Get the Right Photos at a Family Cemetery



When you have the opportunity to visit a family hometown cemetery, make sure you get all the right photos, you may not visit it very often.

Number one is a photo of the cemetery entrance with its full name. You might think you will remember, but maybe not.

Next when you are at the family grave plots take many different shots from different angles, including surrounding graves.

Then as you narrow into one or several family graves and the headstones, take a photo of the whole headstone and then several photos of close ups. Even divide it up, the top half and the bottom half.

Make sure you look on the back of the headstone and even next to it, there could be additional information written in the stones. Take photos.

Next, look over nearby headstones and go ahead and take photos of them. You just might discover a person who was a great aunt buried nearby. On large monuments, many family members might have buried nearby and their names and information could be on many sides of the monument.

Make sure you do check with the cemetery office of their records in case you missed an ancestor. While there, ask about that cemetery’s history, when it was created, has it increased in size over the years, etc.

If there is a church by the cemetery, do take many photos of different angles of the church and check their records, the family may have been members.  

Don’t miss your opportunity to get a complete set of photos when visiting the family cemetery.

Photos: Capt. David Everhart at Arlington, Nan E. Kershaw at Arlington and Capt. Joseph Groff and his family buried in Maryland.

Related FamilyTree.com Blogs:

Using ‘Find a Grave’

Cemetery Superstitions

Civil War Graves

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