Cemetery Photo Swap

Do we email or snail mail?

I have put this on my watch list.

Why so far away -- November?

It's on my watch list, too. But it's a favorite photographic subject of mine so I'll sign up later.

GingerS-I would prefer them to be sent via snail.

AngelFaeryKathleen-I put it far away so that people will have a chance to include Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos photos. I guess I could have done two, but I didn't think of it until now.

I'm now thinking about making this into a two-part swap. Have one to end in August, and the other in November. Thoughts anyone?

I would sign up for both an August and a November swap of this type.

I would sign up for the cemetery photos, but don't really understand what you mean about the Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos photos. Do you mean photos of people celebrating these?

I set the deadline after Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos just in case people celebrate these halidays and want to capture it on a photo. You don't have to take pictures then, it's only if you want to.

Watching

I'm watching too...'cause I have lots of cemetery photos. Didn't know others like me were out there. I like this idea!

I love the roadside memorials. too and think that would be a fun swap but most of the time, I cna't pull over to take pictures of them. I remmemebr seeing a book about them once, though.

I will sige up for two, I have my photos ready to go. hugs :-)

Can the pictures be in black/white? , I think this could add more interest and mystery to the photos .....

Absolutely! Black and white photos would be great.

wow, i thought i was the only one interested in photographing graveyards!!! very interesting topic--im an newbie. do you allow newbies in on this swap? im a very dependable person and would never sign up for a swap i couldn't follow-through with. a tip: to make photos 'eerie', have someone blow cig., smoke in front of lens--gives a v.eerie effect. please let me know if im eligible to join this swap. thank you.

Ooh, one of my favorite subjects...count me in! And I would also join both swaps.

both here too!

Yes, I would do both swaps. I love cemetery photos. I have tons of them that I have done over the years. I am glad so many other people are "wierd" like me ! I live in Maine and the cemeteries are wonderful here. Looking forward to the swaps.

I'd do both, too.

Hmm! I'm a newbie, but November is still very far away! I'll see if I can get myself a good reputation until then!

I'm from Mexico, so I'll se if I can go and take some real Día de los Muertos photos on November 2 :D

Awesome swap! On my watch list... GT

Is there a minimum size for the photos and do they need to actually be prints? (I'm making the assumption they should be but wanted to throw it out there since it's not mentioned in the description!) I would also be willing to sign up for both swaps - cemeteries are my favorite subject to photograph!

I was thinking standard size photos, 4" x 6". Nothing mini or too hard to see.

on my watch list!

is okay if we send photosof graves of our lovesomnes

Hey, I would definitely sign up for August and November...let me know if you are going to do August..

I will just put it on my watchlist till then, because with a limit of 20 swaps at a time, I don't want to take up a slot with a swap that I won't even get assigned until November, so I will sign up for it close to the sign up date...maybe others would feel the same??

Thanks!! I am really excited for this one, we have a very old cemetary in our town, which even holds a cemetary walk every fall/Halloween time, it's very cool..they bring to life the people who are buried there..they have actors dressed as the person and they speak at the graveside of the person they are portraying..fascinating stories and history!! Really cool....

i'm glad the date is so far away... i'm living with a family friend for the summer, but i want to take my pictures in the cemetery close to where i live. can't wait to go home and take them!

anyone ever heard of the book "keepsake crimes"? I read it just because it had to do with scrapbooking. Very entertaining! In it, there's a lot of talk about an old cemetary in New Orleans, which had me very intrigued. In 2004 my husband and I got to get away for a weekend, so we spent a day in Biloxi and went on to NO for a day. I was just dying (how fitting) to find this cemetary, if it excists. Of course, not knowing your way around, there's NO way, but we did find a very old one with graves dating back 300 years and more. I walked around for over 2 hours taking photos. I have an entire scrapbook full of just that cemetery, and another mini album full of just the rod iron fencing from the graves. One of my favorite albums! Also, a friend of mine died in an accident 10 minutes' drive from here while I was still living in the US. I don't know where he's buried, but I visit the roadside cross with his photo on it at the accident site at least 2 or 3 times a year and bring him a candle....that would have been nice for this swap, too.

I probably can't participate because there's no way of finding the negatives anytime soon (we moved overseas) and I don't have a printer to get to any new pictures I could take here. Will have to think if I can find a way around that. But I wanted to say that I also LOVE this idea! I'll be watching and trying to figure out a way to join!

Wow, Kugusch, what a cool story! I hope you decide to join this swap. I hope you'll be able to find the negatives soo, but if not, it would be cool to take new ones. =)

Kugusch, maybe you could scan the photo's themselves and have them reprinted ?

Have some fabulous ones from Vermont where these italian sculptors came over to the USA and did work from the quarries in Vermont for gravestone markers. Hope I don't forget to do them the date is so far off.

I'm watching :) I LOVE photography, but I've never photographed a cemetary or graves before. I just may have to see what I can come up with - I drive past two pretty cool ones on my way to work every week.

If you do 2 of this swap, I would definitely join both!!

do you have to be able to read thestone in the photo, I have taken so many photos of cival war graves and graveyards, but the headstones are very worn...But I would love to share these photos with someone.

We just started visiting old cemeteries in our area through Letterboxing (great place to leave and find the boxes) and I have some great pics of some stones from the 1700s with Lunettes on top carved by a relatively famous carver--these are the little round faces--very simple, not cherubs or anything, but just ovals or circles with eyes and mouths, sometimes noses, but seldom. I'll be watching until closer to the sign up.

Also, FYI: Some swap coordinators are not reading the swap coordinator information page. (when you go to Create a Swap) This is what it says .

:...IMPORTANT: A swap coordinator can help their users determine how to rate a swap accurately, but they should not make specific rules about when to give a heart.

It is up to the receiver to decide if they want to give a heart..."

I don't see a problem with scanning the original photos and then reprinting them. No, you don't have to be able to read the headstones. I have several photos where the headstones are so old and unreadable.

Also, thanks for the quote twobluecrows. You are right, it is up to the receiver to decide if they want to give a heart.

Oddly, just last week I saw some sunlight tilting over the headstones and I wanted to take a pic. I live near some great New England graveyards.

OK, so are you specifically looking for photos of individual headstones, or with groups of headstones, or is a mix OK? We have some neat cemeteries around here going back to the 1840s with some really interesting headstones/grave markers, but the overall effect of them together isn't the same as, say, a photo taken at a military cemetery.

It does not matter if the photos are of the headstones, cemetery landscapes, etc. As long as they are of a cemetery theme, any cemetery.

This is for the people who might like postcards with pictures of famous peoples tomb stones. I was in The Half Price Book Store in my town and noticed that they had post card books of this nature. I know it's not what this swap is about but I thought it was interesting and it reminded me of this swap. Just a thought for those who might be interested in them to use for another swap possibly.

I'm from Key West, FL, USA which is known for our cemetery. I can't wait to share with you.

I take photos on a regular basis of cemetaries as I am an avid genealogist along with my financee. So I'm in for this group.

This sounds really cool. I love to take pictures in cemeteries. I have some from my town and some from other towns I have lived in and visited. I suppose they have to be pictures taken by me. My question is does it matter if they are taken from my town or other places I have lived. I have some cemetery statues from Massachusetts, grave stones from Iowa and gravestones from here in New Mexico. I thought I would do a mix if there are cool ones from each place. :-)

The photos can be from any cemetery you've visited, hometown or not, preferably taken by you. =)

I love in the Confederate South, so if you l ike head stones dating back quite far in American History, I am your girl. We have cemeteries here full of Civil War soldiers, Revolutionary War soldiers, Many, MANY shipwreck cemeteries (we live at the very southern end of the Graveyard of the Atlantic) and it is unfortunate but we have Cholera and yellow fever cemeteries, not to mention the slave cemeteries. I will say that lately a lot of restoration work has gone into those cemeteries, restoring names if possible to the headstones which they never had, but they are finding remnants of the wooden crosses which the are inlaying into the new headstones. Some of those graveyards look better than the war veteran graves! You want the headstones or a wide view of the cemeteries themselves? I just bought a new Canon Rebel to take pictures of my handmade jewelry for sale, I would love to see what it can do outside with the right filters!

I was just thinking this morning that I would like to start photographing olds graves and cemetaries. So this swap is perfect! Can't wait.

See it, like it, photograph it, send it in. Done.

watching; love the idea!:) like @wiccan3 I live in the South and there is such a rich heritage and lots of old cemeteries to choose from. I may just get carried away!!!:)

I love the idea (I go cemetery hopping all the time), but am new here....don't have a rating or have completed 5 mailed swaps. Oh well.........guess this isn't for newbies. :(

@AuntNub this swap isn't until November so maybe you could meet the requirements by sign-up time. Welcome to Swap-bot.

I'm watching this for now but love this swap idea. I think cemeteries are so intriguing.

Does it have to be a traditional cemetery? I went to England a while back and got some incredible pictures of burial chambers inside of ancient churches. Would that be okay?

Okie-dokie....I've put this swap on my watch list & hopefully can meet the requirements by then! Thanks Tinkergirl!

Wow, the interest in this swap is incredible! I do lots of genenalogy research and go to cemeteries for fun all the time. I have a great interest in cemetery symbolism. For those of you with a great interest in this, I read a book that just came out earlier this year--it's called The American Resting Place: 400 Years of History Through Our Cemeteries and Burial Grounds by Marilyn Yalom with wonderful black and white photos by her son Reid Yalom. Really interesting reading and great photos! Between now and the deadline for this swap I will have been to a cemetery crawl in Central City, Colo (don't know what that is? Ask me!) and to some very historic cemeteries in both Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC. What I wish is that we could come up with some way to see EVERYONE's photos--does anyone have any ideas? Maybe thru that Flickr site? Carol in Denver -- CWarner

I have SO many photographs of cemeteries.. I love them... I'm watching since I cannot join right now.

Im watchlisting this until I can get my rating up!

Oh! I visited a cemetery in Albuquerque NM, I wish now I had a camera back then, but no such luck! It was amazing! There were some of the most amazing headstones and quite old too!

I have to put it on my watchilist for now, but will definitely join, since I missed out on the post card swap!!!!

That is so cool Stiff there is so much interest in your swap! I really really hope you make it a series... :-) GT

I want to thank all of you for your interest in this swap! I had no idea it would be so popular. This is great!! Because of all of the comments, I don't get a chance to read every single one to answer questions. If you want something answered right away, your best bet is to send me a PM. Thank you all again!! This is going to be sweet.....

This does sound pretty cool... I'm definitely watchin it!

I love "sniffing" around cemeteries! And my son just sent me a new Cannon. I am learning how to use it as I wander around grave stones, I love this swap. I am very drawn to pauper cemeteries. One of our local ones uses old licenses plates as grave markers,,,

This is a wonderful swap. I'd like to have the cahnace to be finished before Nov. 1, but I'll go either way. Can we be clear on wheteher these can/should be digital or not? Also, permission to print, please? Also, personally, I don't want anyone else's photos but those taken by partners. And info on where /when would be great.

Yes, these can be digital photos, but they must be printed for your partners. All photos sent MUST be taken by the swapper.

Hi, I'm new to this and this would be a great one to start off on. I already have lots of cemetary photos and memorabilia. But I live near Colma- (a cemetary city). Lots of great photos to swap. Please sign me up. Wait, how do I sign up?

Look near the top on the left, it should say, join this swap.. click it.. Took a couple more photos today.. I am so excited about this swap.. Linda P

I have them all printed up already at WalMart and ready to send in their envelopes. I'm sending more than 3 photos, for sure. I'm enclosing seven at least!!

This is GREAT !

I have a question - in regard to traditional cemetary. Do indian burial mounds count as cemeteries? And do poor farm cemeteries with unmarked graves count too? When I visit the Mounds I find something spiritual about them and as for the unmarked graves, I have both this sorrow and curiousity as to who they were and what they did and how they came to be there.

I have just joined so am unable to join. Hoep you will do this again next year. I AM IN LOVE WITH CEMETARY ART.

I would consider Indian Burial Mounds and poor farm cemeteries with unmarked graves to count. Yes. Yes. Yes! =)

I have a question about the poor farm cemeteries--if the graves are unmarked--How can you tell it's a cemetery? Is just that they have no names on some kind of signs or stones?

I once found some very old stones on the edge of a cornfield in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, when I was about 8 or 9 years old-- they were thin dark stone and you couldn't read anything on them that I remember. They were all overgrown with weeds and brush, about 5 or 6 of them, different sizes. I wonder of they are still there--the cornfields became a housing development sometime in the later 60s or early 70s. One of these days I'll have to go check it out.

I would love to do this .... boo! I already have photos too.

Regarding my message above. I've decided to keep the number of photos down to less than what I said to keep the envelope under an ounce. I'll be sending five. I think that's plenty anyway. :-)

Mine are all ready to send!!

Now I just have to patiently wait.........

:-)

I found an amazing cemetery here in Salt Lake across the street from the University of Utah. I didn't know it existed until someone told me about. It's one of the oldest I have seen here in the US (I'm from England). I love old cemeteries and the headstones. I'm really looking forward to this swap. It's great. I hope we can do this again next year too.

I am located in Washington, DC just a few minutes outside of Arlington, Virginia where Arlington Cemetery is located. I have lived here all of my life and I have never toured Arlington Cemetery. Now that the kids are in school, maybe I will. Watching for now.

ooh. I'm hoping i'll meet the requirements by the deadline, there's still a bit of time. When I first started taking photographs, they were in the cemetary just off of the Syracuse University South Campus. Cemetaries are still one of my favorite places to photograph. I would love to see some of the photos others take in cemetaries.

it's on my watch list for now

yeay! on my watchlist...

I just joined - we have a lovely Jewish cemetary here and I am going to go and take some photos today - great swap! I cant promise to limit myself to three photos though ...

Did you notice we are now the number one swap! Who Hoo!

Ive been watching for ages and I think Im definitely in!! I love taking photos but have not taken any cememtry ones but I have been wanting to for ages so this swap will give me the kick up the butt I need!!

Congrats Stiff on #1 Top Swap!
Check you out! 102 participants with over 200 watching?!? :-) GT

I know my rating is not high enough but I would love to join! We have a great old cemetary here in El Paso full of old gun fighters. May I please join?

On my watchlist! I'm still new, but will hopefully meet the requirements before it is too late! I have photos of historic graveyards that are so hidden that even most locals don't know they are there! I would love to share them with others!

I just hit the Peshtigo fire cemetery here in Wisconsin. Got some great pics there and at another close by in Marinette. For those of you that don't know, at the same time the Great Chicago fire was raging destroying most of Chicago, a little town quite a way north in Wisconsin was also burning. The entire town was destroyed and the fire actually reached from Michigan almost to Green Bay. I will be including a flyer from the museum there with my swap so my partner will get more info.

I will have extras since they are digital...anyone wanting more than what we snail mail, I would be VERY interested in trading out!

Does a swap with 2 partners count as one or two towards the requirements?

Over the weekend I went to the historic Bonaventure cemetery in Savannah, GA and got lots of great photos! I am so eagerly anticipationg this swap:)

Does anyone know the story of Greyfriars bobby? (Scotland) Google it, it's a good story. I can get a photo of the grave as I live near by....i'm watching this one

FREE CEMETERY COLLAGE SHEET

I can't join the swap, but here's a free goodie for all you fellow cemeterians! I took the shots this summer in an ancient church graveyard in Canada and created this printable collage. You're free to use, alter, print, and have fun (just please don't repost or resell).

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs244.snc1/913113587782358651715358626381305794070_n.jpg

If that link has problems, view here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=11872&id=517153586&saved#/photo.php?pid=2638130&id=517153586

If you DO and CAN use any, drop me a comment just to say thanks! Enjoy!

Sorry, the first link doesn't work but the second does, as does this one. Just copy and paste into your browser bar... :)

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2638131&id=517153586

I can't join but this sounds like fun! I love photographing headstones.

Sigh...Had this on my watchlist and wanted to join but I just found out that I am going to have surgery on Nov. 5 and will be recovering for six weeks so I am out....I hope that you will host another one later....

There's another 'cemetery photo swap - 3 for 3 - listed on art42.com with a deadline of Halloween for those of you who are interested in joining another - or for those who can't make the requirements for this one!

COPIED SO INFO found about the Greyfriars bobby? You peaked my interest! In the early 1800's a man called John Gray, a gardener, arrived in Edinburgh with his wife and son looking for work. The weather was cold, however, and the ground was hard, so there were no gardening jobs available. He took what work he could find, and became a member of the Edinburgh Police Force - a Constable.

As a condition of his job, John Gray was required to have a dog. He bought a Skye Terrier and named him Bobby (Bobby was the nickname for Constables in the Police Force). Bobby became a beloved and loyal companion.

Unfortunately, after a few years as a policeman, John Gray became ill with tuberculosis, and died in February 1858. He was buried in old Greyfriars Kirkyard (Churchyard) in an unremarkable grave with no gravestone.

For the next fourteen years, Bobby sat and kept guard over his master's grave. He left the grave only for food, waiting patiently until the one o'clock gun was sounded, when he visited the cafe at 5/6 Greyfriar's Place which he used to frequent with his master. There the owners (who changed over the years) would feed him his dinner. The last owner to feed Bobby, John Traill, had a special dish made for him (engraved "Bobby's Dinner Dish"), which can be seen in the Museum of Edinburgh.

The gardener and keeper of Greyfriars, James Brown, tried often to remove Bobby from the Kirkyard, but finally gave up and provided a shelter instead, by placing sacking beneath two tablestones at the side of John Gray’s grave.

Bobby’s fame spread throughout Edinburgh. On a daily basis the crowds would gather at the entrance of the Kirkyard waiting for the one o'clock gun and a glimpse of Bobby leaving for his meal.

In 1867 a bye-law was passed that required dogs to be licensed or destroyed. Sir William Chambers (The Lord Provost of Edinburgh) paid Bobby's licence himself, and presented him with a collar with the brass inscription "Greyfriars Bobby from the Lord Provost 1867 licensed". This can also be seen at the Museum of Edinburgh.

The people of Edinburgh looked after the faithful Bobby while he watched over his master. to his master. Bobby died in 1872.

Greyfriars Bobby, Scotland's most famous dog, is not forgotton. Heaing the story, the President of the Ladies Committee of the RSPCA, Baroness Angelia Georgina Burdett-Coutts, asked the City Council for permission to erect a granite fountain with a statue of Bobby placed on top. A statue was commissioned and sculpted by William Brody and unveiled in November 1873 opposite the Kirkyard, on the corner of Candlemakers Row and King George IV Bridge.

Bobby's grave can be found in Greyfriars Kirkyard, about 75 yards from John Gray's grave. Theheadstone is engraved with these words: "Greyfriars Bobby - died 14th January 1872 - aged 16 years - Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson to us all".

That's a great story. Thank you for sharing that.

This is a great swap, I'm watching cause I've got a lot on at the minute. I live opposite a very old, pretty much disused cemetery, so i shouldn't have a problem getting pictures, but I've just come back from Spain and on the way back from a day trip to Barcelona, we passed a cemetery which was literally on the side of a mountain. I can't remember the name of it or the area, but it's such a shame that we couldn't stop to take pictures.

when will you be assigning partners?

Partners will be assigned on November 9th. First thing!

I'm so excited can't hardly wait for this start!

I'm looking forward to this one! Whomever matches with me, check out my Flickr page, and you can pick out the cemetery pix you like, our I can pick for you (I have a few old black and whites from St. Louis I in New Orleans, pre-Katrina).

I think I just spent about 45 minutes reading all of the lovely comments left on this swap page...which is totally awesome, I have to say that there are so many people with interest in this swap! I'm super busy with school, work, keeping house, and the boyfriend...but I'm so forcing him a night or two in the next couple of weeks to have some alone me time, so I can visit a couple of cemeteries near Wolcotville and Stroh, Indiana so I can get some more cool photographs of some of the cemeteries around Indiana...I love this idea!!

Hey Angela, I'm brand new to SwapBot and just made my account. I realize that we are supposed to have participated in 5 or more to be eligible, but I just wanted to know if there was anyway you could make an exception for me on this one. I has hundreds of cool cemetary photos I want to use and could send you samples if you'd like. Me and my fiance make a hobby of trapsing around to local graveyards and photographing them/ geocaching in them. Anyway, just let me know something back and if not this one I would love you to maybe host another on in the future? :)

Thanks, Mary

I'm new to swapbot, so I can't participate. But if you will send me your email address, I can email you a few pictures from the Civil War prison camp in Andersonville, Georgia. I also have some photographs of largel angel/female statues in cemetaries around south Georgia. ~Kerri georgiaraindrop@yahoo.com

JUST POSTED A NEWBIE FRIENDLY CEMETERY PHOTO SWAP Most are welcome!!!

My partners are going to end up with a stack of photos.... I can't seem to pick just six... I've narrowed it down to 27 so far... :-) GT

can it be a tomb...I live in China and there are tombs but not cemetaries here

i have family pictures as i am daughter of the american revolution and have some of my own family pictures i can share would that be exceptiable

okay, maybe this is a dumb question BUT... do we pick our own swap partners from the participant list? I've only done swaps where partners were assigned. Got my pics all ready to go.... thanks!

@ajr51594 the partners will be assigned as normal after the sign up date has passed and the host has checked the participants.

Thanks!

I don't believe it! I went and finally decided upon the perfect spot for the pictures, waited for the perfect day, got them taken and am happy with it.... now I can't find the cable to my camera!!!!! I could scream, I am so angry!

I missed out on the cemetery postcard swap, because my printer gave up just before sign up deadline! Now this!!!! :(

I really hate moving! UGH

spin, can't you take the card from the camera to Walmart, etc. Their machines will print off camera cards.

UPDATE: Due to the overwhelming number of participants, it will take me a minute to assign partners. I am checking every profile to weed out the potential flakers. Please be patient. Look for your partners later this afternoon. Thank you all!

I love visiting cemeteries. I live in L.A. & I'm sending some that are movie stars!! Also, in Chicago, Rosehill on the north side is the BEST for different & odd gravestones!

I took my pictures yesterday morning. It was super foggy. WOW they are really cool! If anyone wants me to send you an email link to the album, just holler!

OOPS! sent my parcel three days ago but forgot to tick the box sent!! sorry............its on its way. Lee-ann

A LOT of people either haven't sent or haven't clicked on the Sent item.
One of them is one of my partners:
doublekissable
Haven't gotten anything either.
I guess I will try to be patient.

I still haven't received anything from doublekissable. I gave her a "1" I had to. She hasn't signed on here since September!