Shooting a Civil War Reenactment

Last week, I wrote about two upcoming Civil War reenactments in my community, the Battles of Sunshine Church and Griswoldville. Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to photograph both reenactments and other events surrounding them. It was a great opportunity to get in close to historically accurate reenactors, practice shooting in some very challenging circumstances, and learn some valuable lessons from comical mistakes.

On Saturday, I got up early to take advantage of some very nice morning light. The reenactors were conducting inspections and drills. There were authentic camps surrounding the battlefield, offering some great opportunities to shoot a number of kids in period dress. I’m still learning my new 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto. In the morning light, narrow depth of field portraits of reenactors and family were plentiful. But the kids were my favorite, especially when I could catch them from a distance without them noticing me.

At some point during the morning, I was invited to be ”embedded” with the troops during the afternoon battle. So I put on a hot wool confederate outfit, complete with floppy hat, and set out to find a place to hide from the crowd out on the battlefield. I was also given a escort by the event coordinators. I’m certain his function solely to ensure I didn’t do anything stupid and get myself beheaded by a cannon or run through by a bayonet. We selected two “blinds” to shoot from and hunkered down for the battle to begin.

Early in the Battle of Sunshine Church, which the Confederates won, I realized just how challenging the photography was going to be. I was set up in the edge of a fairly dense stand of hardwood trees, and the shadows from the midday sun were deep. Out in front of me, the remainder of the battlefield was in full sunlight. To make matters worse, in the background, from practically every angle, were rows of spectators. I suppose this is where professionalism comes in. Time to get creative and make lemonade.

Soon after the battle started, my “guide” and I decided to move from the first blind to the second. Wanting to travel light and assuming that we would quickly return, I left my camera bag contain the rest of my lenses, armed only with one DSLR and the aforementioned 70-200mm 2.8. Save the troublesome lighting challenge, I was in a pretty good spot to shoot over the heads of a line of Union soldiers as they fired at Confederate troops advancing toward us. But the Union troops were in deep shadow and the southern soldiers were in very bright sunlight directly overhead. To make matters worse, gunsmoke from from the rifles and cannon quickly spread across the area, totally confusing my camera’s exposure meter.The final insult to my photographic skills, or lack thereof, came when the Union troops retreated to and then beyond my position. As quickly as they pulled behind me, the Confederate troops overran us, crowding to within four or five feet, quite the challenge with only one lens with a minimal focal range of 3.5 feet. I laid back in a tangle of vines and poison ivy, ignoring the fireants, and tried to find some creative close-ups, longing for the camera bag I could see, but could not reach.

The second day, the Battle of Griswoldville, proved a little less stressful. The Griswoldville battle is significant only in that it was the last resistance faced by Sherman on his March to the Sea. And resistance is a bit of an overstatement. The Confederate force was made up of local Georgia militia, mostly young boys and old men. They were virtually annihilated by the regular Union forces. I shot from the base of the hill covered with spectators and got a few really good shots, despite the bright sunlight.

Overall, it was a really fun weekend. I shot nearly 1,000 frames and got a couple hundred nice images, some of which I hope will either be published or sold. Regardless of the images, the most valuable thing was the experience of learning to never leave gear behind and to think ahead. For now, I’m still processing photos and hoping I get the opportunity again next year so that I can put some of these lessons to work.