Our camera club had a ‘low light’ session last week. The location chosen was the Wakapuaka cemetary, a place full of potential. I think this cemetary gives its residents some of the best views one could hope for, high on a hillside overlooking Nelson Haven. Trouble is after 16,000 people have been buried here, all the best spots are taken!
The challenge was to find some images that were a bit different. The beautiful little Garin Chapel was my first target.
I quite liked those plants. Not sure what they’re called, no doubt they are a weed.
This is Nelson’s oldest cemetary, with some of the graves dating back to the mid-1800s (that’s really old by New Zealand standards!). Here was one for a man who died in 1940, and his wife who survived him by 30 years, obviously still mourned:
Some of the memorials were quite imposing, such as this one for Francis Trask. He was Nelson’s MP and also Mayor.
However, the one that stands out is the grave of Thomas Cawthron (this shot obviously taken on an earlier occasion). If you follow this blog you will understand that I am biased, of course.
The inscription reads: “Erected to the memory of Thomas Cawthron, born 26 May 1833, died 6 October 1915, who having provided for the sick and needy devoted the greater portion of his fortune to the erection and maintenance of the Cawthron Institute and thus bequeathed to his fellow citizens a signal example of public spirit and liberality.”
Getting back to the Garin Chapel: most photographs of this building are taken from the front, even though there is a lovely stained glass window in the rear wall. But you can see why:
The building is totally ruined however by the work of a (volunteer?) plumber, who saved some pipe and labour by joining the downpipes to a central outlet.
Aesthetically challenged, he was.
Finally, one autumn I shot this picture of my wife looking at the ‘Painted Ladies’ that pop up all over the cemetary. It was an ideal image to try some Photoshop artistic effects:
Here’s a detail crop to show the effect:
This was one time it worked for me.
Gorgeous. I really love the last one. Your yellow flower appears to be the common mullen, native to Eurasia, but presumably not New England (and very common here in the Midwest US).