Cemetery Sunday

Yesterday I spent sunrise in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Newnan. I have driven past the entrance many times -- always thinking that I would like to go in and look around. I have set aside two mornings to do this. This shot was from the first visit.

Late in November there were still quite a few leaves left on the oak trees that line the entrance road. The color of the leaves was nice in the early morning light. I also liked the color of the tombstones and bit of moss growing on them. The leading line of the plot edge, street, row of stones, and two trees in the distance works for me. I even like the small collection of leaves just inside the plot edging -- three small piles in a row. The photo worked well for me in color.

But then I had to give it a try in black and white...

Using Silver Efex I converted the tweaked color image to black and white. I like to use the best color version of an image to convert to black and white. I selected Kodak TMax 100 film for the look and then used a red filter to give the leaves on the trees an interesting look. The contrast was pushed slightly and structure was pushed a little farther than usual. I like how really pushing up the structure slider and using the filter gives this photo almost the look of frost on the ground and the stonework.

Same photo -- two very different looks.