You never can tell

Frank Glick's photo at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

I always keep a camera in my truck. You never know when a good photo will come your way.

The story about the photo at right, taken by amateur photographer Frank Glick during an early morning drive through Fort Snelling National Cemetery on his way to work, is a touching one. As reported in Star Tribune columnist Jon Tevlin's column in June, Glick tracked down the widow of the World War II veteran on whose tombstone the eagle rests.

The photo spoke to her, and since Tevlin's column, the photo has spoken to hundreds of others. Glick, according to a follow-up story Tevlin wrote recently, has sent reprints of the photo to airbases, veterans affairs offices, Arlington National Cemetery, and a base in Afghanistan. All from a photo Glick captured while traveling from one place to another.

Unfortunately, in this day and age, the inevitable accusations of digital alteration (know by the inaccurate and, in my opinion evil, term "Photoshopping") have come into play. The bird is too big, some say. Others point out the sidelighting creating an aura around the bird. Glick reassured Tevlin the photo was not a fake (which is something he shouldn't have to do!), but rather the end result of 60 frames of shooting and a little cropping.

For a photo like this, that's all that's necessary.