

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I shall be satisfied
by La Chachalaca Fotografía, on Flickr

Being a writer, I was particularly struck by the nature of the formal, biblical-inspired language - "they were always abounding" is not a phrase one hears in casual conversation -

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They were always abounding
by La Chachalaca Fotografía, on Flickr

Finally the last image is my other favorite - also the grave of a newborn - but with what must be a faithful dog sitting atop, though the sculptor seems to have been inspired by seal physiology, but there weren't many seals in landlocked 19th century southern Oregon.

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Baby Inman
by La Chachalaca Fotografía, on Flickr

All the photos were taken with my Sigma 30mm (A)rt lens, on a GX1 body; most at the widest (f/2.8) aperture.
 
Lovely light, playing well on shapes and textures. I love your processing and atmosphere it brought.

Thank you, Milan.

The processing btw was relatively simple. I shot in RAW, used Lightroom (I'm still back in the 'dark ages', using LR 4.4), and then used a Lightroom plug-in from X-Equals/Xel, who produce an interesting series of LR profiles that attempt to replicate many of the tonal characteristics of different negative and/or slide films. These images were all processed using a Fuji Acros preset; the slight toning and borders were courtesy of Silver Efex Pro. Those are the 'technical' details - but it really boils down to the atmosphere .... so I appreciate your comment.

Very nice theme / series Miguel. And your B&W processing is really effective for these...

-Ray

Thanks, Ray. I think I'm obsessed with processing so your words are helpful.
 
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