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Fairly early on, one of the questions that was asked was "How do we visually record a moving event in a Howling Wilderness"
While the first answer is "Wetplate, of course"--well, that is not always easy or fair. Our wetplate fellers in this hobby have to make a living too. There was a bang-bang shoot-em-up Shiloh Not at Shiloh Not On the Date of Shiloh held at Miche, Tennessee on the same date as this event.
We regarded it as unfair for us to ask these fine dedicated men to forego a much possible larger income to feed and support their families, in order to record an army that was here, gone, as quickly as smoke. Then there was the additional burden of hauling delicate equipment through rough territory.
Our first fall back was our own Mr. Morgan, who years ago set a modern high speed camera inside a period box and legs, and could go through all the motions of making a wet plate, without the delicacy of work, and could still also take a high speed or panoramic photograph without being obtrusive. Sudden life-threatening illness necessitated 2 surgeries in the weeks just before the event. We thank Kind Providence that he is now believed to be whole and healthy.
And thus, the fall back left two choices--make do, do without.
We'd seen the saddness of absolutely no images existing of Brown's Stand three years ago, and wanted to avoid that in a week long event.
The only solution was modern cameras, used as unobtusively as possible. I believe it worked well, though I arrived home with the sure knowledge that I took exactly one picture, and have 5 unsued rolls of film in my case.
I continue to take pictures with my mind, reinforcing them, strong and true, turning them over in the night when old bones will not let me sleep. But those images cannot show others what we have seen.
Here, then are some of them.
While the first answer is "Wetplate, of course"--well, that is not always easy or fair. Our wetplate fellers in this hobby have to make a living too. There was a bang-bang shoot-em-up Shiloh Not at Shiloh Not On the Date of Shiloh held at Miche, Tennessee on the same date as this event.
We regarded it as unfair for us to ask these fine dedicated men to forego a much possible larger income to feed and support their families, in order to record an army that was here, gone, as quickly as smoke. Then there was the additional burden of hauling delicate equipment through rough territory.
Our first fall back was our own Mr. Morgan, who years ago set a modern high speed camera inside a period box and legs, and could go through all the motions of making a wet plate, without the delicacy of work, and could still also take a high speed or panoramic photograph without being obtrusive. Sudden life-threatening illness necessitated 2 surgeries in the weeks just before the event. We thank Kind Providence that he is now believed to be whole and healthy.
And thus, the fall back left two choices--make do, do without.
We'd seen the saddness of absolutely no images existing of Brown's Stand three years ago, and wanted to avoid that in a week long event.
The only solution was modern cameras, used as unobtusively as possible. I believe it worked well, though I arrived home with the sure knowledge that I took exactly one picture, and have 5 unsued rolls of film in my case.
I continue to take pictures with my mind, reinforcing them, strong and true, turning them over in the night when old bones will not let me sleep. But those images cannot show others what we have seen.
Here, then are some of them.
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