The weeks before All Saints Day, cemeteries in Germany are buzzing with busy (and business) life. But when daylight fades and night takes over, all that teeming subsides and graveyard and church fall back into the normal silence – quite different from the sceneries Carl Weese shows from the Cemetery Tour in Washington, DCCT. Highly recommended, both the photography and the activity, taking away a bit of the gravity of the graveyard and both bringing life to the graveyard and the graveyard to life.
For November 2010, the new wallpapers are ready, available as usual in the “Wallpapers” section (hmm, where else…)
Update: Typing with fingers on autopilot is … Carl pointed out that I had incorrectly written Wash. DC instead of CT. Corrected now.
Just an hour ago I learned about the Newweling (German wikipedia) – a special candle unlike the usual All Saints candles whose lights and atmosphere they invoke your photograph demonstrates so wonderfully.
But – that’s not snow? Must be gravel … .
Martina, I just had a look at the Newwelings – completely unknown here. But I could imagine this tradition is nearer to elder rites that were more directly connected with a deverence to the ancestors than the now more commercialized All Saints Day graveyard flower arrengement is.
And yes – this is not snow. Bad Reichenhall is fairly low-lying, only 470m above sea level. In the valley we get snow late, and most often not for a long time. The winter tourism that happened before and after WWII would not be possible any more now.
Great, great photo, Markus! How long did you have to wait to get the light on the steeple just right? I really like the pink cast on the walls from the candles, the angle of the walls, the light on the steeple and the overall warmth and coolness. What a thoughtful, quiet contrast to the loud, commercial Halloween we celebrate in the U.S.!!! At least in Washington, CT, there is an attempt to honor the lives of the persons…which is a step up from the normal US celebrations.
Cheers,
Martha
It was more a question of balance in order to have enough natural light to balance the yellowish sodium beamers illuminating the clocktower – a bit later it would have become really difficult to retain a bit of the blue light. So it was just careful work with some regions and layers to get enough shadow detail and the right distribution of cool and warm zones.
Re. the Honoring of the lives: Did you follow that link to Working Pictures II in my post. My friend Carl Weese made a photo series of this very event.
Yes, I did follow your link to Carl Weese’s site and I left a comment for him as well. Thanks for the link.