Shooting a military funeral-advice?

IreneRojas

I've been asked to shoot a small military funeral (cremation actually) for a local paper this coming Saturday. The first part of the event will take place inside a church, which I'm not assigned to shoot. My focus is on the ceremony after the service, the Taps, folding the flag, etc. I'm wondering if you guys could share your experiences from shooting such a thing. Please keep replies relevant to your experiences, not politics.

Thanks a lot in advance.
Irene

botanist

ireno315 wrote:

I've been asked to shoot a small military funeral (cremation actually) for a local paper this coming Saturday. The first part of the event will take place inside a church, which I'm not assigned to shoot. My focus is on the ceremony after the service, the Taps, folding the flag, etc. I'm wondering if you guys could share your experiences from shooting such a thing. Please keep replies relevant to your experiences, not politics.

Thanks a lot in advance.
Irene

as with anything outdoors, weather will be an issue. keep the shutter speed up if you can, blur during a flag folding for example might be a bad thing...then again if shot right it might be a great thing!

Memory cards...shoot more than you need to. Can't say it enough. Unless you're one of those lucky sods who can get the shot every time with 2-3 exposures, bring extra memory and USE it. Once the ceremony is over you will never get another shot to retake any of these.

Just some suggestions I've learned along the way from photographing important occassions. Good Luck!

sirsloop

ireno315 wrote:

I've been asked to shoot a small military funeral (cremation actually) for a local paper this coming Saturday. The first part of the event will take place inside a church, which I'm not assigned to shoot. My focus is on the ceremony after the service, the Taps, folding the flag, etc. I'm wondering if you guys could share your experiences from shooting such a thing. Please keep replies relevant to your experiences, not politics.

Thanks a lot in advance.
Irene

I'd be sure to dress for the occasion... dark or black formal outfit

If the whole event is inside, I would make a trip out to see what the lighting inside is like. If there's not good light, you may need a flash for the event. If its an outside event, see if there is heavy shade at the time that you will be shooting, ect ect. Be prepared for bad weather as well...

Stormdancing

sirsloop wrote:

I'd be sure to dress for the occasion... dark or black formal outfit

If the whole event is inside, I would make a trip out to see what the lighting inside is like. If there's not good light, you may need a flash for the event. If its an outside event, see if there is heavy shade at the time that you will be shooting, ect ect. Be prepared for bad weather as well...

I would make sure to get the classic shots. The salute, the firing of the guns, the flag passing to the mother/wife, even if it's just the hands changing the flag from the officer to the mother/wife. My last military funeral was my brother in law 2 years ago and I was so upset I don't remember much, but those things/moments still stand out in my mind.

botanist

Stormdancing wrote:

I would make sure to get the classic shots. The salute, the firing of the guns, the flag passing to the mother/wife, even if it's just the hands changing the flag from the officer to the mother/wife. My last military funeral was my brother in law 2 years ago and I was so upset I don't remember much, but those things/moments still stand out in my mind.

absolutely. This is where Continuous mode and a big memory card are crucial. You can't miss that moment, once it passes it's gone.

spider-t

ireno315 wrote:

I've been asked to shoot a small military funeral (cremation actually) for a local paper this coming Saturday. The first part of the event will take place inside a church, which I'm not assigned to shoot. My focus is on the ceremony after the service, the Taps, folding the flag, etc. I'm wondering if you guys could share your experiences from shooting such a thing. Please keep replies relevant to your experiences, not politics.

Thanks a lot in advance.
Irene

I shot one this year, but for the family instead of a paper. It was really quite moving.

Here are my tips:

Wear a black suit. Demonstrate as much respect as possible. It will help offset the fact that you will be stepping over graves to capture the exposures you are going to need. It's sort of an odd position to be in.

I found using a long lens (70-200/2.8) was best for the ceremony itself so I could walk all around in the background and not disturb the event. It's a fast ceremony, only 15 minutes long. Consider a second setup as backup.

I also went to the cemetery a few days before the event to cover the scenic parts so I wouldn't have to worry about anything but the capturing the people that day.


Tell a little story about the cemetery itself, even if it's nowhere near the headstone of that particular person:





The flag folding is really beautiful. Take a lot of shots of that:




If the weather is grey, keep to the ground instead of the sky:





There is usually lots of "digging" or construction at cemeteries. Keep an eye on your frames so the backgrounds don't show all the commotion that is really there:




Keep shooting, you never know where your opportunities are going to come. It's over fast:



Good luck with your shoot!

cheers,
Trish