The Civil War Reenactor

Period reenacting is a pastime enjoyed by a variety of people for a variety of reasons. Historians, campers, and people wanting to visit a simpler time make up the ranks, and all with varying levels of commitment to historical accuracy. Think about the Renaissance Faire. Here history  mixes with commercialism to provide visitors with an historical experience in a way that is financially sustainable by modern standards. Another group are the Buckskinners, who enjoy practicing the survival skills used by the trappers that followed in the footsteps of the Lewis and  Clark Expedition. Perhaps the best known are the Civil War Reenactors, who may take on the personas of members of  a specific group such as Mosby's Rangers, or a unit, such as the Confederate States Marines. 

My editor and I have long been casting about, looking for a reenactor living in the Journal's service area. I managed to make contact with Belmont resident David You, a cannoneer from the Confederate States Marines Artillery and Infantry Unit. We agreed to meet at Twin Pines Park in Belmont, and since we were on public property, decided to bring a minimum of period correct "props", settling on a simple tin cup, which happened to be made from stainless steel. He is dressed in period correct clothing and not a formal uniform, as the cash-starved South could not always provide clothing, shoes, and other accoutrements to all of its enlistees.

After walking about, we found a grove of tree stumps where the high-noon sunlight just skimmed the treetops and provided some accent lighting from high and behind. Front lighting was provided by a shoot-through umbrella and light stand combo. This kit is always in the trunk of my car for lighting shots that don't require a lot of complicated lighting. I positioned the light about three feet from my subject, just above my subject's eye level. You can see from the shadows on the right side of my subject's face that the light was very close to the lens axis.

Due to the angle of the sun, some flaring did occur, and you can see flare spots scattered about the upper portion of this frame. When I repositioned myself so the shadow of the umbrella shielded the front of the lens, the spots went away. Unfortunately, I was not able to duplicate the exact pose, and the CSA embossed on his belt buckle was not seen in subsequent images. And while I had asked for David to bring a cup, I forgot to bring some black coffee to fill it, although I doubt anybody would  have noticed that his cup was empty.

This diagram will give you a rough idea of the placement of the light in relation to my subject. The camera position is low enough to prevent the edge of the shoot-through umbrella from appearing in the frame. One problem with using shoot through umbrellas is that light can reflect back from the umbrella causing the image to lose varying levels of contrast. This could be prevented by using almost any softbox, but at the cost of having to carry a package much bulkier than a simple double-fold umbrella.  I will certainly make the effort to carry a softbox if the situation justifies it. But for portability, a simple double-fold shoot-through umbrella and a compact light stand just can't be beat.

Getting In The Mood: After I made the photo, I started playing around with converting it to sepia-toned photo that looked more "period correct". I found two on-line tutorials: One to recreate the sepia look, and one to create the feathered oval vignette that was so popular. After a few minutes of experimentation, I created this version of the first portrait. I may visit the technique again, as I would prefer the sepia coloration to be more pronounced. 

I enjoyed shooting this assignment. The simplicity of the setup gave me lots of time to get to know my subject, and produce a very nice image in a relatively short period of time. Digital imaging certainly simplifies the process because the instant playback allows the photographer to catch any mistakes in real time and reshoot the pose in a few seconds. And with the tools available in post production, it's easy to re-think the image, and just maybe create something more in step with the period look the photographer is trying to recreate.

David Ford At The Marsh Theater

  
I made this photograph at about 9:15am in a small community theater in the Mission district. I am usually wary about photographing in unfamiliar locations, especially in the Big City, so I purposely brought the minimum amount of equipment in case I was forced to park some distance away. It turns out that I was able to park by the theater's front door, a pleasant surprise. 

After chatting with Mr. Ford for a bit, we toured the two available stages where the photo might be made. In this theater there was a strong spotlight accentuating the center stage, along with some small lights I planned on using for atmosphere. I asked for a stool to give my subject something to sit on, and positioned it in the middle of the spotlight's beam. You can also see the EXIT sign in the background, something I wanted to include in the composition.

You can see the slight shadow cast at the edge of the stool. The key light was a speedlight with two magnetic grids plus a CTO (warming gel) mounted on a six-foot light stand. Theater lighting is often a mixture from several colored spotlights, and I felt the extra warmth would help minimize any cooling effects they might have on the subject. The lightstand was located a few feet to my left, and the flash angled up slightly to prevent light from overexposing the legs. 

This test shot shows the EXIT sign floating is space. I needed to put some additional light on the wall to help the viewer better understand the setting.

I also positioned my second (and last) speedlight on the floor to add some light into the corner. I did this so that the word EXIT wouldn't be levitating in space in the back of the frame. I had a second speedlight, so I started looking for some place to put.

As soon as Mr. Ford was placed on  his mark, I rotated his position slightly to eliminate the shine that appeared on the left side of his nose. The highlight on his left cheek was fine just where it was..He naturally dropped is right leg so his foot touched the floor, and I now had a way to conceal that second flash.

Since I had already established my shooting position, I placed the camera on the floor and walked past Mr. Ford and positioned the speedlight along an imaginary line starting from the camera and passing "through" Mr. Ford's leg. This completely hid the flash from the camera, and the light it provided gave me the visual context I needed.

Here's the final version. The accent light, placed behind Mr. Ford's right leg, remains completely hidden from the camera. Looking back, I can't help but wonder what I would/could have done if I carried a third flash. I certainly would have tried to brighten up the right side of the frame.Even a very small flash, like the FlashQ unit I carry on my morning walks, could have been set on the bar to provide a random spot of light. But sometimes there isn't enough time to improvise, and your efforts must be confined to staying wit the basics.

The Quest For A Better Cold Shoe

Stroboframe Cold Shoe. Buy yours here.

In The Beginning: Sometimes things become annoying far beyond their size or importance. Let's examine the humble cold shoe. Its mission is simple: Provide an attaching point for shoe-compatible accessories. This became more important when Strobist began advocating off-camera placement of radio-triggered speed-lights. Initially, many photographer simply used a plastic threaded speedlight base similar to the one included with Nikon speedlights. After a while, the cold shoes made by Stroboframe became the hot thing, in part because they incorporated a clamping mechanism to more securely retain the flash. Over the years I must have purchased over a dozen such shoes, the majority of which were Chinese knockoffs purchased for half the cost on eBay. 

The knockoffs, while inexpensive, had a habit of disassembling themselves when riding around in a camera bag. The retaining screw would loosen, allowing the components (2 tiny springs, a clamping foot, and the screw itself) to separate from the base. I can't recall the Stroboframe versions ever deconstructing in this manner. Havoc favores the lessor quality component.

Frio Cold Shoe. Buy yours here.

Next: One interesting variation came in the way from a company called Frio, and it addressed the retention issue in a novel way. It is made of tough, flexible plastic and features a retention tab that must be depressed before the flash can be removed. The fly in the ointment is the brass threaded insert for attaching the unit to a light stand or other 1/4 x 20 device. While the brass itself is sturdy enough, it appears to be press fit into the base of the shoe, which may lead to separation from the shoe itself. While I have never had that happen, it is possible. It has happened with the plastic cold shoes mounted on the Manfrotto Justin Clamps, and they have a similar metal to plastic juncture.

Anwenk Cold Shoe. Buy yours here.

A Better Solution? I recently found this cold shoe on Amazon. Branded under the name Anwenk, it appears to be machined from a single piece of metal with a small screw installed to prevent unsecured accessories from sliding forward, and off, the shoe. You can also see the threaded 1/4" X 20 threaded hole. Again, it's fabricated for a single chunk of metal, so there's nothing to pull out should he going get rough.

It is a tradeoff. The clamping action of the Stroboframe cold shoe is certainly secure so long as the clamping screw stays tight. As for the Frio, its only shortcoming is the possibility of the threaded brass insert being pulled from the shoe itself. But the Anwenk has a problem when using a speedlight that employs a retracting locking pin, which includes the Nikon SB 800 and SB 900 series. It has no provision to receive the locking pin when the user attempts to use the locking lever located on the flash foot. This probably applies to any shoe-mounted speedlight that does not use a knurled locking wheel on the shaft of the flash's foot. For me it's a  non-issue, as these shoes will be part of my traveling speedlight kit where all the speedlights use the old-fashioned knurled locking wheel.

I will eventually replace my knockoffs with this all-metal shoes. Somehow, it just feels more secure, and eliminates the occasional need to locate those tiny parts when one of the knockoffs throws a tantrum. Of course, I remembered to tighten down all screw-based retention systems before put things away, the the problem might just disappear.