Yesterday I decided to make a quick trip to Arlington National Cemetery. Every year on Memorial Day weekend an American Flag is placed on each headstone. In the past I have tried to shoot this with mixed success. The cemetery opens at 8:00 am, a full 2 hours after sunrise. This time of year the light tends to be harsh and does not lend to my style of photography. With clouds forecasted for the rest of the day, I headed over in the afternoon to shoot for a couple of hours. Arlington is large enough that you really can’t cover the entire grounds in one trip. Originally the plan was to use the diffused light of the cloudy day and keep the sky out of my shots, that’s how I did most of my shots but I really liked this one. I spent most of my time in Section 60. This is the section where our soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan are being buried.
Typically when I shoot I’m in a different frame of mind. not always seeing the object in front of me for what it is, but for the composition and graphic nature of the shot that I’m working to compose. Today I found myself often stopping to pause and think about the better men than myself who were buried below me, taking note of the families and loved ones who are visiting and trying not to intrude on what might be a very private and personal time for them.
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