Quotable...

"If you are walking in Charleston, you are walking on someone's grave."--Sue Bennett, Charleston tour guide

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Types of Grave Markers

Nighttime Photography Tips

This semester we will have a few "flashlight tours" of nearby church graveyards. Because it will be dark, it's imperative that the camera flash be used. A few photos may need to be taken to ensure proper framing and focus.

Your camera or smart phone's photograph editing tools may also be necessary to brighten the image, adjust the contrast or make other processing corrections.

In this photo, taken at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul on Coming Street, I used my iPhone's brightening tool to improve the quality. This graveyard is actually lit pretty well due to a large street lamp on Coming Street.

Below is the same photograph before the brightening adjustment.

The purple stream is caused by the street light-- or maybe it's an apparition (i.e.ghost)!

For tips, checking out this tutorial, "How to Master Editing on Your iPhone."

Here is another link with good tips for planning, shooting and editing photos taken with iPhones and smart phones in general.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Course Overview

Welcome Spring 2016 Students!

Welcome everyone to the new year and the new semester! Thank you for taking my First Year Experience, "Beyond the Grave: What Old Cemeteries Tell and Teach the Living."

I have what I hope will be an interesting learning experience for you! You picked a great school in a great city to attend for college.

We will get "out and about" (even in the dark!) to see some of the nearby old church graveyards.

Have a great semester and don't hesitate to call, text or email me between classes.

Patrick Harwood
(Photos: Bethel UMC "flashlight tour" November 2015)