This sculpture sits atop a child’s grave in the old Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven. It dates to the early 1800s, so it shows considerable erosion of the stone from being exposed to the weather.
Intent: This is an eye-catching monument topper, with the body of a child sprawled on top next to what looks like the trunk of a dead tree. I wanted to catch how sad this monument is, (no way to know if the child on top is the person buried here, or a child who misses the person buried here), and also the sense of decay and the passage of time from the physical condition of the stone.
Edit: Done in Capture One 16. First, a series of global adjustments to the original color image to brighten it up and boost saturation slightly. I also tweaked white balance to warm it up slightly and added a little clarity and structure to bring out the texture of the stone. I did 2 masks: one for the topper and one for everything else. On the background mask, I made everything darker, de-saturated it and boosted blacks a bit. For the topper layer, I pulled down highlights and used the levels tool to brighten the topper by pulling in the white point a little. I then converted to B&W, increased brightness a little and recovered some shadow, then adjusted the color sensitivity sliders to get the best contrast and overall look for the topper against the background.
Tech details: Camera: Sony A7RiiiA Lens: Sony 24-105mm F4 G zoom. Focal length: 51 mm. ISO: 640; f/5.6, 1/125 sec. Shot in manual mode, used tripod.
10 comments posted
Sandra Michaelis
Rick, an interesting subject and as you noted, a lot of questions around the story of this child. The top of the tombstone blends in quite a bit with the background and I wondered if applying a high key effect would create a little more drama. Certainly an interesting picture. Posted: 02/08/2025 16:42:34
Rick Taft
Sandra, Darkening the background as you did is a very good suggestion. Thank you. I will play with that some more. Posted: 02/19/2025 17:45:49
Lori Azevedo
Oh Rick...this one made me cry! I grew up living next door to a very old graveyard. Many of the monuments just listed dates and no names of babies who passed too young. I do like the shadowing that Sandra took the time to do. I believe it brings out the detail that you saw when you took the photo. The only other comment I can offer is to crop off the highlights at the very top of the image or clone them to darken. Nice image...but don't make me cry again. :-) Posted: 02/11/2025 19:25:24
Rick Taft
Lori, I'm glad this shot provoked an emotional response in you...that is something I was after, and as you note a child's grave is always emotional. I do agree with you about Sandra's edit and cropping out the highlights at the top. I will be playing with that. Thanks again for the suggestions. Posted: 02/19/2025 17:48:05
Pauline Jaffe
This is interesting, yet somber image. It was a great choice to use black and white for this image. I agree with Lori that you may want to crop down a little bit to remove the highlights from the top for the image. I wonder if you had thought about focus stacking the image so that all parts of the image,front to back, would be in clear focus? I do recognize there is considerable erosion from the weather.
Thank you for sharing this image. Nice work. Posted: 02/12/2025 18:30:32
Rick Taft
Pauline, Thanks for your comment about focus stacking. As it happens, I am only just starting to play with that, and have only just upgraded my camera to one that will do focus brackets in camera (the camera I used to take this shot did not do focus brackets). I am also just starting into Photoshop to do the actual composite. Fortunately, this location is quite close to here I live, so I will revisit on a nice afternoon with focus stacking in mind. Thanks again for the comment. Posted: 02/19/2025 17:52:35
Carol Heffernan
Rick, What a sad story this tells, which makes it a good image to take. I agree to edit out the bright spots at the top. Maybe just a bit more contrast or detail, thought you don't want it oversharpened. Nice image - if you can say that about a grave. Posted: 02/16/2025 00:35:05
Rick Taft
Carol, Thanks for the kind words. I did play a good bit with contrast (and structure and clarity) in the editing...but I had to be careful because at a certain point it makes the shot look a bit crunchy. Something for me to revisit. Posted: 02/19/2025 17:54:56
Alec Chester
Rick, This is not an image that I will forget. It is extremely powerful and stunning in the gut-wrenching reaction it produces. That's the mark of a great photo, one you remember and focus on. I do like all the suggestions above, also. Posted: 02/19/2025 12:47:17
Rick Taft
Alec, Thanks for the kind words. I am grateful for everyone's suggestions...very helpful and it gives me a lot to play with. Posted: 02/19/2025 17:57:15
