Note to FaG photo requesters (soapbox time)
I have fulfilled many photo requests over the years, however lately I have noticed a trend of some members requesting many hundreds, if not thousands of photo requests. It's easy to click the button "request photo" but those specific requesters need to know that they are burning out the energy and joy of us volunteers who actually go to the cemetery and spend 15-30 minutes per request finding the grave and taking the photo. Therefore, as of summer 2024 I am only going to fulfill requests for those folks who appear to be asking for photos of family members. For you other folks, might I ask that instead of clicking a button, you come out to the cemetery and join us photo volunteers doing the photos.
(end of soapbox)
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During 2020/21 I took about 5000 gravestone photos in Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery in Hillside IL to keep myself busy during the isolation period of the Covid pandemic. I did not clean up the in-ground stones for these photos and some are really grungy. If you wish to have a nicer photo for any of these memorials - just ask and I will gladly go out and clean up the stone for a better photo.
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December 2017 I retired from a major Chicago area paint manufacturing company. These days I enjoy fulfilling photo requests at St Adalbert's Cemetery in Niles, Illinois and frequently other Catholic cemeteries nearby. Early in my working years I worked in a photo store in Chicago and later was a semi-professional photographer before my career in the paint industry. So, I'm picky about the quality of the photo. Often, my photos are improved versions of earlier photos taken by others. Perhaps the lighting is better in my photos or the shadows enhance the information on the stone. No malice is intended to the previous photographers.

I strive to take the best photos of the stones for the enjoyment of the viewer. A photo isn't any good if the viewer cannot determine what it says. I urge other FAG photographers to do the same - Before taking a photo, please carefully clean up the gravestone removing any mud or encroaching grass. Put yourself in the shoes of the requestor - will they be happy with the photo you just took?

If you are unhappy with any of my added photos, just ask and I'll remove the photo or go take a new one. No hard feelings. Feel free to use any of my photos. 99.99% of my memorials are not my family and I will gladly transfer them to you if the memorial is your family.

I've been doing genealogy since the early 1990's. Primary family names include: Zukowski, Mosiniak, Josefiak, Jasniewski, Polowy, Lepianka from the Polish side of the family in Wisconsin and Illinois. Primary West Virginia names include Miller, Brafford, Peters, Whitehair and many others.

During winter when I can't fulfill photo requests, I review the online Mount Carmel (Hillside, IL) daily interment records and add new memorials (or update existing ones) into the F-a-G database. Over the past 2 winters I've completed all of the 1930 and 1931 burials.

Note to FaG photo requesters (soapbox time)
I have fulfilled many photo requests over the years, however lately I have noticed a trend of some members requesting many hundreds, if not thousands of photo requests. It's easy to click the button "request photo" but those specific requesters need to know that they are burning out the energy and joy of us volunteers who actually go to the cemetery and spend 15-30 minutes per request finding the grave and taking the photo. Therefore, as of summer 2024 I am only going to fulfill requests for those folks who appear to be asking for photos of family members. For you other folks, might I ask that instead of clicking a button, you come out to the cemetery and join us photo volunteers doing the photos.
(end of soapbox)
-------
During 2020/21 I took about 5000 gravestone photos in Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery in Hillside IL to keep myself busy during the isolation period of the Covid pandemic. I did not clean up the in-ground stones for these photos and some are really grungy. If you wish to have a nicer photo for any of these memorials - just ask and I will gladly go out and clean up the stone for a better photo.
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December 2017 I retired from a major Chicago area paint manufacturing company. These days I enjoy fulfilling photo requests at St Adalbert's Cemetery in Niles, Illinois and frequently other Catholic cemeteries nearby. Early in my working years I worked in a photo store in Chicago and later was a semi-professional photographer before my career in the paint industry. So, I'm picky about the quality of the photo. Often, my photos are improved versions of earlier photos taken by others. Perhaps the lighting is better in my photos or the shadows enhance the information on the stone. No malice is intended to the previous photographers.

I strive to take the best photos of the stones for the enjoyment of the viewer. A photo isn't any good if the viewer cannot determine what it says. I urge other FAG photographers to do the same - Before taking a photo, please carefully clean up the gravestone removing any mud or encroaching grass. Put yourself in the shoes of the requestor - will they be happy with the photo you just took?

If you are unhappy with any of my added photos, just ask and I'll remove the photo or go take a new one. No hard feelings. Feel free to use any of my photos. 99.99% of my memorials are not my family and I will gladly transfer them to you if the memorial is your family.

I've been doing genealogy since the early 1990's. Primary family names include: Zukowski, Mosiniak, Josefiak, Jasniewski, Polowy, Lepianka from the Polish side of the family in Wisconsin and Illinois. Primary West Virginia names include Miller, Brafford, Peters, Whitehair and many others.

During winter when I can't fulfill photo requests, I review the online Mount Carmel (Hillside, IL) daily interment records and add new memorials (or update existing ones) into the F-a-G database. Over the past 2 winters I've completed all of the 1930 and 1931 burials.