The Heat of Battle

[Christopher Miller]

Here's one more photo from the Civil War reenactment, this time of the infantry fighting. I wasn't able to get as many good photos of the infantry fighting as I did of the cavalry because the infantry were further away from where I was, but I did get a few good ones.

I aged it with two of my own textures and four from Shadowhouse, "Aging Effects 3," "ScratchBox 1," "Rustic Plate," and "SM262010-3. " I also added some scratches with the brush tool and blurred the BG trees a bit.

[denise ippolito]

Christopher, I might evict the guy on the left that is on the edge of the border. I also like the way the vignette looks at the top. It seems more blended than at the bottom. I like the pano crop and the placement of the main guy.Nice textures and the aging looks authentic. Well done.

[Paul Lagasi]

The smoke adds such a realistic look to your recent images, your textures and excellent PP, really manke these look authentic...Well Done

[Christopher Miller]

Thanks, Paul and Denise. I appreciate your kind words. :)

Denise, I think the reason the vignette looks more blended on top is because the trees are darker than the grass. I darkened the bottom edge a bit here to make the vignette look more even. I also evicted the guy on the left edge.

[Jay Sheinfield]

Really like the repost.............great aging effect. Looks authentic!

[denise ippolito]

Looks great!:)

[Kerry Perkins]

Good job on the aging and capture of the action Christopher. It really looks like a Brady. Does it suggest a slight CCW rotation, or is it just my eyes?

[Christopher Miller]

Thanks a lot, everyone! Much appreciated.

I'm not sure whether it could use a little rotation, Kerry. I'll have to check that. The battlefield was on a hill making it kind of difficult to tell whether things are truly straight or not.

[Ken Childs]

Great job, Christopher! It looked good to begin with but the repost looks amazing!

[Anita Bower]

I like the second version better. Wonderful pp as always! I need some help understanding the scene itself. If this is a battle, why are there groups of soldiers in the background seemingly doing something else? Why are the soldiers all standing up, making themselves into targets? The enemy must be close as one soldier is using a pistol. Am I showing my ignorance? :o

[Christopher Miller]

Thanks Ken and Anita! I appreciate it.

No problem, Anita. It's hard to get a clear picture of the battle from just one photo. At the beginning of the battle, the Union infantry came out of the woods in the BG and formed up in front. Meanwhile, the Confederate infantry marched up from the left.

The Confederates then split into two groups, one group moving further up the hill(which sloped down towards the woods) while the second group stayed over on the left. So the soldiers in front here are some of the first group of Confederates as they were moving up the hill. Meanwhile the Union soldiers, who are in the BG here, are firing at the second group of Confederates which is outside the picture.

The reason the soldiers are standing up is because at the time of the Civil war the usual method of fighting was still to line up in long lines and blast away at each other.

I'm not really sure how close the Union and Confederates were here. As the battle progressed both sides got closer to each other until at the end they were at very close range.

Hope that helps. :)

[Anita Bower]

Thanks Ken and Anita! I appreciate it.

No problem, Anita. It's hard to get a clear picture of the battle from just one photo. At the beginning of the battle, the Union infantry came out of the woods in the BG and formed up in front. Meanwhile, the Confederate infantry marched up from the left.

The Confederates then split into two groups, one group moving further up the hill(which sloped down towards the woods) while the second group stayed over on the left. So the soldiers in front here are some of the first group of Confederates as they were moving up the hill. Meanwhile the Union soldiers, who are in the BG here, are firing at the second group of Confederates which is outside the picture.

The reason the soldiers are standing up is because at the time of the Civil war the usual method of fighting was still to line up in long lines and blast away at each other.

I'm not really sure how close the Union and Confederates were here. As the battle progressed both sides got closer to each other until at the end they were at very close range.

Hope that helps. :)

Thanks, Christopher. I guess I'd forgotten about lining up and fighting. I just finished reading "Flags or our Fathers," about Iwo Jima, where the landing was many times more horrendous than Normandy, and I'm grieving over lost lives. I find it difficult to truly appreciate war reenactments.

[Arthur Morris]

Well done. Looks like an 1863 image. On the need for rotation: some of the trees are angled suggesting the need for a CCW rotation while others look straight....

[Christopher Miller]

Thanks, Artie. :)