I did as you described but my lens seems unable to blur the background much. The shots of the relatively flat gravestones -- those raised and cemented on the walls -- appear to be fine. But those of the obelisks are not so.
Your idea about using flash came up on me, too, except that I had no companion when I made the shots, and it was so windy. I went to the cemetery on bright sunlight, and decided the contrast was extremely high. Then I returned several days later on cloudy afternoon. The scenery looked better, but I was forced to shoot at low speed, and it was windy and I had no tripod, and I was in a hurry. But at least I saw the difference, and now I know which climate is best for this assignment. I wanted to maintain an ISO of 200 to 400 only.
I'm wondering how a 60mm micro (macro) lens would handle this scene.
The project has me curious about the symbols -- the obelisks, the pointing finger (a reference to Da Vinci's John the Baptist?), the weeping willow (I don't know, yet, what this means), and what appears to be the masonic handshake. All these repeated in several instances. I intentionally placed a large photo on the cover, showing the name "Magdalena". I'm sure some of you here have also read "Holy Blood, Holy Grail," "The Templar Revelation," and similar literatures.
Near one of the gravestones marked "Bryans" (http://isb.elizaga.net/94-99.htm), I found four coins during my third visit. I had a companion then. He is doing the documentation of this cemetery. He took a quick look at the coins and said they were US money, dated 1970s up. How they got there we don't know.
"Emily L. Ferguson" <elf@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
Get in as close as your widest angle on your zoom, and shoot with the
largest aperture that will allow sharpness from the face of the stone
to the depth of the carving. This will blow all the area behind the
stone out of focus, since you'll have the tiniest possible depth of
field. Then use a flash to punch a little extra light into one side
of the carved letters. this will make a shadow on the other side of
the channel. then the engraving will show up somewhat better.
I think sunshine may be too powerful and not directional enough.
You'll have to experiment with how much flash to tip in there, and
you'll need a bracket with extension cord for the flash, or a tripod
you can clamp it on. Shoot head on to the headstones with the flash
to the R or L of the lens and aimed into one side of the carving.
--
Emily L. Ferguson
mailto:elf@xxxxxxxx
508-563-6822
New England landscapes, wooden boats and races, press photography
http://www.vsu.cape.com/~elf/
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