The Story Behind the Image; Angel and Cross

Nikon D700, Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 lens @ 24mm; 1/125th sec. @ f/16; ISO 400;
Edited and converted to black and white in Lightroom (click to enlarge)

Back in 2009-2010, I was assigned to Washington, D.C. to head up a special assignment for my employer. Since I lived in southeastern Virginia, I had to find an apartment in the area and settled on Alexandria, Virginia.  From there I would drive into the city each day.  One day, not too long after I had taken up residence, and while driving home from work, I saw this memorial in a cemetery that I regularly passed.  The angel and cross were striking in and or themselves and I knew, from my photographic work in cemeteries around the country, that I wanted to photograph this marker as well.  For many years I have visited cemeteries all over the United States.  I find cemeteries, and the headstones found therein, to reflect our culture at the time of the headstones' installations.  The sizes and types of memorials and what is written on them changes with time.  I find it all interesting.  I knew I would photograph this one as well as it was unique.

One day soon after spotting it, I pulled into the cemetery to get a good look at this angel and cross.  Up close it looked pretty bland and was surrounded by a lot of clutter.  I made a mental note that, in order to photographic it in the manner in which I wanted, I would have to photograph from a low vantage point and pointing to the sky. I wanted to leave out the clutter and try to isolate it.  Therefore, the sky would be a very crucial element to the image's success.

I passed this cemetery almost everyday and never was the sky "right" to make the image I wanted. After almost 12 months, on a Sunday evening, I was returning to the Washington D.C. area from my weekend at home in southeastern Virginia.  As I crossed the Woodrow Wilson Bridge over the Potomac River, a storm was approaching and the sky looked to be perfect for my long awaited photograph.  I pulled into the cemetery and started "working" the monument, taking quite a few images.  The sky was changing rapidly as the storm gathered. I kept photographing.

After about 15 minutes, I left the area and felt as though I had something worthwhile. Upon editing the images, I was happy with my images and it became clear to me that the proper treatment for this image would be high contrast and in black and white.  Lots of micro contrast and if there was some digital noise, no problem.  A bit of "grittiness" would be okay.

The final image turned out exactly as I had hoped.  I credit success to planning, visualizing as well as patience.  A year is a long time to wait, but in this case, I feel the waiting paid off.

Thanks for looking.  Enjoy!

Dennis Mook

Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com.  Please pay it a visit.  I add new images regularly.  Thank you.


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