Photo of eagle on Fort Snelling gravestone touches hearts, goes viral

Star Tribune ^ | 5-26-15 | Jon Tevlin

[afraidfortherepublic]

Talk to anyone in my business and they'll all say the same thing: No matter how long you write stories and put them in the newspaper, you are never really sure which ones are going to strike a nerve.

What you think might be a Pulitzer-quality epic might draw only a nice call from Mom, while a simple tale tossed off on deadline causes an uproar, or an avalanche of praise. One legendary former investigative reporter at this paper wrote scores of stories that changed laws and saved lives, yet never did he get more mail than when he wrote about burying his cat.

And so it is with my June column on the amateur photographer, the widow and the eagle on a gravestone.

A quick recap: Amateur photographer Frank Glick was on his way to work when he drove through Fort Snelling National Cemetery early one morning. He spotted a bald eagle through the mist, perched on a gravestone, and snapped shots with his aging but ever-present camera.

Nice shot, he thought.

An acquaintance saw the photo and suggested that he see if the deceased soldier had any living relatives who might want it. Indeed, Maurice Ruch's widow was alive and well and delighted to receive a copy of the eagle watching over her beloved husband.

Glick's friend called me. Nice story, I thought.

Then it began.

Mail and calls from Minnesota, then Chicago, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina and finally, Afghanistan. The picture and story had gone viral. I noticed 11,000 people had recommended it on Facebook. I forwarded scores and scores of requests for reprints to Glick. Unfortunately, he had become ill and has been in the hospital off and on since the column ran. Mail piled up. (To reach Glick about the photo, e-mail him at liketophoto@yahoo.com.)

[afraidfortherepublic]

[databoss]

nice sentiment ...but total photoshop job

[AppyPappy]

Thought so as well.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Read the whole article. The photographer says that it is NOT photoshop. He took 90 shots that day. He says if he were to use photoshop, he would have moved the eagle’s tail to reveal the name.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Read the whole article. The photographer says that it is NOT photoshop.

[MeshugeMikey]

It appears that this photo has gone viral at least once before.

iThe Photo is unforgetable

Immediately on opening this thread I remembered seeing that image before.

http://www.startribune.com/the-eagle-couldn-t-have-picked-a-better-person/124543223/

Its good to see it again,

Thanks!

[A CA Guy]

Somehow I don’t think they died for gay marriage, open borders for illegals, abortion on demand or would have stood for any of us calling terrorist just unemployed innocents.
Inspiring in their sacrifice and I look at that and at the same time am sad to see how low this nation has gone.

[kidd]

I grew up about two miles from this cemetery.

There is a large wildlife refuge adjacent to the cemetery (although the eagle would’ve had to fly over I-494 to get to the cemetery).

Entirely plausible that this was not photoshopped.

[Jane Long]

Thank you, both, for posting this story...and the supplement story :)
Just beautiful.

[MeshugeMikey]

Here...I performed a few quick alterations using photoshop..a slight adjustment in light values...and a subtle blurring...on the edges of the image of the eagle..in the inage on the right

The Photo on the left remains untouched

I wanted to match the amount of out of focus" blur of the surrounding items...at that particular distance, as closely as possible

Id say that theres a pretty good chance that the eagle was pasted into the photograph as posted

[toast]

It’s not photoshop.
I live about 15 minutes away from Ft. Snelling.
It is next to the Mississippi river and during the early spring there are a lot of eagles in the area.
The guy said he took plenty of crappy shots before getting the good one.

[Kirkwood]

Lots of eagle food hopping around in cemeteries. When I was in college I would see an eagle every morning before sunrise sitting on the corner of the dorm looking to snag a freshman crossing the quad.

[MeshugeMikey]

Youre most welcome.

Whether tje image was manipulated and how much is up for grabs...but it really isnt of primary importance

Most important..... is the image and what it CONVEYS!

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

See my profile.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Nope.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

First posted in 2011

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?SX=55645b93756f19432f5990479d5ad084ccd469fe;m=all;o=time;q=deep;s=eagle%20fort%20snelling;t=-1

[FlipWilson]

“Most important..... is the image and what it CONVEYS!”

Yes, true. But should we be in the “fake but accurate” business?

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks afraidfortherepublic.

[MeshugeMikey]

Photography is an art and a craft.

If the photgrapher faked it and lied about ot it says far more about him than it does about the final image.

If he'd "pasted" an image of an eagle not present at the site of the photograph of the cemetery and presented it as a "work of art" even going so far as to communicate that fact.. there would be no controversy.

the Art as art stands...

For Example:

Barack Obama was not present in front of the depression era check cashing "store" as conveyed here. This image was purposfully "crafted" to convey a concept.

If the Photographer used a similar technique in "manufacturing" the photo he presented it would not bother me in the least in terms of whats CONVEYED un the image. He says he did not.

I have lots of experience with similar "operations" and frankly Im not certain.

[Mathews]

Nope. I saw the other photos he took that day from different angles. Right place at the new right time...