First route was to the authentic Confederate camps to find my ole buddies from North Carolina. I did not find them but found Stragglers partner at the entrance of the camps, always camping out under the stars without tent. Old pards. Talking with him, the regiments and companies were marching past for the parade ground. I fell in behind the horses and followed to the parade ground, catching up with my pals marching. Following the dedication ceremony I met the three in the Straggler camp by the corral. We talked awhile, of seeing a ghost and talking with him in a prior campaign at Gettysburg, of getting stuck near Ocean Pond this year trying to find the settlers camp, the park service pulling them out.
I bid adieu and roamed about, stopping here and there to take photographs. Most of the people I tried to take their name and give them a card. I even gave General Tom a card and told him there are several photographs he would truly like to see. I missed seeing the young Cason fellow this year who kept the General's horse, Beaureguard last year.
I was able to find the two ladies with children I photographed in Lake City on Saturday. They had again the little one year old boy dressed as a girl, a common practice in the period. I was able to take better photographs of them. I told them I enjoy more the ladies in the hoops and finery more than the men.
Who wouldn't? After nearing 500 frames, I knew that I needed to conserve battery since I had no spare.
I planted myself by my familiar pine where the soldiers line up and waited for the General to appear and do the sword ceremony. I was not disappointed. With the ranks three deep this year, it took quite a while to see all the troops marching past. It was impressive.
Again I took a direct path to the battle field and caught again the ranks coming up the trail. I then parked on the far left of the battle and spoke with the old commander, now resigned to guarding the fence, keeping spectators back. He was interesting in that he pointed out nuances. One being a blind re-enactor led by another seeing re-enactor. Sure enough, the battery died in the D3100 and I did not bring the D40 along, a bad move. I then used the Canon S100 point and shoot with the limited zoom.
After the Georgia flag was rallied down the line, I left early, as did the old commander. I was home by 3, a perfect weather day at Olustee. Not sure this year about the number of keepers out of nearly 600 frames.
Some days you have it, others you just seem to struggle with exposure and stuff. I sure could have used the D7000 I had earlier in the year. It was usually spot on with the exposure, without having to do such fiddling as I do with the D3100. I am forever over-exposing and adjusting down or up the compensation.
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