Permission to take pictures

<p>Fellow Photographers,<br>

we read many times that we are send away while taking pictures. Yesterday the opposite happened to me. I was with a fellow photographer at the American War Cemetary in Margraten the Netherlands. These holy grounds are very well conserved, and very well managed to look as beautiful as possible. I have been here with a camera several times already. Yesterday a manager from this facility came to us and asked if we were interested to take some picture from the top of the belltower of the monument !!! You can imagine we were very interested and happy to be able to do so. The manager gave us a key and asked to switch off the light and return the key after finishing. This is something i have not experienced before.After climbing many many stairs with 2 camera bags and a monopod we reached the top of the belltower of the monument. We had a very beautiful view from the top. We spent 45 minutes at the belltower taking pictures.<br>

So very special thanks to this friendly person here !!!!!<br>

This is quite the opposite experience we frequently have when taking pictures anywhere in the world , not doing any harm, but being bullied by security people that probably have nothing else to do .<br>

I feel obliged to to put some pictures in this message if the quotation system from this website still allows me.</p><div></div>

<p>some more pictures</p><div></div>

<p>one more overview picture</p><div></div>

<p>last picture</p><div></div>

<p>All pictures in this thread taken with D700 , Nikon 70-200 2.8 and Nikon 24-70 2.8</p>

<p>Mike-you were really lucky to meet someone like that and you got some great images-I especially like the first one. regards, cb :-)</p>

<p>I love the 3rd photo best. I went to the American War Cemetery in the Philippines. Seeing so many headstones laid out so perfectly like that really drives home the sacrifices those soldiers made for us. Thank you for sharing.</p>

<p>Stunning.</p>

<p>Thank you for sharing.</p>

<p>thanks for sharing</p>

<p>emotional pictures. thx for sharing. </p>

<p>Incredible !<br>

THANKS !!!</p>

<p>Beautiful photos. Very moving. I have been to the AWC in Normandy near Colleville and it was very emotional. Thanks for sharing these.<br>

These soldiers gave their lives so that others may be free from tyranny and oppression.</p>

<p>"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." </p>

 

<p>Remarkable, especially that first shot.<em> </em>It's tempting to say that you were lucky, Mike, but I think that people mostly make their own luck when it comes to this sort of thing. You were obviously giving off the right mix of body language, reverence, and decency that the local official knew you were the sort of person to rate that opportunity. Good for you, and good for you to have the skill and presence of mind to make some lovely images, given the chance.<br>

I'm not a religious person, at all. But I can tell you that walking into a place like that (where I live, it's Arlington National Cemetary) can leave you thunderstruck by the magnitude of it. If that doesn't bring out something new in a photographer, nothing will.</p>

<p>Mike,</p>

<p>With your permission I would like to use the first picture as a personal screen saver .... not to be distributed.</p>

<p>phil b<br>

benton, ky</p>

<p>An incredible opportunity and some great pics! Congrats!<br>

DS Meador</p>

<p>Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Mike. Great shots.</p>

<p>All very nice, definitely a different angle. I like the first best too. Congratulations.</p>

<p>The very positive reactions have made me decide to try to ad some more pictures</p>

<p>next picture</p><div></div>

<p>As a veteran I greatly appreciate these pictures. You did a great job. The people who keep that plot of ground have done marvelous work in achieving the simple majesty that you captured. Dick Arnold</p>

<p>1 picture cropped instead of size reduced</p><div></div>

<p>I have a long family history where grandfathers, father, and uncles served since WWII in various branches of the armed forces. I retired from the Air Force in 1996 and have experienced the loss of friends over the years that have served. It is not often that you find such and emotional image. Beautiful and well done capturing the care given to those that gave so we have. Thank you for sharing.</p>

<p>I cry every time i see these memorials to the brave men and women that have fallen to portect us all, no matter what country or side they are from. And the insanity of it all.</p>

<p>Mike you were given a wonderful gift to be able to shoot from a usally restricted area, and you used that gift well!! thank you for sharing</p>

<p>Nik</p>

<p>Mike "Thank You" !! I've already put it up ...... this version is perfect.<br>

There are not enough words in my vocabulary to express my Thanks for those that gave the ultimate sacrifice to their country.<br>

A big Thank You to you for wanting to take this type of pictures, so many people just pass the cemeteries by and nebver think about going in.<br>

phil b<br>

benton, ky</p>

<p>Some years ago I visited the Pacific Theatre battlefields on Guadalcanal and Pellelliu. Unfortunately at that time I was not so into photography and could not bring it home with me except of course as a memory that has never passed. It was a similarly a very moving experience. In many parts of the Pacific when the battle was over the armies moved on leaving the field of battle as it was at the end of the engagement, unlike Europe where the detritus and evidence of war was eventually hidden under rebuilt cities. In some places human remains still lay here and there in the jungle despite efforts to recover them for interment. I also visited the island of Ballalae where the Japanese used slave labour captured at Singapore to build a large airstrip - later bombed almost out of existence by the allies where I walked into the jungle to see thousands of bomb craters - now lily ponds. And of course I dived on a number of sunken Japanses and allied ships. Each of these events similarly had the ability to move observers, knowing that here men had died in conflict with each other.</p>