New filters and how they can help in bright light

I'm only an amateur photographer, I've taken a couple of classes and understand how to use my camera, but there are still tons of things to learn. Of course not all tombstones will be readable after 100+ years, but many can using the right  lighting and/or a flash. As I wrote about in A better way to photograph tombstones, using a flash really helps.

That said, because many cemeteries face east, on bright days it can be impossible to get good shots as the sun is either directly behind you or directly in front of you. Even with a flash the sun can make getting a good shot difficult. Because of my limited time I usually go in the mornings to shoot a lot of the cemeteries. A lot of the time I carry an umbrella with me to block the light either from behind or in front of me. Being by myself a lot makes this difficult, and I'm sure makes for an interesting sight to see.

I've tried a warming filter, which I liked as it blocked some of the sunlight, but didn't always work. I also tried a polarizing filter, which also sometimes worked, but not as well. I've since gotten a set of neutral density filters that I hope will help out. The filters block out some of the light, but not the colors as other filters do. This has helped out when it's a bright, clear sky.

This is Saint Mark's church in Wolfsville. I used an 8x filter and as you can see the sun is right there but I was able to get the photo.

The two photos below show the same stone, the one on the left was taken with a flash and no filter, the one on the right with a filter and flash. They are both readable, but the one that used the filter is a bit darker and in some cases helps make the stone more readable.

The next four photos are of the same stone with the flash, f-stop and shutter speed were not changed. The first photo, upper left, is with no filter. The photo below that is with a .3 ND filter, the upper right is with a .6 ND filter and the bottom right is with a .9 ND filter, and on the bottom is with a warming filter. Depending on the light the use of these filters can greatly enhance a stone's readability. (Sorry for the way the photos are arranged, the editor placed them this way.)

A better way to photograph tombstones

Have you ever come across a tombstone that's really hard to read? Ever tried to take a photo of it and tried to play with the contrast and such to try and make it better? Well, there is a better way. If you own a dSLR and a slave flash you can take far better photos as shown in this blog.

Since he's already shown you how to do it I'm going to give some examples of my photos with the different settings and show you some of the problems I've come across and how to hopefully fix them.

I normally carry with me a Nikon D40X to photograph tombstones. Recently, after reading the blog article, I bought a Sunpak flash and a Cowboy Studio flash trigger. I now carry around a tripod to hold the flash.

Here is the same stone with and without the flash. Notice how parts are readable, but with the flash it's far easier to read.

Here are some of the more common problems I've come across and how I've solved them.

Too much sun, sometimes there's just too much sun which keeps the flash from really filling in the stone. Usually that's because the sun is at my back so I also get part of my shadow in the photo as well. My solution, a large golf umbrella. The biggest problem I've had with this so far is the wind blowing the umbrella around forcing me to hold it and take the photo. The other problem is figuring out if I can carry it on the motorcycle or not. I may have to buy a light reflector instead of an umbrella.

Here's the difference:
Without the umbrella, you can see my shadow on the stone. With the umbrella, the stone isn't very readable, but still far more readable then before. Both shot at f/8 1/200.

Another problem I get is having the f-stop closed too much, or not letting in enough light. This is easy enough to spot as the photo will be very dark. Alternatively, if the photo is too bright then the f-stop is open to far. I tend to start my f-stop around 10 and go from there, since it's digital photography you'll know right away if the photo came out and make any needed changes.

On the photo on the left was done at f/4, the one one on the right at f/10.

The hardest problem to figure out is the correct distance and/or angle for the flash. If the flash is too close you will cut the corners off of the stone. If the angle is bad you will get one side of the memorial cut off. Usually pulling the flash back a foot or so will fix the problem. Other times just rotating the head of the flash will help.

Example of flash too close and of flash angled bad. The upper left side of the stone is where all the light went. Notice how much easier it is to read when the light hits at the proper angle, the light also filled in the bottom left side of the stone. Both photos taken at f/7.1 and shutter speed of 1/200.

Another problem is too fast of a shutter speed, at least if the flash can not keep up. The f-stop wasn't changed for these photos, just the shutter speed, from 1/250 to 1/200. Notice the black line on the first photo, the shutter speed was faster then the flash. Both photos taken at f/10. The one on the right was used above as well.

 

Remember, because digital photos are "free" take as many as you need. I will take 10+ of a stone playing around with different settings until I get one I like, sometimes it's best to not use the flash at all. Sometimes though the stone it so badly worn not all of the original markings will show up and you can only hope that at some point in time someone else will have transcribed the stone. Happy stone hunting.