Confederates

[Roamer]

My son and I visited an old cemetery and found these grave markers of men who had been Confederate soldiers in the Civil War. Interesting that 150 years later, someone is still putting Confederate flags on the graves. What do you think?

confederates by ~~Roamer, on Flickr

Camera Fujifilm FinePix S700
Exposure 0.018 sec (1/56)
Aperture f/3.5
Focal Length 6.3 mm
ISO Speed 200
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash On, Fired

[windrider86]

Do you have anything specific you may want help with? Here's the reason I'm asking. it helps us to know your thoughts on your own photo. To know you have put some thought into it, what you like, what you dont like. Gives us a senseof direction on the road to helping you

[Roamer]

Well...I'm mostly worried about the point of view and the angle on the pic. I had a hard time making both markers look like they weren't leaning in different directions. I was really intrigued by those flags and that someone was still decorating graves of soldiers who died over a hundred years ago- with Confederate flags. Shows that some people haven't realized the war is over, I guess. I'm not sure that I conveyed that, though. I did a serious crop on it to show just part of the big marker and a couple of flags. I think maybe the crop places more emphasis on the flags and might convey what I wanted it to a little better. The crop is on my Flickr page.

[Krusty79]

Geez, do those guys still want to bring back Jefferson Davis as their President?

Anyway, I see that you were trying to include both sets of flags without cutting off the tops of the tombstones. Since I can't read the tombstone, my suggestion would be to crop in tighter so I can read the tombstone and try to fit in as many of the flags as you can. Right now, I have no idea who is buried there, but hopefully, by reading the tombstone and seeing the date, the story will come to me (or the viewer).

[Roamer]

How about this?


confederates crop by ~~Roamer, on Flickr

[NgaiHill]

I'm not going to make a critique of your photo, although I do like the tighter crop better.
Just wanted to comment on the flags themselves. Now I'm a Kiwi and know very little about the Civil War (we didn't have one) except Gettysburg, North vs South & I can recognise the Confederate Flag. That being said my take on those flags are - that is the flag these soldiers fought and died for, and even though they were on the losing side it would be insulting to their memory to put any other flag on their grave. As to why someone is still placing them there after all this time, who knows? But I can understand the reason for THAT flag.
You can tell me to shut up now

[Roamer]

No need to shut up at all. I think you've stated my thoughts better than I did. I don't think that a different flag should be there. I'm just wondering why someone is decorating these graves at all over 100 years later. Is it because these were family members? Or is it because some people really can't let go of the past?

[JFSanders]

It is about honoring the memory of these men who fought and died for a cause and their families. The Daughters of the Confederacy is a group dedicated to this and they are alive and strong throughout the former CSA. Just like the Daughters of the American Revolution. There is a whole lot of misinformation about the civil war in America and I will not go into it here. Suffice it to say that no matter whose side these men belonged to they fought and died with honor and courage that many "citizens" of this country today lack. (not directed at the OP) To make snide remarks in jest or not is bad form and speaks to your upbringing.

[UlpilotSC]

Interesting photo, but nothing about it really strikes me. The colors are kind of muted, but then again, this early in the spring thats probably the way the colors really looked... There are some drab looking trees and landscapes around that no amount of saturation could help.
If you composed it by swinging the camera a little left, so all of the left monument was in frame it would be visually more interesting. However I do really like the crop...

As far as the flags, that's the flag they were fighting under when they died, so it's most appropriate that descendants or war buffs would put those flags out.

I'm from South Carolina, and since we started that whole ordeal my opinion may vary from others.

[jentenna]

Originally Posted by NgaiHill

I'm not going to make a critique of your photo, although I do like the tighter crop better.
Just wanted to comment on the flags themselves. Now I'm a Kiwi and know very little about the Civil War (we didn't have one) except Gettysburg, North vs South & I can recognise the Confederate Flag. That being said my take on those flags are - that is the flag these soldiers fought and died for, and even though they were on the losing side it would be insulting to their memory to put any other flag on their grave. As to why someone is still placing them there after all this time, who knows? But I can understand the reason for THAT flag.
You can tell me to shut up now

Well, to clarify... the civil war was the war that ended slavery once and for all. For this reason, many associate the Confederate flag -- rightly or wrongly -- with racism. It's not that the flag is invalid because they lost the war. It's that it's become associated with a rather ignominious cause.

Of course, people now claim that the US Civil War was fought to defend "states' rights," but the reality is that the war was fought to protect a specific right: the states' rights to protect the institution of slavery, and to spread the practice to the newly acquired territories in the west. That's not to diminish the sacrifice of those who fought and died in the war. But I believe it's another case where poor and humble fought and died to defend the interests of the rich and powerful.

EDIT: I initially said "to spread the practice to the newly acquired states in the west...", but that should have been "territories." Corrected for the sake of accuracy.

....

Anway, as for the photo...

I like the cropped version better, and I think it's interesting conceptually. Unfortunately, I don't think the muted colors or flat lighting did you any favors here.