When photographing shiny stones, ie the shiny flat granite markers or the polished marble markers, keep in mind that the surface acts like a mirror and will reflect your image. I once took about 50 pictures and my lower legs and white shoes could clearly be seen in the pictures.

If it is a local cemetery look to see how the sun shines on the cemetery. Try and time your picture taking time when the sun shines on the stones. I have a picture in the photo lounge of a stone taken with direct sunlight , that is otherwise almost unreadable in regular light.

I have found that it takes better photos in the morning especially when graves face east. Also spring photos turn out better than the ones taken now. Rain seems to wash away debris that are on the slabs now.

I find that if I carry a cane seat with me or drive through the cemetery (car or scooter) my angle for the photo is better than if I try to stand and take photos. That also means that I can't take photos of the flat stones very well. Someone suggested that I take the flat stones standing at the top and then turn the photo around, but they look funny when I do that.

If there is a shiny grainy stone like this



It is much easier to read if I allow the surroundings to reflect into the surface of the stone like this



This is the opposite technique to using the shadows to show the inscriptions on stones that have a more matte surface and deeper inscriptions.

If a stone is shiny, as long as it isn't reflecting me, or my car or any other transient objects, but only surrounding stones or ground, then I don't worry about it too much as there's not much I can do about the other gravestones.

If you have a reasonably good camera, for those shiny black stones with colored pictures like this



standing well away from them works much better. That picture was taken from about 20 feet away. This picture is cropped in to show the stone among other stones - it doesn't show the whole distance away that I was standing.

That's where thinking ahead comes into play. For summer graving, I almost always wear my BDUs (Army camos), a dark shirt and grey or black shoes. These were lessen the impact of any reflection. Reflections with those colors are not going to scream at you the way bright red shorts, a white shirt or hot pink Crocs do...

The only problem with dark clothing on a hot day is that it is hotter inside it. I'd rather just stand so I'm not reflected in the marker.

Right!

I may be The Lady In Black, but I wear white or light colored shirts on hot days. Black jeans and black shoes, though.

And, I do the "hide behind the nearest monument" trick if I notice I'm in the photo when I'm lining up the shot. My car, however, doesn't always listen and sneaks into the shot (it is white) when I least expect it.

Material and style makes a lot of difference as to how hot/cold your clothing is. A friend of mine is a mail carrier who walks a route. In the summer, she wears long-sleeved but loose shirts as recommended by the USPS because the long sleeves will create air movement on your skin, thus keeping you cooler... I also believe attitude plays a part. It's hot in the summer and I'm going to be hot regardless of what I wear.

If not dark colors, muted light colors (like a light but drab green) will also be less noticeable in reflections.

I used to coach swimming and that meant that in the summer I was outside on a pool deck all day. I wore a hat, a loose white shirt with at least 3/4 sleeves (cotton), and long trousers. I was barefoot. I still got sun damaged skin on my neck and have had two melanomas removed. (one on my back and one on the front of my shin)

But it isn't just attitude. It's also general health and acclimatization. (I also used to do heat stress inspections for OSHA). If someone is accustomed to the heat, and takes precautions (sufficient water and not overdoing it), they probably won't have a problem. Pregnant women, obese people, old people, alcoholics etc are more susceptible to heat stress incidents. Once someone has had a heat stress incident they will be more apt to have another incident.

My son had a heat stress incident at 26. He has a lot of years ahead of him to always be careful.

People should be careful about heat stress anyhow. It is nothing to fool with.