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.