Faceb**ksters, A Battle of Cedar Creek update... I returned home with about 700 images of the event, the result of hiking countless miles from Friday through Sunday. The weather was simply glorious, though it got quite cold a couple of nights... one of the few instances I get to wear my great coat. The CCBF folks were most helpful, though they gave me an earful for my apparent brazenness in certain public forums prior to this years edition of the event. But I went in there with a clean conscience, for I had not deviated from the truth one iota (save the comment about sneaking in, if I didnt have press credentials, and that was meant as a joke, but it is obvious that humor doesnt convey in print. At least two reenactors, representing two different organizations, OFFERED TO PAY my walk-on fee. Most flattering, though totally unnecessary, because the CCBF notified me of my credentials availability --within an hour of my Thursday departure. In any case, I went, set up my camp and walked the grounds unendingly, for four days. Sorry I missed so many of you, but Im only one man, facing a 5,000 army and I assure you that I do my absolute best, even when I feel at less than optimum health, as I did at Cedar Creek. In all honesty, the weather there was just beautiful, for the most part. The colder segments were handled by appropriate bedding, a wool cape and a woolen top coat. It was simply SMASHING for me to see so many old friends.... I must have had 3,000 individual conversations. A filmmaker who was supposed to show up and record some of that, for pay, never did. Too busy with better offers, I suppose. Now there wont be a record of what I do. Cest la vie! One of my accomplishments of the weekend was an exclusive interview with the two major planners of what will become the Washington Grand Review in May 2015. Keep reading the Civil War News... the details will be in the December issue of the publication, if the editors cooperate. I also had the privilege to attend the ceremonies for the rededication of the monument to Confederate general Steven Ramseur, where I had the chance to photograph a lot of todays Ramseur monument. For the record, I was the one and only hobby press representative there. Keep an eye on juliosphotos.smugmug, then click on the gallery to be called 14CedarCreek to see the MOST COMPLETE COVERAGE of the 150th anniversary program there. It should take me about another week or two, because I first must file what I owed the newspaper. I guarantee that no other photographer will have so many aspects of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Cedar Creek in their coverage. I know that to be a fact because... no one else walked around to cover about 6-8 miles of ground during the entire weekend. I did. Your comments about the weekend would be most helpful because, after all, Im expected to write something about the experience. Thank you in advance.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 14:56:11 +0000