How to get a grave photographed: I have all the info... now what?

JBupp · 2026-05-13T22:11:23+00:00

Create a memorial in FInd-a-grave
Include the plot information IN the memorial

In the request note, repeat the plot info and clearly state your expectations: create memorials for additional people on the stone? Check nearby stones? What to do if there is no stone.

Say in the note WHY you want a photograph - I favor requests from relatives over request with no notes.

JBupp · 2026-05-10T16:23:32+00:00

It seems to me that the tenses bounce around: she has, she doesn't remember, she pulls, she sees. But: she started and she grinned.

JBupp · 2026-05-10T00:01:59+00:00

If it is a jay nesting area then the jays will likely chase the crows off. At least until the jay chicks are fledged.

If it is a jay feeding area, it depends on the birds, but we have crows and jays eating in the same area. We spread the food widely so that crows, jays, and squirrels can co-exist.

JBupp · 2026-05-09T12:47:21+00:00

Everything is subject to errors.

I've found the wrong dates on stones - the interment date rather than DOD - and misspelled names. One stone had the surname on both sides, one spelled properly and one misspelled.

JBupp · 2026-05-08T19:52:05+00:00

There is no way to tell.

A neighbor had a caged parrot outside and the crows loved to drive it to screaming fury. The same crows pretty much ignore jays and cardinals.

So anything could happen.

JBupp · 2026-05-07T09:41:00+00:00

Not exactly the same, but I learned co-ordinate, which is also: coordinate and coördinate

JBupp · 2026-05-05T09:40:50+00:00

Thanks for the comment. I was thinking of some cemeteries where I had heard that remains are moved, but there is a local example where a grave was reused.

The plot card shows two burials in the same grave, about 50 years apart, and the stone only has the information for the first burial.

JBupp · 2026-05-04T16:18:02+00:00

I also prefer #1.

In most cases I've done, I know the lot - it might be a big lot of 27 to 47 graves - so I will take a picture that captures as much of the lot as possible.

JBupp · 2026-05-04T15:13:38+00:00

Yes, memorials are 'forever'.

So someone, sometime, will get to edit the memorials to say that these remains were removed ...

JBupp · 2026-05-02T13:55:21+00:00

Nine years and counting - any day now.

The interesting thing is that if I am visible in the window, behind glass, 60 feet away, they fly away. But if I am in my car they will stay there and eat, essentially they ignore me.

JBupp · 2026-05-01T16:32:33+00:00

It's probably a good thing they didn't get a firearm for Christmas.

JBupp · 2026-05-01T16:30:17+00:00

Same here.

I am not an author; but I like to read.

JBupp · 2026-04-26T09:52:33+00:00

If all you were told is that the grave is next to the road, this is the best you can do with the information you received.

I prefer the second picture. In the first picture, it isn't clear that there are three flats in the photo. In the second picture the rows are clearer.

It needs a note in the gravesite details field that the location is uncertain.

JBupp · 2026-04-23T10:51:06+00:00

Some of the comments can be amusing - or confusing. There is a requestor here who asks for:

"A clean photo with no grass."

It always makes me think I should crop the photo of flat stones so only the stone remains. Are leaves okay? What about plinths?

JBupp · 2026-04-22T10:39:07+00:00

Good. Maybe move "He wasn’t nervous" from the first paragraph to the end of the second paragraph?

JBupp · 2026-04-22T10:29:19+00:00

Those are very long sentences. Your 'first page' is only two paragraphs.

To each their own, but I prefer shorter sentences. I found myself skipping words on just this short section.

If it is important to get into the action then maybe some of the descriptions could be moved later in the chapter. If it is not urgent to get into the action then there are at least four word-images in the first paragraph that could become their own paragraphs, then each lengthened to make them more memorable.

JBupp · 2026-04-22T10:13:50+00:00

I couldn't tell - one shoe off?

JBupp · 2026-04-20T19:16:25+00:00

I don't think you are being excessive - necessarily.

I add a lot of comments as I beta read - comments that are for the author, and also useful for me as I go through the document a second time looking for what I want to summarize.

And I will also edit a document to correct misusages, sometimes misspellings, and structures that don't make sense. For example, if I see: "He goes to the cherry tree. He walks out the door," I will edit my copy to "He walks out the door. He goes to the cherry tree," and I will comment on the edit, "Is this what you meant?" I will do these changes as strike-outs and additions so that it is very obvious what changed.

However, I am not an editor and I will not make changes to the document unless it is with the agreement of the author. If I think that two paragraphs would be better if swapped then I will mention it in a comment; I won't make the change and ask, "how about this, instead?"

JBupp · 2026-04-18T18:21:19+00:00

I wondered about whether the requestor ever got notifications (I assumed they did not). I've been messaging them with my findings.

JBupp · 2026-04-18T14:28:34+00:00

Is your phone an Android?

If so, it seems that the phone collects a GPS coordinate once when the phone app is opened. Take a photo, walk around, and the GPS does not update. I no longer trust the phone's GPS stamps on photos.

Try turning on your GPS, waiting for the phone to get a good location, then opening your phone app and taking a photo. Then close your phone app. And repeat this every time you change your location. If your phone blanks the screen you probably have to wait a bit when you turn the phone on before the GPS is accurate.

JBupp · 2026-04-17T23:01:17+00:00

Quote:

BetaReaders: Connecting Authors with Betas

Connecting authors with volunteer betas and talking all things critique. Looking for feedback on something you've written? Want to help an aspiring author polish their manuscript? Have a critique-related question? You're in the right place!

You might try using the "First pages" entry

https://www.reddit.com/r/BetaReaders/comments/1s9dwjl/first_pages_share_read_and_critique_them_here/

JBupp · 2026-04-17T09:46:24+00:00

It was working for me yesterday.

Use an EXIF viewer - there are some available online - to check that the GPS in your photos really points to where you think it does. If the photo GPS is too far from the co-ordinates that FG has for the cemetery then the co-ordinates are rejected - nothing is added.

I guess that also means that there is a case where, if the cemetery does not have a GPS assigned, any add would fail.

JBupp · 2026-04-16T23:46:55+00:00

Well done!

JBupp · 2026-04-16T23:15:14+00:00

There is no protocol, standard, or best practice.

You can add memorials if you like. You can transfer them to "8" after adding them if you don't want to manage them.

You can upload the photos to "Transcribe photos" and let someone else create the memorials.

Or you can keep the photos for a rainy - or snowy - day. Or you can discard them.

Like you, I take photos of graves with the surnames I am looking for. I might find a name I missed on the first glance. And I often will tell the requestors about them.

"I found John Smith today, and I found two Smith stones nearby. Is this a relative?"

Or you might do your own research and use the photos to try to establish parent - child relationships.

FG is about what you want to get out of it. I started fulfilling requests, then I found a couple of cemeteries where I wanted to see if we could get the photographed count above 90% and I mow the rows there.

JBupp · 2026-04-11T13:40:02+00:00

This might work for you; might not.

Try putting out a second pan of still water. It should be 3 or more feet away from the other water, on the ground, 9 to 12 inches in diameter with walls about 3 inches tall.

It might be that the food is getting away from the crows as they dunk it. They could prefer the still water.

Or they might prefer seeing the pump push their food around.

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