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Photographs of Monumental Inscriptions
One of the best ways to record inscriptions on headstones and other monuments is by a photographic record. However, this can never replace a full transcription record.
Some stones are quite easy to photograph, particularly if there is some contrast between the stone colour and the lettering, but all too often there is not, and then we have to play some tricks in order to make the inscription show. There are two main ways of doing this:
Fill in the inscription with a non-destructive material, such as chalk, so that it stands out well.
Alter the lighting : so that the light shines across the surface of the stone, casting shadows into the inscription
Indooor Photography : taking photographs inside a church requires special attention
The use of simple sticks of chalk (school chalk) can be extremely effective in highlighting an inscription, especially on a naturally dark stone such as slate or dark coloured granite, labradorite etc.
It is surprising how the eye can see the inscription, but on a photograph it doesn't show at all!
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| This stone has had the chalk simply rubbed lightly over the relevant areas.Immediately the inscription stands out as dark lettering. The light covering of chalk will wash off easily, or disppear the next time it rains. |
This is the same stone, photographed at the same time with the same exposure. The dark granite with dark inscription simply does not show any detail. |
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Some stones, such as ornately engraved slate stones, look as if they
were engraved yesterday, even if they are 200 or 300 years old. Slate holds
an inscription really well! However, photographs of slate headstones simply
come out as a block of plain dark grey with no detail whatsoever!
This partly "chalked" slate stone illustrates this perfectly. On the left side of the headstone is the husband's details, and on the right side those of his wife Elizabeth. I first took photographs of this stone in a sunny day in May, and was completely surprised by the total lack of detail. Even an attempt at painstakingly enhancing the digitised image of the photograph didn't work. So, armed with some sticks of chalk, I went back there in August the next time I visited the area, and carefully highlighted the lettering and the decoration before taking the photograph. It worked! |
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The photograph taken after the chalking was completed. This picture is without any digital enhancing, although I am sure that with some more work, it could be made to look absolutely perfect. Nevertheless, it does make an excellent record of the inscription, with all the detail visible. Note that on the very small lettering at the bottom of the stone, I simply rubbed the side of the chalk over the area, leaving the dark lettering on a white background.
This headstone is actually one which I never expected to find. Having seen the weathered and barely discernable inscription of John's son Francis at the graveyard of Tilney All Saints, Norfolk, imagine my surprise when I saw this gem. John Neep, whose headstone is shown here, was my gggg/grandfather, who died June 12th 1830 at Epperstone in Nottinghamshire. The wife shown here is actually his second wife. I am descended from his first wife of whom unfortunately, although buried at Epperstone, no trace remains of her gravestone. |
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Copyright ©1997 Rod Neep