There are a few Civil War re-enactor events in my region, and I try to go to each. Earlier this month there was one at Ft. Sisseton, SD. I only took a 4x5 camera, a couple of early Petzval lenses (c.1845 Ross & c.1858 Derogy), and a bunch of film holders (FP4) and a couple of glass plate holders. I managed to get some shots of three guys dressed up as Union cavalry officers, and posed them by a field piece. Ironically, the three guys really ARE officers in the U.S. 7th Cavalry! There was a captain and two lieutenants, all three active duty! They are into the history of the unit. They gladly posed for me.
I shot two glass plates of them (ISO 2, 1s, f3.5 with 3 stops ND,) and two sheets of FP4 (ISO 125, 1s, f3.5, 10 stops ND). Only one plate came out; the other three were inserted into the holders reversed! All film shots were perfect, as was one of the plates! This is my second attempt at shooting dry plates, and I am very encouraged! I bought another box of 10 and will continue practicing for the bigger Civil War event in August, in Minnesota. It's a lot of fun doing this, and the guys loved the way the shot came out. I'll add I used the Derogy Petzval for both shots.
The plates were sent to Blue Moon for processing, and the film was sent to Citizen's Photo. I'm curious what caused the wrinkling of the emulsion on the plates? And, why is the image from the plate not as sharp as that from the film? I'm hoping the plates don't focus differently from what I see on the GG. The Derogy Petzval is about 5 inch FL, and was obviously made for quarter plate. I took the shot with the intention of cropping a lot of it off and just used the center.
Any comments or suggestions? I do love the look I'm getting. I'll take all the help I can get.
Kent in SD
Bookmarks