Arlington, Virginia.
This week, Cheri Lucas Rowlands challenges us to “capture silence in a photograph.” I immediately thought of one place, a place where silence is eternal. Arlington National Cemetery, the resting place of hundreds of thousands of those who served their country in their lifetime. You can read her entire challenge post here.
This week, I am posting my entry a day or two later than usual for two reasons. We had visitors this week who came to join us as we made our annual journey to the Scottsdale edition of Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction. In an upcoming post, we’ll feature some of those images here. The second reason this post is a bit later than usual is that I am learning a new photo processing tool. I wanted to rework the original raw images using Skylum Software’s Luminar 2018. It was recently released for Windows and I want to give it a try as another option for photo processing.
But I digress from the topic of this post. The image above is of the anchor from the battleship USS Maine, sunk in Havana Harbor on 15 February 1898. The anchor is part of a memorial that also includes the mast of the ill-fated ship. The memorial honors the 260 lives lost (actually three different references quote the loss as 260, 266 and 268.) In any case, the sinking was the spark that ignited the Spanish-American War in 1898.
Probably the most iconic memorial in Arlington Cemetery is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. A cadre of elite volunteer service personnel guard the tomb at all times in all kinds of weather. Only the sound of footsteps breaks the silence as a lone sentry paces a well-worn path. Two of the major attractions for visitors is the Changing of the Guard and Presentations of a Memorial Wreath. The image above features the conclusion of a wreath-laying presentation. Most browsers will allow you to select an image below to enlarge it and to scroll through the gallery.
John Steiner
Flare Legend Adventures
Perfect choices this week John. Let us know how you like Luminar
Will do! Lots of similar features to Lightroom, but it’s no Lightroom replacement. A future review is planned. Thanks for being such a loyal commenter. 🙂
[…] Journeys with Johnbo Weekly Photo Challenge – Silence […]
I love Arlington Cemetery. It is a short drive from where I live. The soldiers who serve as guards are active duty personnel, though, not volunteers. The guards make a serious commitment to their tour at the cemetery and some of them live in barracks in the lower level of the monument.
It was my error in using the term volunteers. I knew they are enlisted, but they are not, I believe, assigned to this duty, they volunteer to serve in this position. If that is not correct, please let me know. I will rewrite the post to indicate that.
Oh, I see what you mean. Yes, I believe you are right. They have to apply for the positions and go through extensive training. It is a demanding position.
Silence… A great interpretation, definitely addresses the challenge, but in an unexpected way. Hahaha did you know that so called volunteers don’t even get paid? Happy travels!