Those other images



William Wells

          Photography is a very personal thing. It’s an art, a form of expression. The image is a reflection of the individual on the other side of the camera.

G.K. Warren

          Is the photographer organized? Is the image in focus? Are the settings, which yours truly calls, ‘the soup,’ accurate? Is the image framed well? The picture tells all.

          And the selection of subject matter can be very telling as well.

          The reader knows, from pervious blogs, that yours truly enjoys Civil War battlefield photography. Rather than collecting what are termed here the pretty shots of monuments and the like, your humble servant prefers to look for the viewpoints the soldiers might have had.

Union sniper monument

          Still, the monuments and markers are eye-catching and even this grumpy observer agrees that photographs of nicely-produced art (the monuments) can make for exciting pictures.

          Two images in this collection are among the most attractive at Gettysburg, General Warren on his rock at Little Round Top and the Union sniper near the Rose farm.

Minnesota monument at sunset

          Look at the sunset shot of the monument to a Minnesota unit at Gettysburg. The clouds just wouldn’t cooperate and they stayed too low on the horizon to allow for a really neat image. A bit more above the horizon and this would have been a nicer image.

          Lots of monuments allow the photographer to grab what can be termed a ‘star shot.’ Let some sunlight in through a small space near sunup or sundown, make sure the framing area has some irregular shapes and you’ve got a star shot. Make sure the soup is right: You have to meter with the right idea or you lose the effect. Prepare in advance because many locations have only a few minutes per morning or evening to get this type of shot.

Meade's star shot

          The image of Abner Doubleday, the Union general best known for not inventing baseball, came shortly after sunrise, a silhouette image. Doubleday is at the bottom of this blog. The image of General Meade on his horse, here, is a silhouette/star shot.

          A very nice monument located among the Round Tops at Gettysburg is the one dedicated to William Wells; a Union soldier awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions at Gettysburg. His image is at the top of this blog. Wells mustered out of the army in 1866, a steady stream of promotions behind him. His career is reflected well by his monument.

Mississippi monument

         

     The Mississippi state monument at Gettysburg is among the more interesting to photo because there are so many ways to look at the thing. The image here shows the detail produced by the artist that created the statue. You have to be impressed by the craftsmanship. A better photographer could write thousands of words about the image options with this piece of art.

    Thanks for reading.

Abner Doubleday