Civil War Horse and Rider

[jimhobson]

O.K., no more brave souls for hardcore? I guess I’ll be next.
Saturday, September 5, 2009. Old Museum Village. Civil War Reenactment.
My first thought was to shoot in digital. Three problems: IMO digital is too sharp, transition of tones too abrupt, I only have a 28-70 2.8 and 70-200 2.8 lens for digital and they are way too heavy to carry around all day. I’m still recovering from a chronic back injury.
I decided to shoot film, Tri-x at EI320, processed normal. Camera was an older Minolta 600si with a 70-210 f4 lens. I felt the film was smoother and less sharp to try and make it look old and in the right time period.
The rider (and horse) was in a gallop coming towards me, when the man on the left stepped out. I tried to capture the urgency of the rider, the interruption of the other man, and the agitated horse.



So, how did I do?
Capture the era?
Capture the moment?
If you were there, how would you handle it?
What would you do differently?
Any ideas or suggestions for the future?
Any errors?

I'll be away until Monday, so I won't be able to respond until then.

Attachments:

[john101477]

ummmm.... you cut off the front hooves...? seriously man, I am having issues finding fault. maybe if the image was larger but I kinda doubt it. It sorta looks like the right edge changes colors but that just makes it all the more real to me. The "soft" film really brings a touch of reality to me.

[OrcaBob]

If you have access to other re-enactors, it would really punch up the tension in the image to have a small group of footsoldiers in the background, bolting in one direction (in this case, to the direction the messenger is coming from), with rifles in hand. Maybe one foodsoldier yelling.

A bit of smoke or artificial fog blown into the scene would also add to the battlefield feel.

In the old board, we had a few faux Civil War shots that were enhanced to an incredible degree by adding a layer of weathering. I think they photographed a piece of paper with spilled coffee that dried in interesting ways, then used it as a transparent layer. The effect can be overdone, however.

[NCPhotoTrekker]

As far as giving the sense of age to the image, there are two things that I would suggest. First is to add a bit of vignetting to the corners, which will double as adding weight to the focal point of the shot. Second would be to use a grainier film, or add the grain in photoshop. This will also soften things a bit. Other than that, short of doing a bit of directing as Bob suggested the photograph works pretty well.

[Steve (FloppyDog)]

The two things about this photo that stand out to me are both related to framing. The subject is centered horizontally which inhibits this photo's ability to flow. Cropping out a bit of the right side of the photo thus giving some space in front of the horse might add a bit of movement. The second is what John mentioned regarding the horses hooves. It's almost an ankle chop. (almost) I'm not sure at this point if this is fixable (depending on it this is a cropped version), but you may be able to re-size your photo a bit to give a bit of room at the bottom.

On the flip-side: As mentioned, this photo really works as is. I also like your film choice (long time Tri-x user here) which is clearly perfect for this type of photography adding the right balance of softness and grain. All too often, I see people trying every plug-in under the sun to make a digital photo look authentically aged. And all too often, they just end up with another digital photo that somebody tried to make look old.

I'd second what Greg suggested about adding some vignetting, but not sure about adding more grain. Hmmm

[NCPhotoTrekker]

I was looking on a very bad laptop monitor, and really couldn't make out the grain all that well. It is a bit grainier on my "real" monitor, and looks better here. I withdraw my comment on the grain.

[jimhobson]

ncphototrekker: don't withdrawn the grain comment. Usually I get more grain, but I processed in T-max for the first time. I'm not happy either with the lack of it. I did vignette. I was afraid of too much. A thought for next time I print it.

john: cut off the hooves! lol. I didn't see that until after I posted. Checked the neg. No hooves. My photoshop exp. is limited at best. Maybe I can put dust down there.

floppy: I see now it's too centered. I have room to the left and right. I feel another printing coming on.

Orcabob: I shot the horse running towards me. Three or four shots. Then the rider stopped and I tried to grab the shot. I really can't set up the shots. Don't have any pull with these people. How I wish I could!
Spilled coffee, now there is something to try! Great idea!

Thanks all for your opinions. Back to the drawing board.