Arlington Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

I was in Washington D.C. on Memorial Day (A Holiday in America commemorating fallen military members) back in 2001. I was photographing several memorial services that day. After one of them was over, I saw this veteran kneeling down placing flowers on his fallen comrade's grave, his wife looking on. It was a touching sight...Had to share it.
~Stacey

Riz, sohrab, Tim, rengel, cs-ist, Xalkida, rabani, Bogdan has marked this note useful

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Cat (0) 2004-09-09 14:25

Great shot Stacey. This brings back lots of memories for me. My Grand father and Uncle are both buried here. Yes, the services that day must have been quite emotional. They always are for me.

Very well seen and documented. Thank you for sharing.

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sohrab (7423) 2004-09-09 14:34

hello stacey
niec note and a great image.
youve a great perspective. your composition is excellent. your depth of filed for the tombstones gives a sense of magnitude, the old gentleman kneeling gives a sense of sorrow and the flags give a sense of patriotism
really nice work
take care :)

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Tim (469) 2004-09-09 14:42

Very touching and emotional scene Stacey. You captured the moment nicely. Thanks for sharing and God's best,

Tim

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Riz (0) 2004-09-09 14:53

ok first this is a vey good shot I think the composition is very well executed, TFS
stacey the leading lines of this shot of the tombstones is very well positioned great job

voodoo (77) 2004-09-09 16:14

Moving shot... I wish the would have told me they had the PH JO program... I got stuck as an AD ...Oh well, I'll be out soon as well. ....Matt

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cs-ist (136) 2004-09-09 17:44

Great shot! The old man kneeling down between all those graves is a very powerfull image. Makes you think about all the friends lost by the veterans during the war.

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emralc (172) 2004-09-10 4:58 [Comment]

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hojper (2830) 2004-09-13 17:15

And on top of being a very touching shot it is also a very good one. You could have made the mistake of wanting to include some sky. You didn't, but went for the essential instead, lowered the camera and placed the gravestones in focus. This lead the eye to the kneeling man - and there is your story. No room for sky in that kind of shot. TFS.

aznegrao (10246) 2004-09-19 6:51

Ola Stacey!! gosto muito desta composição, o bom uso do foco seletivo dá dimensão à imagem. Cumprimentos. Tony.

floteusrx (150) 2004-09-22 2:21

Beautiful shot Stacey! I love the leading lines and the zoom compression of the shot. Great timing as well. The poignancy of this shot is very powerful.

rabani (9429) 2004-09-28 5:17

Back in military school, it was a really a school of contradiction. While we were trained to defend our country "against domestic or foreign elements", we were also train to hate war or "reasonable" killing. And after all the drills and exercises, in the end,we learnt it wasn't really merely for our country. It was really about making safe yourself and the next guy. One of the the worst things that could happen to you is when your closest buddy, die in front of you, in line of duty. No amount of crutches, wheelchair or surgical procedures could fix your heart.
Take care always Stacey.
Always.

Bogdan (1641) 2004-11-01 10:39

Had seen this for a while, it sure has an emotional impact to remember. Yesterdayi came back from Constanta, the city i spent the first three years of my life, raised by my grand-grandparents. Yesterday i visited their grave, i was a moved as i could be.
Death does scare us all. To me, it is not death that is scary, but the thought that in death you could not be remembered by the ones you cherish.
As for the photo, all great, moving ...except for the woman that sits on a grave. I guess that in our sorrow, we often forget other people's greif.

Bogdan.
How are you, btw?