This morning I posted a message looking for tips on photographing gravestones. I got many great responses and I want to thank each and everyone who esponded. Since many of the messages were sent to me and not the List I will share all the responses with the List. They all make sense to me and I will try a few until I get the finished product I am looking for. 1. Do it in winter and rub snow across the letters. 2. Try a nice sunny day, early in the morning or later in the afternoon and then try shooting at an angle.. Whatever inscription there is will show up better at those times.. To make a poor inscription clearer, spray with plain water. 3. The cemetery caretaker suggested using colored chalk that will wash away in the rain. It worked well for me. 4. Use large pieces of aluminum foil or white paper to reflect light onto the stone from different angles. 5. Wet the stone with water to darken it. 6. Use a red filter (with black & white film) to increase contrast. 7. Use shaving cream to fill the lettering and scrape off the excess with a plastic putty knife or piece of cardboard. (Be sure to wash it off when you're done.) 8. Get to the cemetery right after sunrise, the dew will have wet the stones, as the dew dries, the face of the stone lightens while the etchings are still wet. 9.The idea of using a mirror is a very good one. However, there are a few things to remember. First, the mirror must be quite large, big enough to reflect off the whole stone. It is best to have a helper with you to hold the mirror. Second, the sun has to be out for this method to work; and, third, the sun must be in the right position to properly reflect off the mirror onto the stone you are photographing. 10. First use a film with variable lighting speeds like a 400. Next always try to have the sun over your right shoulder when taking the picture. Then to bring the tombstone out a bit more in the picture I have used regular white flour brushed softly over the headstone lettering. This will help make the words stand out better but in no way harm the tombstone it self. After you get the shots you want brush lightly as much flour as you can off and mother nature with her wind and rain will take care of the rest with no damage left behind. 11. Rather than a mirror or flour, or anything of that sort, try a 20 x 24 piece of white poster board to reflect the light across the face of the stone. 12. Have you tried outlining the inscriptions with chalk? This is one of the ways people make paper impressions of inscription plaques and so on in Great Britain. If you picked a light colored chalk, brightly orange perhaps? You could trace the inscription and take a picture that might look strange but would probably show the inscription. The chalk will wash off in the rain. 13. Put wax paper on the stone and use a crayon (black preferred) to make what is called a 'rubbing'. You will end up with a black on white or white on black, depending if the inscription is raised or carved, imprint of the stone. Then photo the rubbing and post on web. 14. Try the Resource Room at Chignecto http://www.chignecto.net/cwa/cwa.nsf/menus/resourceroom. OpenDocument, look under Cemeteries, Open the tips document, bottom of that document. 15. All photography is dependant on light and, if you are going to capture the features of any three-dimensional object, you must have shadows. The shadows must be cast by the uneven surfaces of the subject, whether it is a face, a brick wall or a headstone. I would try to develop a standard, all-purpose method to achieve consistent results, regardless of weather and available light. I would begin by setting up an off-camera electronic flash on a tripod and experiment until I find the combination of angle and distance that produces the best results. With an off-camera flash, the distance from the camera to the subject is not a factor in determining exposure. Once you have set the exposure, you will be able to shoot from the most advantageous positions without having to make continual adjustments. If possible, your lens opening and shutter speed should be such that the background trees, sky, etc. have the exposure and focus best suited to your preference. 16. The other thing I do is I videotape if there is a lot of gravestones I am interested in and I read the inscriptions as I go. That way I have a visual record and an audio record in case some stones are not easily read on the videotape. I also have video capture software so I can capture a pic of a particular gravestone from a video if I want and save as a jpeg. 17. I have used Tombstones of Your Ancestor by Louis Schafer by Heritage Books Inc. 156 pages cost $15.00. -- Dale West e-mail: dwest@banet.net Visit the West Family Genealogy web site - http://westfamily.genealogy.org Major Surnames: WEST, HOLLIS, OSBORN, RAYMOND, RIPPY, ROSS