Included in this guide are tips for cleaning debris off a gravestone, general tips for photographing gravestones, essential grave photos, and photo examples which help show the differences when photographing.
To learn more about what to bring to the cemetery, see suggested items from the Cemetery Kit Guide.
Tips for cleaning debris off a gravestone
• Clear the stone so that that the entire inscription is clear
• Use a sweeping brush to clear off debris
• If there is grass covering part of the stone, clip the grass back
• If needed, spray water and towel off the stone to help clean it (it may need to dry before being photographed)
If a headstone is not easily readable, we suggest considering the use of no harm methods recommended by Cemetery Conservators for United Standards to read the stone.
General tips for photographing gravestones
• Use a camera or cell phone with GPS enabled to add the grave’s location
(The GPS will automatically upload with the photo.)
• Make sure your lens is clean and avoid including your fingers, feet, shadow, or reflection on the stone
• Take multiple photos to show the marker and its context
• Use your zoom feature as needed
• Try a few angles to get the most readable one
• Take pictures of all sides of upright markers that have text
• An overcast day or morning or evening often lead to the most readable photos
• No grave marker? Photograph the area where the grave is located in relation to other grave markers
• Reflect or shine light on a marker that is in shadow
Essential Grave Photos
Grave photos should fully represent the grave or gravestone with a clear view of the inscription and additionally the grave in context with its surroundings. In this digital age, you can take multiple photographs and choose your favorites to upload.
•Main grave photos
Photograph the gravestone straight on so the entire inscription can easily be read. The gravestone should nearly fill the frame depending on the stone shape and the orientation of the photo.
•Close up
Zoom in or step closer to get a close up photo of the inscription.
•Any additional photos
Check the stone to see if there is text on any other side, top or base and photograph it.
•Gravestone with surroundings
Take a few steps back and photograph the gravestone or grave in context with its surroundings.
Gravestone Photo Examples
These examples below help display differences and how we can improve reading as well as documenting the stone on Find a Grave. (These are all smaller versions of these photos.)
A stone with debris versus a stone cleared of debris.
Avoid including your fingers, feet, or shadow.
Pictured is a stone with grass around the edges. When the grass was clipped back an important inscription was revealed.
Photo of a stone that is too far away to read versus one that is closer and taken at the same level as the stone.
Photo of stone at an angle versus photo of stone in full view, straight on.
(Depending on the light at the time and the shadows on the stone sometimes it is helpful to photograph the stone at different angles if the text is not readable in the full view photo.)
An example of photographing at an angle being important.
This stone has moved over time and no longer is straight. Photograph it and represent it as is, but you can also photograph it again and adjust the angle of your camera or phone so it appears more straight.
Photograph the entire stone and the close ups of the inscriptions.
Add an additional photo of the stone in its surroundings.
Don’t forget to check the back or other sides of an upright stone.
Examples of before and after adding a flash that lights up the headstone at the moment the photo is taken. In the photos here, the flash is mounted on a telescoping monopod. Some other methods of casting light on a headstone are using a mirror, foil, bright LED flashlight or choosing the right time of day according to the angle of the sun. This no-harm method casts shadows on the stone and allows a difficult inscription to be read.
What if there isn’t a gravestone to photograph?
If there isn’t a gravestone to photograph, then photograph the area where the grave is located. As with photographing any grave, please include GPS whenever possible. It’s also helpful to include a neighboring headstone and an overview shot around the burial so it can easily be located. Another suggestion is to mark the grave with silk flowers and then photograph the grave and surrounding area.
Some stones have 200 years of mold, mildew, or lichen can’t read anything!
I use a paint spatula to carefully remove lichen etc especially if the headstone is granite. A good hard bristle brush is useful. Never use a wire brush.
If the white paint around the letters is fading, I use a soft white chalk rubbed over the letters then wiped off leaving a little chalk behind which highlights the inscription and a clean face to photograph. The next rain washes the chalk off.
Use of chalk is not a safe method.
It’s about time Findagrave posted these tips. There are many thousands of terrible photos posted by people who don’t have a clue on how to take a good picture. Most common are all the people who go to a cemetery in the morning and take photos of west-facing stones in the wrong light. Wait a few hours and do it right. The 19th C gravestones often need a good sun angle to properly read the engravings. Dark blobs who only show the shape of a stone is not acceptable! You don’t need a flash or flashlight. Go to Walmart and buy a door mirror size 1’x4′ for $8, wait for a sunny day and vary the backlight angle to shine the sunlight on those tablets, pillars and obelisks to take those pictures!
I applaud your comment, I’m so frustrated with some volunteers who don’t think before taking the photos.
And it’s about time that findagrave introduced tips.
We appreciate all the photo volunteers and their efforts. The Find a Grave community is full of wonderful people who enjoy photographing headstones and working toward our mission together. That takes a lot of diligence and persistence and we appreciate everyone’s efforts. We’ve had tips for many years on our support site and other guides about photography on our blog. In this guide we’ve added many photos as examples.
I have also used the reflective sunshade from my car to reflect more light on the headstone.
Thanks for this with such good examples. It is frustrating to see photos with grass, leaves, a reflection on the stone. We should all imagine this is our relative and we want to make the memorial such that when a relative sees it they are pleased.
I also hesitate to add a “better” photo to a memorial, but I do so when it needs it or add a different view.
I joined Find a Grave about 3 years ago when someone sent photos of my relatives’ graves. Shadows can be a problem too so you have to decide what time of day and you need to locate the grave before you go there ideally.
Yes, Find a Grave, Thank you very much for posting a photo taking tutorial!
I see numerous valuable guidelines which should be followed.
I’ve been active on Find a Grave for over 16 years and have posted over 6,000 photos.
I have used accepted methods of cleaning stones, cleared away dirt, grass, flowers, weeds, tree branches etc. so I can get a “good” picture if at all possible.
I don’t take a photo until I think that the inscription can easily be read. But sadly, some cannot be easily read.
Well written suggestions… about time… might be time for Find a Grave to insist that well meaning gravers read, understand, and sign something that acknowledges your constructive recommendations. State something like… don’t submit unuseful photos… please take time to take useful photos in accordance with these constructive recomendations. Thank you.
Don’t forget that those photographing the gravestones are volunteers and may not have some of the equipment to use. In Australia some of the photos I take are of far flung places and maybe only in passing when on holiday. I always check if there are any requests in towns that we are travelling through and can’t always pick the right time of day and don’t always have a mirror or tin foil on hand. For instance I once visited a pioneer cemetery off the beaten track about 1500km north of our capital city. Dirt roads into and out of the area and we did manage to get bogged in soft sand trying to get to the cemetery. I did eventually get the requested photo. Sometimes you can only do what you can do in these far flung places and you can’t time your visits.
My Parent’s gravestone was in need of being cleaned. We hired a Business to clean it and now it looks much better.
Good tips! I especially like stones that have a bit of background landscape with the stone so that I can find the plat easier in the cemetery. When you have just the stone itself, and if the cemetery is old and not well marked, and large, you can “waste: a lot of time looking for a relative.
Also, a lot of people seem to take a photo without bending at their waist, giving no background at all.
I bought Wet it and Forget It, a cleaner you mix with water and use a hand sprayer to spray it on moss or darkened areas from age and tree stains. I used it on several of my relative and other stones I took pictures of . It works great. I spray it on and come back in a couple weeks and the stains are usually all gone. Some of the real bad stained stones took a second application but they were clean in a couple weeks. The instructions say it is environmentally safe. I bought it at Menards but it is not real cheap but a gallon goes a long ways because you have to mix it with water.
Been doing this for years. But thank you anyway.
Very informative. Thank you!
You Tube has instructions on cleaning headstones entitled “WET and FORGET Cleans Veterns Headstones”.
My family’s headstones were black and could not be read. I cleaned according to the directions on video and it was amazingly beautiful. These headstones were so bad, it did take a couple of applications.
I have had many requests in our county veterans cemetery. It is very easy to locate graves, since they are all on computer in sections, rows and even grave location. Some of the VA-supplied markers are weathered terribly while newer ones are beautiful. One of my first post-shooting actions is to ensure the name is level. then I crop the superfluous stuff. I’ve had many folks thank me for snapping the photos of their loved ones or forefathers’ graves. The worst one was a request for a grave marker. I went there, searched and had no luck. I called the cemetery office. The lady in charge directed me to the exact location. I said, “Ma’am there is no marker on the grave.” She was distraught, since the family had paid several months earlier for the marker. I went back about four times. Finally, there was the marker. I believe had I NOT inquired of the location, that baby’s grave might never had gotten marked from 1954. That made this volunteer job worthwhile.