Vote For the January Cover

[JacobReichwein]

Re: Vote For the January Cover

#3 for sure.


Sorry Shaun :)

[Footslogger]

Re: Vote For the January Cover

Is it just me or is Old Cremona starting to look the spit of Old Reb Tom Yearby.
No3 got my vote by the way.

Steve Boulton
Volunteer Company Infantry (UK)
Lazy Jacks Mess

[Greg Barnett]

Re: Vote For the January Cover

Holiday Greetings,

Number 3 get my vote.

[coastaltrash]

Re: Vote For the January Cover

I voted #2.

[148sny]

Re: Vote For the January Cover

#3, what a great photo!!

Corey Gavette
148th NYVI Co. E
Son's of New York

[Linkstrap]

Re: Vote For the January Cover

I hate to 'go with the flow', but it's #3 for me!

[8thGA]

Re: Vote For the January Cover

Had to go with number 3...four days and nights of misquitoe bites was definately worth getting to pose for that shot.

[Eric Tipton]

Re: Vote For the January Cover

Folks:

There have been some messages floating around about the monthly selection of images. The main point that has been raised is that the discussions regarding "why" one image is deemed to be better than another is more interesting and stimulating than what number a person selects. Now, I always want to encourage participation in our monthly selection, so please don't take this the wrong way, but I tend to agree with the person who raised the point.

The gist of why we do this isn't to have a contest for the sake of having a contest. Reputedly, a good number of the people posting on "The Authentic Campaigner" have studied photos, read first-hand accounts and/or have seen original clothing, etc. This is the type of discussion we want to promote here on this site.

Originally, I had two goals in mind when starting this cover image, well, three. First, I wanted to show people who come to this site what a good impression looks like. Working with moderators, we came up with a procedure to do this. Second, I wanted to encourage people to understand, appreciate and learn what makes an "authentic" impression. Third, and maybe a little personal, I wanted to refute the image that is portrayed in Camp Chase as to what a reenactor is and what one looks like. That is personal for me, because I used to have to put up a crappy-ass picture every month when I worked on the Camp Chase web site. ;) I knew that there were excellent impressions out there, because I've seen them in the field, like most of us have.

Well, it is cool to see some good to excellent impressions - many of which are based on original images, soldiers or specific impressions, so I don't have to put up crappy-ass images any more. Anyone who saw the Camp Chase revolver up the cavalry soldier's nose knows what I am talking about.

So, now that I have rambled a bit, I ask you in the absence of a tight vote this month, why is image #3 clearly better in your minds than 1 or 2? What are some of the good and bad aspects of the photos? What makes #3 an "authentic" image?

End of rant. So, what do you really think about the images?

[Sherry Key]

Re: Vote For the January Cover

In keeping with Mr. Tipton's request (with which I heartily agree) I chose #3 because it just had that 'real' look about it. The placement of the people, the background, everything made you look twice to be sure it was a staged image and not the real deal.

To be fair they were all great as usual. I really liked #2 but something about the pose just didn't work for me.

I am not nearly as versed in period images as I would like to be so others viewpoints on the images would be very welcome.

Thanks to everyone for such great images.

Sherry Key.

[KathyBradford]

Re: Vote For the January Cover

Hagley Museum has an organ in their workers' house similar to the one in #2, and they explain that an organ was the instrument of choice over the piano during the 1860's. An organ was less expensive and thus affordable by many in the working class (still only $39 in the 1902 Sears Catalog). It was also considered more moral because organs were also played in church whereas pianos were played in saloons and places of lower moral standards.

Are there any music history folks who could chime in here?

[Eric Tipton]

Re: Vote For the January Cover

Sorry for the delay folks. I've been out of town and away from internet access over the New Year holiday.

Congratulations to Image #3 submitted by Patrick Rooney. That is about as large of a margin as we have had in this vote.

I'm going to keep this thread open as a change of pace. If possible, I'd like to hear a little more from those who submitted these images in terms of how they were inspired.

Thanks as always for everyone's participation and for those who submitted. I will have the new cover up very soon.

[FranklinGuardsNYSM]

Re: Vote For the January Cover

Eric -

Image #1 was our impression of the 11th NY "Fire Zouaves" as they would have appeared in the late spring of 1861.

By that point, they were in their second-issue uniforms, including dark blue trousers and red overshirts, apparently not of the firefighter/plastron-front style. While it's known that that type of shirt may have been initially worn with the uniform, it was likely a piece of the soldier's own wardrobe. There are accounts of them, once they were organized in the field, being issued red shirts. There is no mention of those shirts being anything particularly special, and the Castle Pinckney POW photos support this.

The kepis from the first-issue uniform remain on two of us, with the company letter and "1Z" insignia, based on the photographs of Francis Brownell of Co. A.

Our neckerchiefs are a common affectation of New York firemen, and one that was kept by some during their term of service, again based on the Castle Pinckney photos.

We were also going for the "our leader is dead, and we're eager for blood" mood -- the mourning band on my left arm and our glares represent the somber cloud that hung over the regiment after the death of Ellsworth -- without resorting to the "Chin-up Punk Rawker" pose, as Mr. Wickersty calls it, all-too-common in reenactor images.

The badge on my shirt is the 1860-pattern NY Fire Department Engine Company-style, worn by the regiment in large numbers into the field. So many, in fact, were lost in the field at Bull Run that the men were ordered to dispense with the practice of wearing them after that point. It is interesting to note that they appear in the Castle Pinckney photos, and thus were not confiscated by the Confederate captors.

[DougCooper]

Re: Vote For the January Cover

For me it was VERY close between 1 and 2, but I ultimately picked 2 because it simply looks the most like like an original, in every way.

[Sweet_Lil_yank]

Re: Vote For the January Cover

I'm a musical person, and I had always wanted an image done with one I play. I figured that day would be long down the road, since I don't get my image done very often. Plus, finding someone to loan me an antique french horn, flute, trumpet, etc. seemed pretty far out. After the 4th of July, a couple friends and I headed over to get our images done by our Terry Whittington for his event display board. Downstairs at the studio sat the antique pump organ. My grandmother had one just like it, I play it every year for Christmas. There's one at Quiet Valley Living History Farm where I worked over the summer, that I've sometimes played. As Kathy Bradford pointed out, the prime historical instrument of choice. *That* was my instrument. They'd never haul all that camera equipment down a flight of stairs for an image. The lighting wasn't right anyway. I held my tongue, and went upstairs to see how my friends were posing.

Standing? Sitting? Reading a book, maybe? Headshot? Leaning on a fist? Hundreds of originals I've seen danced through my head for inspiration. Who would be the lucky one?

My turn came. I couldn't bear it any longer. I mean, how cool would it be to have that pump organ....
I slowly started to ask Terry if it'd be possible to take the cameras downstairs to take an image with that organ. "No, the lighting isn't right downstairs," he told me, as my heart fell, "but we can take the organ upstairs!"

Terry told me he had been dying to take an image of someone on the organ. As a friend previously, he was thrilled to help me with my dream image. We arranged to take it the next day, calling in some reinforcements to help us with the moving.

It's not that easy to move an organ up a narrow flight of stairs. It took some time, but we finally did it. Terry ran around moving curtains and furniture. We tried a couple different poses and angles. With decorated hair net, without decorated hair net.

Two days before I had bought a really awesome pair of Robert Land shoes. One of a kind blue wool with black leather tips, made out of some scraps he found on the floor and tried to experiment. Of course, I needed to have at least one foot on the pump organ pedals, so now I could show off my cool shoes too. Once more, we played around with the lighting. Everyone kept saying how cool it'd be to see my shoes, nevermind how cool it was already that I was taking an image with a huge antique box we dragged up a flight of stairs. So we arranged the lighting to pick up my shoes. If you look closely, you can see the black tip of one.

The image I selected for here turned out to be my favorite of the experiments. The shoe was clearest, the lighting was the best, and the plate had a random shadowed circle from the camera. I don't usually submit photos for here (I rarely even have them done) but I felt that this one was worthy enough and I gave it a shot. That said, I had pretty heavy competition this time around, especially since I'm good friends with many people appearing in the other two images selected! If I hadn't ran, I don't know for which I would've voted!

That's my long story. Thank you Eric, for letting me tell it!

Regards,
Julie Herczeg

[Doug Secrist]

Re: Vote For the January Cover

Without a doubt, #3

Doug Secrist