Took this in a cemetary in Cass/White, Ga. This tombs represents 29 unknown soldiers. Each one behind these represents about 30 Soldiers each.
Edits:
Cloned out minor dirt in the background
Bumped up green a little
Bumped Contrast to +41
Brightness to -13
After voting ended:
Well I tried to go with the fact that there was new life(the grass) in a place that is so dominant of death. Most of you got it and I thank everyone who voted on it. It is my highest placed entry to date.
jsas was kind enough to write a poem for me for this photo.
And here it is for you all to read and enjoy.
"The Brave Unknown"
This is the place
where bravery lies
white washed tombs
of unknown men
no farewell speeches
no sad goodbyes
just a marker to visit
now and then.
Clothed in grey
they faced their death
now they sleep as a symbol
upon this stone
oh what suffering
to gasp your last breath
atleast they didn't suffer alone.
For they rest as a unit
just as they died
standing here I ponder
if loved ones cried
and will their lives
they lived ever atone
for their sacrifice
and the brave unknown.
-Jeff Sasek
Statistics
Place: 92 out of 281 Avg (all users): 5.4550 Avg (commenters): 7.3333 Avg (participants): 5.3828 Avg (non-participants): 5.5833 Views since voting: 1557 Views during voting: 282 Votes: 200 Comments: 10 Favorites: 1 (view)
Wow, nice shot Rex, however, I think that to get the life/death thingy going on, grass in front of the tombstone might have worked better, but thats just MHO.
Such a sad, sad story. My entry to the Cemetary Challenge was about confederate soldiers as well, except, being from NY, the confederate soldiers in my photos were dead prisoners. I'm really glad that there were a number of people who used the Civil War as their theme to this challenge. I very nearly did an "Unknown Soldier" site as well, but thought the story of John Jones was one I wanted to share.
I love the colours and detail, but find the background busy. Think this shot would look great if you cropped it way down, so that the focus would be on only the first stone-this may just be my artistic preference though..I would cut right down to just above 29 unknown...creating a little more mystery, juxtaposing with the vibrant life of the grass they once bloodied.
Interesting non-traditional compisition. Like the detail and tone. However, that strip of very green grass does not include any features that draw my attention to it - and does not (in my view) quite balance the strong RHS of the picture.
The two graves at the top right are distractions - wonder if you could have included more of them or cloned them out.
The message is not particularly universal - Confederate or not makes little impact on me (but I assume it may have some significance).
Overall - a nice shot that probably suffered a little (possibly rightly so) for the unusual composition.
In a challenge starved of colors, this has a depth and subtelty of tone that makes it stand out. I would bet it will not be as popular as it ought to be because of the lack of bombast, but great shot.
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