A man, a battlefield and time to see it

Across the valley in front of this cannon is the Lutheran Seminary, which
you can see by looking for the steeple-like structure in the center of the image.

               

          Today was a busy day on the battlefield here at Gettysburg, two shifts with time off in the middle to avoid the worst of the heat. There was a big storm here last night, a real windbag that knocked down trees and at least one monument in the battlefield park. We did not notice much of the storm in our hotel room, except for two momentary power losses.

          Out the door at 7:30 this morning and off to the location of the big Peace Monument on Oak Hill. This was really the kickoff area for the heavy fighting on July 1, 1863. I was there earlier this week but I spent time by myself today with a map and the Nikon, not to mention the compass my son and daughter gave me some years back.

          From where I stood today you can see a valley to your left, where one

Monument to Iron
Brigade near
Willoughby Run.

Confederate force rolled into the fight that morning. You look to your right to see where another group of Confeds headed toward the fight. Looking more or less straight ahead shows you where the Federal army intercepted those forces.

          If you use the Lutheran Seminary for an aiming point, you can see the direction the Confeds where headed. The Union guys actually headed there first, but they were retreating and couldn’t take the time to enjoy the view.

          I drove down to the railroad cut, where a lot of soldiers on both sides lost their lives. I was following a map and some notes I had taken during an earlier tour and, since I have a few hundred frames shot inside the cut, I did not shoot there today.

Willoughby Run #1.

          Eventually I made it over to the Willoughby Run area where I watched very carefully for poison ivy, poison oak and poison snakes. Seeing none, I shot a few images of the Run. I was not sure which I liked best and I have included two for you readers to observe and rate. I also paused to record the monument to the Iron Brigade as seen here.

          I made several other stops without recording images, as I have shot those

Willoughby Run #2.

areas on previous visits and today was mostly about the history.

          This afternoon was mostly about recording a sunset image. I decided to try using the monument to the 72^nd Pennsylvania Infantry, which faces mostly West along the famed Cemetery Ridge section of the park.

          The monument had been through a tough night. It was knocked from its perch by the high winds. The amazing National Park Service staff was on the ball and a crane lifted the heavy statue off the ground and back up in the air early in the day.

          I tried to hide the fact that the rifle the soldier holds was bent when the statue

Bent rifle #1.

crashed to the ground overnight, but you can notice it if you really try.

          I’ve been coming to Gettysburg for five years and tonight’s conditions were the best I’ve seen at sundown. I used my new tripod (a gift from Mrs. Leeway), my monopod (which I call my pogo stick) and two lenses during the three hours I was on station.

It turns out that, in Pennsylvania, when you see dark clouds heading for the western sky in order to give you a chance for nice sunset images, the clouds frequently drop raindrops on your head as a sort of revenge for withholding a share of the royalties from the big money earned from the photo shoot.

I will admit to sitting in the car during the rain shower, but that was mostly to

Bent rifle #2.

 protect the photo equipment. The shower was that oddest of things, a warm rain.

I’ve included three images of the monument to the 72^nd here. They are all fun and slightly different.

While shooting these sure-to-be award winning photographs, I was joined by another photog and we chatted as we moved around the area. I mentioned my years as an assistant photography instructor and he asked, “Well, are we doing this right?”

I replied, “I said I was an assistant instructor,” and he laughed. Clearly, it was my line of the day.

Bent rifle #3.

Tomorrow calls for a visit to the Visitor Center bookstore, a drive down Seminary Ridge and, eventually, some time on Little Round Top with General Warren. My Nikon and I visit the General anytime we are in Gettysburg.

I visited the 20^th Maine portion of Little Round Top last week and I was angered by the addition of asphalt to that area. I wrote an angry blog about the asphalt addition, which I eventually deleted. I’ll spend my time elsewhere on LRT in the future.

 

           I hope you enjoy these images. Thanks for reading.