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photographer’s complete appendix Chris Heisey 1. prologue: the photographer (1863). Dead Confederate Soldier, Devil’s Den Alexander Gardner and his assistant Timothy O’Sullivan took this image on July 6, 1863. The Confederate soldier may well be John Rutherford Ash of the Second Georgia, killed on July 2. I. THE FIRST DAY. Union General John Buford Monument, Chambersburg Pike This cirrus cloud–laden sky provided the perfect backdrop to capture the Buford monument as the sun set on the cool, breezy evening of June 24, 2015. 2. carolina. Twenty-Fourth Michigan Monument, Herbst’s Woods On average, the first snow in Gettysburg each winter occurs on December 10, and on that date in 2013, this wet snow beautifully pasted the monument to the Twenty-Fourth Michigan, of the Iron Brigade. 3. incident. McPherson’s Barn and soybean field, Chambersburg Pike Rural lands surrounding the town of Gettysburg are still farmed much as they were in 1863. In front of McPherson’s Barn, where the battle’s first day of fighting happened on July 1, this soybean field along Chambersburg Pike turns a tender shade of yellow. 4. What is truth? McPherson’s Ridge The morning of February 18, 2018, was a particularly frigid one. The camera equipment for most of my Civil War battlefield photography work consists of a Nikon D810 camera body with a 17–35 mm f2.8 lens, mounted on a Gitzo tripod. In addition, I use a handcrafted Singh-Ray LB polarizing filter affixed to my lens to help lessen glare and provide contrast to the image. 5. one art. The Railroad Cut In early autumn, Gettysburg is often smothered in fog as longer evenings cool the air while the ground is still warm. In my photo bag, I also have a 70–200 mm f2.8 lens, which helps me compress the landscape visually to provide a narrower field of view, as seen here. I occasionally use a Tamron 150–600 mm f6.3 lens to magnify a landscape for a compelling perspective. I use this lens for wildlife photography too, another passion of mine. 6. the musician. Generals Buford and Reynolds Monuments, Chambersburg Pike Shadow play at Gettysburg is one of the more intriguing aspects of photographing at the park, with its hundreds of monuments. In summer, as in this image of General Buford’s shadow, the long twilight hours offer various oppor- tunities to pursue creative compositions using shadows to add mood and drama. 7. the singer. Sixth Wisconsin, the Railroad Cut September 26, 2018, was one of the foggiest mornings that I have ever experienced at Gettysburg. I had to wait for the fog to lift some before I was able to shoot. 8. blood trail. Virginia worm fence, Trostle Farm One of my favorite regions of the battlefield is the environs around the Trostle Farm. My mother’s maiden name was Trostle, and family lore has it that we are descended from the Abraham Trostle family who farmed the fertile fields south of the town. 9. ’stang. General John Reynolds’s death site Often the best time to photograph autumn foliage is when it is raining, because the bright sun shining clear tends to create shadow and glare, which diminish color saturation. 10. the forester. Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary reflection After an August thunderstorm, a simple puddle provides the perfect lens for the Lutheran Seminary and famous cupola to be reflected. It took me more than an hour to shoot this image, as a stiff northwest wind constantly blew, rippling the water and thus ruining the reflection, which required stillness. 11. a mighty Fortress. Martin Luther Monument, Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary One of my favorite times to photograph at Gettysburg is when freezing rain pours into subfreezing air, transforming familiar sculptures into ice-dripping art forms. 12. shame. Union General Oliver Otis Howard Monument, East Cemetery Hill March 5, 2015, dawned with blizzard conditions. Bad weather is often good weather for taking memorable images. With my 150–600 mm lens zoomed to 600, mounted on a tripod, and weighted with my belt wrapped around the tripod to prevent shake in the howling wind, I was able to use a 1 second exposure to blur the snow for the effect of movement. This is one of my favorite images ever shot, given the conditions and machinations required. 13. iverson’s pits (1927). Eternal Light Peace Memorial, Oak Ridge This October 1, 2017, image depicts the warm, glowing light that was directly in contrast to the 34-degree air temperature. 14. courage. Virginia Memorial, Seminary Ridge One of my favorite monuments at Gettysburg to photograph depicts seven common citizens who served as soldiers in Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. This pistol-wielding young man represents an artist-turned-warrior. 15. the music teacher. First Regiment Eastern Shore Maryland Monument, Culp’s Hill Photography means writing with light, and light is always changing. 16. barloW’s knoll. Union General Francis Barlow Monument Barlow’s Knoll, on the eastern fringe of the battlefield, is an especially poignant spot to witness a sunrise. The exposed hilltop also offered a unique opportunity to capture snow freezing to monuments in early April 2018. 17. almshouse. Graves, Almshouse Cemetery This image was taken on March 21, 2018, the vernal equinox. More than 18 inches of snow buried the battlefield, including the humble centuries-old tombstones where the Almshouse witnessed severe fighting on July 1, 1863. 18. stayin’ alive. Confederate Artillery, Oak Hill Sunrise during the summertime at Gettysburg occurs just after 5:30 a.m. The rising sun’s first rays splash onto Oak Hill and its accompanying ridge before any other location on the battlefield. First light is my favorite time of day to photograph on the battlefield. 19. peace light. Virginia worm fence, Eternal Peace Light Memorial, Oak Hill Rarely does the temperature drop below zero here—on average, just once a year—but when the mercury dips that low, the battlefield is usually a winter wonderland with photo opportunities abounding. After a light snow in Feb- ruary 2018, the heavens lit up at sunrise over the white-laden countryside. 20. orphan. Virginia worm fence and canola, McLean Farm Gettysburg’s greening fields are usually dotted with blooms of canola, or rapeseed, during the last week of April. Many of the better landscapes to shoot are far off the park roads, and hiking is required to reach the places that offer the essential elements of a landscape image. I try to find an interesting foreground as my first priority before I seek a compelling middle ground to combine with an appealing background. The technique of compositional layering has been employed by great landscape painters for hundreds of years and serves today’s photographer well. II. THE SECOND DAY. White-tailed deer skulls, Sherfy Farm One summer morning, I found this gruesome but also awesome reminder of how the living and dead are met on the battlefield. These two eight-point bucks in an obvious rutting battle somehow became entangled in a wire fence. They dragged themselves to the edge of a brook to get water as they were dying. This drama played out on the fields where Mississippians fought Pennsylvanians on the battle’s second day. 21. blood and Water. Cemetery Ridge, Codori Farm, Emmitsburg Road On a cool Columbus Day in October 2011, this field of wild sumac in its crimson peak offered the perfect fore- ground to capture the Codori Farm as the sunrise painted the sky with a crimson tinge of its own. I usually shoot my images with an ISO of 64 to lessen digital noise or grain, which gave me an exposure of 2 seconds at f16 (the f-stop needed to ensure enough sharpness or depth of field). Waiting for the whisper of wind to die took patience, which is not my virtue. 22. excelsior. Seventy-Third New York Monument, Excelsior Field In early summer, thunderstorms often lash the battlefield just before sunset after a day of heat and humidity. Yet the time to capture the battlefield in powerful light is the next morning, when the dying cumulonimbus thunderheads begin to crumble before their ominous character leaves for another day of withering heat. 23. carolina hell. Barley Field, Sherfy Farm, Excelsior Field My favorite part of the battlefield to explore and photograph is by far the southern end, where the battle’s second day of fighting occurred. Leadership decisions on both sides led to astounding casualties. 24. the old country. Union General Daniel Sickles’s wounding site, Trostle Farm The craft of photography has so many avenues to explore that allow one to grow as an artist. My favorite may be infrared photography, which captures light waves invisible to the human eye. I shoot these haunting images by screw- ing an infrared filter onto the front of my lens. You cannot see through the lens viewfinder with this filter, which is totally dark to block visible light and allow only infrared light waves to pass through. An exposure of 30–60 seconds is needed, and because you cannot use your camera’s internal light meter, the exposure is guesswork. This imagery makes green foliage, which is absorbing the sun’s radiation, or red light, appear white, and blue tends to go black. 25. sláinte Forever. Irish Brigade Monument, Rose Woods The fall of 2015 ranks as the best autumn I can remember in my thirty years of shooting at Gettysburg. The weather was dry and cool, the foliage colors were vibrant, and the many sunny mornings intensified the bold hues.
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