Gettysburg is one of those rare towns that I can return to again and again and continue to enjoy with each visit. It seems there is always something new to explore and something old to revisit, and even though this made the third visit in 12 months, when I left I was glad for the time I’d had there, short though it was.
The draw of this particular weekend in November, which is making this an annual pilgrimage, is the Remembrance Day Parade. Although reenactors can nearly always be found somewhere in Gettysburg, this is one of the two weeks each year when the town is full of them (the other time being the anniversary of the battle itself).
The parade itself would be best shot with a full DSLR and a long lens; in fact, I spied one gentleman at the end of the parade route setup with just that gear, tripod mounted for ease of use over the hour or so that the parade lasts. From my own experience, 200mm is probably the shortest length you want on the long end. Unfortunately, this year I opted for ease of movement over quality of equipment and came armed with just the G10. Let me blunt; great little camera that it is, the G10 is not suitable for this kind of work.
First off, the focus speed is far too slow and it is nearly impossible to pick a focus point on-the-fly. Second, the max zoom is too short. And third, the burst speed is far too slow. I was able to get a handful of images that were good enough to bother posting on here, and a couple I’m even pleased with. But the simple fact is, a full SLR and telephoto lens would have worked much, much better.
The trick, as I finally figured it out, is to more or less forget about the masses of men marching down the street and instead use a long lens to focus in on an individual at a time. In each group there is at least one character, a reenactor who stands out from the others for his expression, costume, or attitude. For the best images, I think I’d need to isolate that character, which was nearly impossible with the setup I had with me, although these start to come close:
The other tip I have to remember for next year is to stand on the other side of the street. For the last two years, the group I’ve gone down with have insisted on standing so that we face the side of the street facing the McDonald’s and Chinese buffet, which make terrible backgrounds that I am constantly fighting to keep out of my shots. Which is stupid, since I could have crossed the street and shot back the other way, where my backdrop would have been an empty field with some trees – a much more natural setting altogether.
Therein lies the problem with taking a trip and trying to play tourist and photographer at the same time; divided attentions and purpose result in weaker images. I was luck with a few, but it frustrates me to know that I could have done better if I had been able to focus just on the images. That’s why there’s next year.
On a final note, I stuck with B&W for all the parade images; it helps hide the backgrounds, and it appeals to my historical aesthetics.
General Lee at the head of the Confederate troops.
