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Dear Subscriber,
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War.
There is renewed interest in all aspects of this great conflict.
I personally took photographs of Civil War sites and memorial parks in and around Washington this summer.
I thought I'd share these and other photos with you and offer suggestions you can use in your own photography.
I hope you'll find these tips useful.
Dale
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 Statues, Plaques and Works of Art
Washington:
In and around Civil War and other battlefields you'll find patriotic statuary commemorating the conflict.
You'll see some of the most impressive Civil War statues in Washington D.C.
Magnificent monuments to the Union soldiers who fought in the war are right in front of the Capitol Building.
I used both the telephoto and wide angle capabilities of my camera to capture the drama of this statue from different angles.
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Arlington:
There is a small Confederate section in the Arlington National Cemetery.
 | Daughters of the
Confederacy Monument |
An impressive statue in the center of the Confederate graves has bas-reliefs wrapped around it that illustrate the Southern view of the war and the sacrifices made by its soldiers.
Some of the more interesting images, to me, were depictions of the relationships of the rebel soldiers...and their children...to their slaves.
Here a soldier marching off to war hands his
 | A Father Leaves His Children
With A Trusted Slave |
youngest child to their Nanny, while a small child clings to the skirt of the slave woman who she obviously loves as a mother.
On the other side of the monument is a black soldier who is fighting for the Southern Cause.
This plaque may explain why these rebels fought and died for a losing cause.
This was a war of contradictions. Fathers against sons...brother fighting brother ... and slaves often joining their masters against the army that would set them free.
At the same time, tens of thousands of freed slaves fought for the freedom of their brethren on the Union side.
In Richmond:
A stature of Robert E. Lee is prominent in the Virginia State House. He shares the hall with statues of other great Virginians, Washington and Jefferson.
Abraham Lincoln visited Richmond with his son, Tad, at the end of the war. This life-size statue commemorates their visit to the Confederate Armory.
My personal opinion on the Civil War ... for what it's worth ... is that there was no one right or wrong (except slavery.) This was a conflict where human beings on each side fought and sacrificed to protect their principles and way of life.
After 150 years our nation is still being molded by the results of this great conflict.
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Color vs. Black & White...Digital vs. Film
The pictures taken during the Civil War were all shot in black and white, often with sepia or other toning.
 | Shot on Color Film; Transferred
as B&W to Picture CD |
I suggest mixing color and B&W photos in your collection. (In our lab we can convert any digital or film image to black and white on request.)
Most of us these days are shooting digitally.
But, film has a unique look and tonality that is closer to the battlefield photographs taken during the war.
So, consider taking your old 35mm SLR out of the closet and using it for at least some of your pictures. (We process both print and slide films, plus B&W.)
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History Knows No Borders
The tips I've shared in this newsletter can be applied to nearly any country in the world.
The wars may be different. But there's a visual, photographic story in each. As horrible as wars are, they often bring forth the nobility of the human spirit.
That's why nations enshrine their battlefields and memorialize their fallen.
As photographers we can show their stories with our pictures.
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I hope you'll consider our laboratory when you want to make your prints.*
The technicians in our laboratory's family bring together the best of Southern ingenuity and Yankee craftsmanship ... with the most advanced technology in America.
We'll correct each print to perfection and treat your pictures as we would our own.
You snap the pictures ... we'll do the rest!
Best wishes,
Dale
Dale Farkas
President, iPrints.com & iPrintsPro.com
(Online services of Dale Laboratories)
Questions? Call (800) 327-1776. We're here to help!
P.S. May I ask for your feedback and comments on this newsletter? I've diverged a bit from just giving photographic tips to including my other favorite hobby, the study of history. Please email your suggestions, pro or con, to info@dalelabs.com. Your opinion will guide me on future newsletters.
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A unique perspective on the Civil War is provided by Professors Alan Kraut and Edward Smith at American University's Civil War Institute. If you have any interest in learning what the Civil War was all about, I would recommend you join next summer's Institute.
Photos of Civil War reenactments came from Dreamstime.com.
*Postal delivery of prints shipped from our laboratory is fast and reliable. We print online iPrints.com orders the day we receive them and ship to customers from Monday - Friday. You can expect your prints to be delivered anywhere in the United States in from 2 - 4 days.
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