My first encounter with this wonderful place was when I took my kids to an annual fundraiser for Mt Olivet Cemetery, The Confederate Cemetery Illuminated Walking Tour, conducted by re-enactors in period dress. It is an amazing thing to walk through a gently glowing cemetery, the shadows play, the cold October night air begs for us to dress in layers again. We treated ourselves to a cup of hot cider to warm our hands through the Styrofoam cup. The most memorable re-enactment for me is of wealthy businesswoman and associate, Adelicia Acklen who married “once for love, once for money, and once for the hell of it.” She is buried with her three husbands in a mausoleum, and it is quite interesting when each husband re-enactor follows her out of the shelter one by one on this tour. Ah, I simply must go back there again!…I will have to wait until 2011 fall tour, as I am in Kuwait until December 2010 – a completely unrelated side note, but it’s my blog, haha, so I it is okay to mention that here.
For a while I had been wanting to take a camera, and perhaps a couple of willing subjects to the grounds there during the day and see what kind of wonder we could co-create on film. One key to an enjoyable afternoon with the camera is that everyone being photographed feels inspired as well as the photographer. So I try to keep my digital camera on hand for when I sense that everyone is on board with me, and then the fun really begins. I will say that this day I took my camera to the cemetery, nearly everyone had the shutter bug, minus my younger daughter, but we went with it anyway, in hopes of something good being made. I am satisfied that we got that.
This is Carlie, my youngest daughter. She was a trooper, I will give her that, and this picture was loosely posed, but mostly caught candidly, because she had already found this place to perch while her sister was on a mission to explore the tombstones in the immediate area.
I handed the camera to my oldest daughter, Brenna, and she snapped this quick photo, which had wound up to be one of my favorites for use as an avatar on my websites. While she was taking this picture, Carlie decided to join us in exploring the grounds, and her good eye found something so interesting! It just might have been the picture of the day.A small statue proved to be a simple resting place for this Daddy longleg. We took a few moments to linger and watch in wonder at the oddity we were viewing. The girls then continued on and read the tombstone of an 8-year-old girl.
A game I played with my camera – trying to see which angle would render the most obelisks and tombstones in my frame.
The tombstone of a Margaret Ray had been leaning this way against a larger stone named “Husband” for quite some time as indicated by the dirt and well-rooted Fescue around her base. I think this is a precious message of lasting love.
As Brenna was taking a break from exploring, to rest in the thick summer air, I caught her on film, and am quite happy with these results. A friend suggested I return to this location when there are no leaves on the trees and try the photo again, which will showcase the subject more. I think I will give it a try…I was looking for a reason to get back here with my camera. When I return to Nashville, it should be perfect timing for another round of outdoor photos.
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WOW ~ i love these photos… really, i’m not morbid, but i love angel statues and there seem to be so many beautiful ones at the cemetery. i especially like the picture of one with the daddy longlegs on the eye, it gave me chills. thanks~sb
these are AWESOME! i would love to go with you whenever you go again!!