As Mark wrote earlier this week, we recently paid a quick visit to the Gettysburg Battlefield.  In my opinion, Civil War battlefield pictures pretty much demand a black and white effect of some sort.  The most common you’ll see is sepia tone, a mixture of rich brown tones that was very popular.  (Even though the sepia process wasn’t actually invented until the 1880s, long after the war.  Many of the original plates were reprinted after the war.)  The photos were usually fairly high contrast since the plates needed lots of light and long exposures, which meant they often shot in mid-day when the quality of light is worst.  To make the photos more “realistic,” I usually increase the contrast and keep the light harsh.

During the Civil War, the Confederate Army artillery battery had 4-6 guns.  Batteries were further divided into sections, each containing 2 guns.  The artillery re-enactors from Maryland represented one section.  The first image shows the smoke from the first round fired.  By the second round, the battlefield in front of the guns is obscured.  Imagine what occurred when the hundreds of cannons fired on those 3 days in July, in addition to the tens of thousands of muskets.

You can accomplish this look in Lightroom by using the preset for sepia in the Develop module (it’s on the left-hand side of the window).  You can further tweek the image to get the look you want in the HSL/Color/B&W adjustments (it’s on the right-hand side of the window).  Moving the sliders allows you to get the exact look you want.  Go ahead and move them around, and, remember, these are non-destructive changes that you allow you to return to the original image if you don’t like the results.

Selenium toning produces a silver-blue tint to the image and is less common because the real process was not as stable as sepia toning.  It still adds an old-time feel to the photo.  This is applied in the same manner as the sepia imitation, but using the selenium preset.

I had only one complaint about the Gettysburg trip.  On some of the monuments – this one is near the spot Reynolds was shot on 1 July, after opining that his position was too far from the Confederates to be dangerous – they list the body count using ditto marks!  What brainiac thought it was OK to use these marks on a war memorial?

Take a trip to a historic location near your home and  create your own “old” photos.

We started the morning in Georgetown, arriving early as usual, and snapping a few shots as we waited for the rest of the group to meet at the rally point.  There were about 35 walkers in our group. We even had Kathy, our buddy from the Reinventing a Boomer blog, join us while she was visiting her son; he came along, too.

We took a group photo and began our walk along the old Chesapeake and Ohio canal.  President John Quincy Adams ceremoniously began digging on 4 July 1828, and it was finally completed in 1850.  In Georgetown, you can take a short ride on the canal boat, still. 

We walked up M Street, with cameras snapping away in countless directions, making the tourists and locals wonder what was up.  You can see the group’s photostream here.  There are almost 200 photos there now, and photographers can add more until this weekend. 

After cooling off in a local establishment with some lovely stout, I went home for a cold shower, so I could be ready for the Warrenton evening walk.  The town of Warrenton is the county seat of Fauquier County and a town full of history from its 1810 incorporation.  We had a smaller group of about 20 folks, but had just as much fun.  For this walk, Mark and I limited ourselves to only one lens, the 105mm.  Besides constraining our views, it also meant we didn’t carry any heavy bags.  There was still plenty of heat and humidity to drain my reserves, but I managed to get a few more shots.  The walk ended at the ice cream stand (it was packed with overheated folks).  You can look at the Warrenton photostream here.

It was a long hot day, but I’d do it again next year.  Mark and I have participated in all three of the Worldwide Photowalks, and my only complaint is that Scott Kelby needs to move the date to a month that isn’t so hot.  Or, maybe, I need to join a walk in Alaska next year.  Anyone up for a roadtrip?

Photowalks have been happening for years, but they got more organized in the last few years as advances in the digital camera made photography much easier for everyone.  One of those who helped popularize the movement is Jeff Revell, one of us Northern Virginia boys.  Mark and I have had the pleasure of attending many walks organized by Jeff.  You can find out more about him and read his blog here.  Scott Kelby went along with Jeff, a few years back, and started up this Worldwide Photowalk thing, and it has grown larger every year.  Of course, as with everything Scott, there is the NAPP connection.  And, to add a touch of charity, t-shirt sales (optional) help support the Springs of Hope Orphanage, in Kenya. You need to be in on this one.

Photowalks are free and open to anyone, with any camera.  Beginners and seasoned pros will be there.  I’ve seen 1950s press cameras, 35mm film SLRs, point-and-shoots, camera phones, and modern digital SLRs.  You’ll spend a couple of hours and 1-2 miles of walking with other photographers (each walk is limited to 50).  Everyone shoots whatever they find interesting.  Usually, the ending point is a restaurant where we all meet and look at photos that our walk group took.  

As we’ve discussed in previous discussions of our personal photowalks, the goal is to get out and shoot things that you might not otherwise go after.  This is an excellent time to photograph things that challenge you.  If you need some help, you’ll have 50 friends there for advice.  You can shoot great shots that everyone likes, or be happy with your vision of something different.

So, sign up today, and mark your calendar.  You’ll have a great time; make some new photo connections;  and create some new photographs.  How can you go wrong?

We conned a work colleague, Steve, to go out at o’dark thirty to shoot photos with his new Nikon D90.  This was his first photowalk with his camera, and we wanted to give him plenty of subjects to shoot.  As usual, we inserted a theme to our shoot and a little internal photo contest between ourselves.  Steve was given no handicap for being the new guy – military guys don’t work that way.

“Hey, Steve, there’s a big building to your right that’s kinda famous.”  

Mark put his macro lens on his camera and started shooting close ups of the blossoms.  This brings to mind my easy answer to the question, “which camera is the best one to buy?”  Buy the one that your shooting buddies have.  You’ll get lots of free advice about the camera, and you can borrow accessories, like a lens you don’t have.  I loaned Steve my macro lens, so he could get in there closer to the petals.

Just to be different, I shot some pear blossoms.  You know some people just have to be ornery….

As I mentioned earlier, the Washington and Jefferson monuments can be seen from the tidal basin.  We all took shots of them, incorporating a few cherry blossoms, just to be sure to meet the theme requirements.  We all approached the subject differently – one of the benefits of shooting with others is the opportunity to see the many different ways a subject can be interpreted.

On our way out, I found this scene and grabbed a few shots.  Nothing terribly original, but pleasant nonetheless.

You need to get out there and use your camera in order to get photographs.  It doesn’t matter where you venture, just go shoot.  This was a fun little photo session for all three of us.  Off we went, to Arlington National Cemetery, scene of Mark’s most recent blog.    Steve took this final shot there with the cherry blossom theme still in mind.

Ybor City is a historic district in Tampa, founded as a company town for Cubans in the cigar trade.  After an hour long bus ride, we disembarked at the museum.  We had the privilege of watching Mr. Wallace Reyes and his wife, both Grand Master Cigar Makers (www.ybormuseum.org) work their magic.

There were 60 photographers; all overloaded with equipment traveling like a school of photographic piranha through the quiet streets.  Our next planned stop was to see the fantastic flamenco dancers over at the Columbia restaurant (www.columbiarestaurant.com).  Here is what the mob must have looked like to the 4 dancers.

Joe McNally had some really valuable insights into working with the subjects, putting them at ease before shoving lenses and a sea of flashes in their faces.  They danced and posed and posed and posed, demonstrating grace and patience with us all.  We moved over to the atrium and augmented the sky light with some other techniques.

After that we were cast loose on the streets for a couple of hours to chase the light.  As we will be in class all day, we will save those photos for another post.  Shooting crowds of people in conference rooms just isn’t likely to be that interesting.