Back to the Old Gray

A couple of years ago, I went to Knoxville's historic Old Gray Cemetery to walk around and take pictures, and I decided that I wanted to again this weekend. I'm still working on my black and white photography, and it's the only place nearby that I know of with a lot of sculpture. I was leery of going by myself, though, since last time I got chased away by goth vampire cultists, so Kristin agreed that she would go with me.

Then this morning she stood me (but had a really good excuse; stupid work), so I went anyway, and that's how I ended up starring in "The Blair Witch Project Part III". OK, maybe not. The place was pretty much deserted this time, so I didn't get Blair Witched or Friday the Thirteenthed or even Prom Nighted, and instead I got some decent photos.

I stopped on my way there to take a picture of the MAC Auto Loans sign:



That sign is on the way to Bryan's apartment, and is another one of those things that I always said I would get a photo of when I had more time. Every time I went past it, though, we were always on the way to Bryan's for something, and usually running late, so there never seemed to be a good opportunity to pull over for a minute and snap a shot. I guess I should have made a special trip.

After I stopped at the sign, I drove the rest of the way to the cemetery, pausing to get a shot of part of the church across the street:



There are a number of interesting and intricately carved tombstones in the Old Gray, especially for local history buffs, but I ignored them for the most part since my goal for today was to get statues with shadows on them. I made an exception for this carving, though:



It caught my eye, so to speak.

The rest of the photography went well enough, I think:













This lady makes me think of the Vanderbilts for some reason. She just looks like someone you'd see strolling the gardens of a gigantic mansion in 1920's Newport, sighing over the lack of cucumber sandwiches:



I think the pictures came out ok, but there's nothing there that really wows me, and makes me look at it and say, "Oh, hey, that's a good photo." This one intrigues me:



The slight blurriness adds something, but I'm not sure if "interesting photo" is the same as "good photo". Still, I didn't get carved into pieces and fed to vampire brides, so I'm going to count it as a good day.