Battle of First Manassas Reenactment

[pharris201]

Hi all -
I am planning on attending the Reenactment in July and was hoping there are others here who have shot these sort of reenactments and could offer any advice or tips.

Ive been to the site a few times scouting it and the area of the battle is "big". The fields stretch a half mile in either direction. The spectators are going to be confined to bleachers in a single area near the park headquarters. Action shots will be landscapes with small bodies. There are 15,000 reenactors coming and the charges my be dramatic. Thousands of soldiers moving out of the woods and across the field. If anyone has watched Ken Burn's PBS documentary will know.

There are also reenactor camps which will have abe totally period look. After studying Civil War images I found that most were taken in camps or hospitals. The battle images are paintings.

The equipment is a Canon T2i, 18-55 zoom, 75-200 zoom, 100 2.8 macro, speedlites 580 & 430. An assortment of tripods. I am renting a 100-400 mm Canon lens and my T2i will add the 1.6 effect so I feel I can get some medium closeups.

All of this started when a reenactor ppresentation was conducted in Washington, DC. I just happened to have my camera and asked if she would pose for me. The shot needed that vintage look and I started researching Photoshop sites and came up with these images. My plan is to apply similiar effects to the battle shots and see what happens.

Thanks for any advice or help.

Paul

[SwissJon]

I'm not huge fan of this kinda thing, but I can see how it would be a challenging photo shoot.

For an authentic look, take a look at turn of the century photos.. Very bad postures, usually over exposed where a flash was used, flash usually placed high and to the left of the camera (held in the cameramans left hand. ) flash is sharp (not diffuse) usually some movement blur, vignette because of the lens, softening slightly to the edges, softish photo..

Can't help with the battle scenes, watch a few movies of that kind of battle and see how it's shot.. You need smoke and things to give atmosphere, and smoke from the guns as they go off.. Maybe some long shots at F2.8 to get some bokeh

[pharris201]

Thanks Jon - The reenactments are a big deal in VA and PA and other areas where the fighting occurred. I was never a big fan either until I took the shots.

Your tip about the lighting is helpful. I had not considered the light direction. I went back to the photos Ive down loaded and yes, the light always seems to come rom the left and down. The shots I took we illuminated from a window behind me.

The only reenactment I went to had realism down to the smoke puffs and blasts.

It will be a challenge, but a project like this comes only once every 50 years. They have reenactments every year, but not on this scale. I've got an assistant (my 20 yo daughter) so I'm able to place flash off angle.

[Jim Bryant]

Paul,

When I lived in Pensacola, Fla. I would photograph the reenactment of the Battle of Mobile Bay at Ft. Morgan, outside of Mobile, Al. One year while producing a photofeature for the newspaper I got pretty much the run of the place and even got to sleep inside the fort.
Here's some photos I captured. Hope they give you an idea of what to look for and how I approached the coverage.

Battle for Ft. Morgan - Images | Jim Bryant Photography

[fantasmic2tek]

i work with a friend at Disney that does reenactments. He asked me to do some shots for his "Company" website. They are still on there today. That was two years ago. you can see the pictures on my website. 37th Alabama Regiment Battle for Townsend's Plantation at Renninger's is the one where some of the shots are from that are on the 37th Alabama website. This is one of my favorite shots. It was actually taken at a reenactment at Crystal River, Florida where I also shot a Civil War Wedding. Just remember if you want to be real authentic keep modern day things out of the picture. On some of my shots I was able to get out on the battlefield.

Best Shots - AFD Photography | SmugMug

[pharris201]

Those are great shots. I am hoping to get something similiar. Its going to be 4 years of sesquicentennial events throughout the southeast US so if this one doesn't make it I'll keep trying until Gettysburg.

Thanks for the input.

[SwissJon]

[QUOTE=fantasmic2tek;1264198]Just remember if you want to be real authentic keep modern day things out of the picture.QUOTE]

Good point.. Telegraph poles, parked cars and the like.. And take a look at photos from the time, maybe that will help:

Photography and the Civil War, 1861–1865 | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
CAMERA OBSCURA: The Art and History of Photography: The American Civil War Photography (1861-1865) - I
Photographers of the American Civil War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[pharris201]

Thanks Jon - Those sites are great examples of that vintage look. I've already learned my lesson about continuity in vintage pictures.
This was taken as a quick shot during a steeple chase this last spring.

[Jim Bryant]

After you take a quick shot, ask the subject if you can pose them in a not-so-cluttered, car-filled background.

[pharris201]

I attended another demonstration this weekend. I've hooked up with some of the reenactors to get a feel of what this will be like. They seem impressed with my take on the vintage look (which I'm still working to perfect). Anyone have any more tips?



Musket Demonstration



One of Jackson's 13 canons brought in from the west. In the background is Jackson's statue. It was in the location where he was "standing like a stone wall" Thus the name given.