IN THIS ISSUE
Tips on How to Take Pictures of Historic Battle and Event Reenactments

Capturing the Beauty of Memorial Parks

Using Statues and Art To Convey a Sense of History

Creative Photography in Cemeteries

Should You Use B&W and Film In Addition to Digital?


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Dear Subscriber,

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War.

There is renewed interest in all aspects of this great conflict.

I personally took photographs of Civil War sites and memorial parks in and around Washington this summer.

I thought I'd share these and other photos with you and offer suggestions you can use in your own photography.

I hope you'll find these tips useful.


Best regards,
Dale

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Taking Pictures At Battlefield Reenactments

Dedicated reenactors spend a lot of time and effort in perfecting their uniforms, battlefield skills and appearance.

The U.S. Parks Service does an excellent job in maintaining battlefield sites as national parks. So, reenactments can photographically be very close to the "real thing."

Here are some ideas on how to tell the story of some of history's greatest battles:

Show the big picture:

A General's View of a Battle

Scale is important. Stand at a distance or on a hill to photograph the full panorama of the reenacted battle.

Portraits add color and realism:





Many of the reenactors look like they've been transported through time. It's easy to capture their character, which comes through beautifully on photographs.







Illustrate the tedium:
 
Young boys served on both sides.



Civil War soldiers spent days, weeks or even months on long marches and campaigns.





Between battles troops lived and trained in and around tented camps.


 




Try to become part of that scene and take pictures that show the day-to-day life of an infantryman.







Show the colorful mix of uniforms:

Uniforms during the Civil War were anything but

Confederates Wore What They Could
uniform; especially for the Confederates.

Johnny Reb often marched shoeless and wore whatever scraps of clothing he could find. It was quite common for Confederates to don portions of blue uniforms taken from fallen Union soldiers.



Union soldiers had a wide variety of uniforms from their home state regiments.




This diversity is usually captured by the reenactors and can add a lot to your pictures.



Catch the details of camp life:





Items such as drums, weapons, tents and other implements of camp life can give your pictures an insightful look into the period.








Would you like to attend a reenactment?

http://www.sutler.net/eventlist.asp is a site that lists Civil War events by date throughout the U.S.
 
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Photograph Nature's Beauty As You Recall A Day That Altered the Course of History

Battlefields and beauty seem like contradictory concepts. Yet, many of the battles fought during the Civil War took place in some of America's most beautiful countryside.
Confederate troops marched on this road...

The Anteitam National Park is located in the midst of magnificent rolling hills and lush Maryland farms.

The Sunken Road Today

...to meet a Deadly Fate
200 Yards Away.










The corn fields and the gentle Anteitam Creek haven't changed much since the great battle in September of 1862. Somehow, it seems inconceivable that this peaceful landscape had been the scene of three continuous battles that killed or wounded more Americans in a single day than the Normandy invasion.

The Battle At Burnside's Bridge
The Bridge Today








Over a hundred thousand men marched into this beautiful land...and many did not march out.

As photographers we can still see what the soldiers of 1862 saw. We can record today's peaceful landscape in pictures. But, as we do, we should always remember the sacrifice of those who stood, fought and died on this hallowed land.

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Statues, Plaques and Works of Art

Washington:

In and around Civil War and other battlefields you'll find patriotic statuary commemorating the conflict.

You'll see some of the most impressive Civil War statues in Washington D.C.

Magnificent monuments to the Union soldiers who fought in the war are right in front of the Capitol Building.





I used both the telephoto and wide angle capabilities of my camera to capture the drama of this statue from different angles.

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Arlington:

There is a small Confederate section in the Arlington National Cemetery.

Daughters of the
Confederacy Monument

An impressive statue in the center of the Confederate graves has bas-reliefs wrapped around it that illustrate the Southern view of the war and the sacrifices made by its soldiers.

Some of the more interesting images, to me, were depictions of the relationships of the rebel soldiers...and their children...to their slaves.

Here a soldier marching off to war hands his
A Father Leaves His Children
With A Trusted Slave
youngest child to their Nanny, while a small child clings to the skirt of the slave woman who she obviously loves as a mother.

On the other side of the monument is a black soldier who is fighting for the Southern Cause.




This plaque may explain why these rebels fought and died for a losing cause.

This was a war of contradictions. Fathers against sons...brother fighting brother ... and slaves often joining their masters against the army that would set them free.

At the same time, tens of thousands of freed slaves fought for the freedom of their brethren on the Union side.

In Richmond:



A stature of Robert E. Lee is prominent in the Virginia State House. He shares the hall with statues of other great Virginians, Washington and Jefferson.






Abraham Lincoln visited Richmond with his son, Tad, at the end of the war. This life-size statue commemorates their visit to the Confederate Armory.



My personal opinion on the Civil War ... for what it's worth ... is that there was no one right or wrong (except slavery.) This was a conflict where human beings on each side fought and sacrificed to protect their principles and way of life.

After 150 years our nation is still being molded by the results of this great conflict.

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National and Civil War Cemeteries ... Honoring Departed Heroes In Pictures

The National Cemetery at Arlington is a magnificent monument to the fallen.

A View of Arlington & Washington From Arlington House
(Robert E. Lee's Plantation Home)




There is order, artistry and dignity everywhere in Arlington.





No nation could ever honor its heroic dead better than ours has done in Arlington.

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Many of the Confederacy's heroes are buried in the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.

Hollywood - The Cemetery of the Confederacy

I was struck by the random placement of the Confederate gravestones compared to those in Arlington.

I think this cemetery is truly representative of the Confederacy itself ... an amalgam of small states with an often rag-tag army ... that came together with a common cause.

Hollywood Cemetery is far less formal than Arlington. Visually, this imparts each soldier's grave with its own, special individuality.

Jefferson Davis' Tomb


Yet, both cemeteries ... though so very different in style ... have a quiet serenity befitting those who gave their last measure for their chosen countries.




The photographic techniques you're going to use in photographing cemeteries is the Rule of Thirds, perspective, design and contrasting visual elements. 

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Color vs. Black & White...Digital vs. Film

The pictures taken during the Civil War were all shot in black and white, often with sepia or other toning.

Shot on Color Film; Transferred
as B&W to Picture CD
I suggest mixing color and B&W  photos in your collection. (In our lab we can convert any digital or film image to black and white on request.)


Most of us these days are shooting digitally.

But, film has a unique look and tonality that is closer to the battlefield photographs taken during the war.

So, consider taking your old 35mm SLR out of the closet and using it for at least some of your pictures. (We process both print and slide films, plus B&W.)

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History Knows No Borders

The tips I've shared in this newsletter can be applied to nearly any country in the world.

The wars may be different. But there's a visual, photographic story in each. As horrible as wars are, they often bring forth the nobility of the human spirit.

That's why nations enshrine their battlefields and memorialize their fallen.

As photographers we can show their stories with our pictures.

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I hope you'll consider our laboratory when you want to make your prints.*

The technicians in our laboratory's family bring together the best of Southern ingenuity and Yankee craftsmanship ... with the most advanced technology in America.

We'll correct each print to perfection and treat your pictures as we would our own.

You snap the pictures ... we'll do the rest!
Best wishes,
Dale
Dale Farkas
President, iPrints.com & iPrintsPro.com
(Online services of Dale Laboratories)

Questions? Call (800) 327-1776. We're here to help!

 P.S. May I ask for your feedback and comments on this newsletter? I've diverged a bit from just giving photographic tips to including my other favorite hobby, the study of history. Please email your suggestions, pro or con, to info@dalelabs.com. Your opinion will guide me on future newsletters.
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A unique perspective on the Civil War is provided by Professors Alan Kraut and Edward Smith at American University's Civil War Institute. If you have any interest in learning what the Civil War was all about, I would recommend you join next summer's Institute.

Photos of Civil War reenactments came from Dreamstime.com.

*Postal delivery of prints shipped from our laboratory is fast and reliable. We print online iPrints.com orders the day we receive them and ship to customers from Monday - Friday. You can expect your prints to be delivered anywhere in the United States in from 2 - 4 days.