Cities of the Dead - Cemeteries of New Orleans

[Ron]

Some of my personal favorites from my photographic work in the cemeteries of New Orleans.

What is believed to be the tomb of the Voodoo priestess, Marie Leveau in St Louis Cemetery No 1; New Orleans, Louisiana.

Marie's tomb was often vandalized, as you can see, as well as any number of "offerings" scattered about. The tomb has been cleaned, the offerings removed and now to visit the cemetery the presence of a licensed tour guide is required. This photo was before the spat of grave desecrations effectively closed the cemetery as a free public sight.

[Ron]

Grave marker in Odd Fellows Cemetery

Reads:

Anson Jerauld Fairchild
(Oldest Son)
A member of Co. B Crescent Regiment
Louisiana Volunteers

Born 15th June, 1843
Died 14th April, 1862
Aged 18 years and 10 months

He fell exhausted on the
Bloody field of Shiloh, Sunday
April 6th, 1862 fighting for his
Country's Liberty and died in
Corinth, Mississippi as recorded
Above



US Sc#1179


On the morning of April 6, 1862, 40,000 Confederate soldiers under the command of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston poured out of the nearby woods and struck a line of Union soldiers occupying ground near Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. The overpowering Confederate offensive drove the unprepared Federal forces from their camps and threatened to overwhelm Ulysses S. Grant’s entire command.

Some Federals made determined stands and by afternoon, they had established a battle line at the sunken road, known as the “Hornet's Nest.” Repeated Rebel attacks failed to carry the Hornet's Nest, but massed artillery helped to turn the tide as Confederates surrounded the Union troops and captured, killed, or wounded most. During the first day’s attacks, Gen. Johnston was mortally wounded and was replaced by P.G.T. Beauregard.

Fighting continued until after dark, but the Federals held. By the next morning, the reinforced Federal army numbered about 40,000, outnumbering Beauregard’s army of less than 30,000. Grant’s April 7th counteroffensive overpowered the weakened Confederate forces and Beauregard’s army retired from the field. The two day battle at Shiloh produced more than 23,000 casualties and was the bloodiest battle in American history at its time.

Young Anson fell mortally wounded the day before Grant's counteroffensive began and the Battle of Shiloh turned in the favor of Union forces. It's very possible Anson was wounded by probing Union forces testing Confederate defenses.

[Ron]

Statuary inside the Campo Santo at St. Roch Cemetery No. 1

[Ron]

Cypress Grove Cemetery

[BasSWarwick]

Ron, ..........nice photography - what camera are you using?

[FairyFoot]

One of my correspondents this year sent a postcard from this area. I'll dig it out sometime.

[Ron]

Oct 15, 2016 13:45:03 GMT -5 BasSWarwick said:

Ron , ..........nice photography - what camera are you using?

I shoot with a pair of Nikon D80 DSLR cameras - they're actually kind of old these days but do the trick nicely still to this day. But its the lenses that make matter the most.

[Ron]

Thunderstorm rolling in over St. Roch Cemetery No. 1

[BasSWarwick]

Oct 15, 2016 21:13:41 GMT -5 Ron said:

Thunderstorm rolling in over St. Roch Cemetery No. 1

Beautiful.........has shades of posterization

[kacyds]

Oct 15, 2016 21:13:41 GMT -5 Ron said:

Thunderstorm rolling in over St. Roch Cemetery No. 1

Is it the lens or a filter that gives it that affect.  A normal camera and lens wouldnt do that.

[Ron]

The reason some of the photos look as they do is because I employed a process called HDR - High Dynamic Range. In a nutshell it's multiple images (3-7) of the same image shot at different exposures and then the images are merged giving detail in all the dark and light areas that otherwise wouldn't have been exposed properly in a single exposure.

The human eye sees in high dynamic range - so it's an effort to make a photograph appear as the eye would see it. Doesn't exactly nail it on that point but it does create some interesting images.

[kacyds]

Thanks for the info Ron. I will let my wife know, she is the photographer in the family. She has a Nikon D3100 Digital camera with multiple lenses. Dont know if that camera will do what you have done above, but I will look into it. Maybe I would like photography more, if I understood what all 50 or so buttons on that camera does....

[kacyds]

After doing a little reading/researching, I see that you also need some type of image editing software. What software are you using Ron???

[Ron]

Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 - New Orleans, Louisiana

Nothing like finding your own name on a tombstone!

[Ron]

Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 - New Orleans, Louisiana
For the life of me I'll never, ever understand vandalism of a grave.

[Ron]

Oct 16, 2016 20:32:13 GMT -5 kacyds said:

After doing a little reading/researching, I see that you also need some type of image editing software. What software are you using Ron???

The three applications I turn to most often are Adobe Photoshop CS3, LucisArt and Photomatix Essentials 4. Photomatix is the program I use to merge images and sometimes tinker with the overall effects of the image though only slightly. Everything else is done in Photoshop making heavy use of LucisArt which is a Photoshop plugin. In the end the real trick in creating HDR images is that LucisArt plugin - worth it's weight in gold.

Below is a link to the basic process I use for many photos. I tweak this process, of course, from image to image.

A short tutorial on what LucisArt can do

[Ron]

[Ron]

[Ron]

[Craig]

Ron, this thread is amazing. Thanks!