2012 Revolutionary War Reenactment at Cantigny - Part 1

Cantigny Gardens in Wheaton, Illinois has always been a favorite place for me to visit and take photographs. This past weekend they hosted the 2012 Revolutionary War Reenactment which is quite an event. The reenactment participants actually pitch tents and spend the weekend at the park doing their best to create an atmosphere of the Revolutionary War times.

I really had been looking forward to this event for a couple of reasons. One, it’s a great time to capture some great photographic images. Two, I have some new photo editing software I wanted to try out.

The participants of this event do an outstanding job of creating a scene of the events around 1776. As you walk through their campsite you get a real sense of authenticity in what is presented. Throughout the campsites you see campfires along with cookware used back in the day. It sure made me appreciate my kitchen. Below are a couple of images of a campfire with utensils.

I’ll discuss more about the photo edits later but for now, as we walked through the campsite you would see a variety of meats and poultry being cooked and turned on their spits for their meals, along with plenty of beans. Since the participants actually stay on grounds of Cantigny and live in their tents over the weekend they also prepare their own meals. Below is a photo that shows the types of items that may have been found being prepared during the time of the Revolutionary War.

Children and adults alike gathered around the cannons on display. There was all kinds of discussion about the armaments of the time and a wealth of information provided to visitors.

Ammunition during revolutionary war times was much different than that of today. In the images below this gentleman was demonstrating the melting and preparation of the lead and pouring the molten lead into molds. It was an interesting process to watch.

I’ve many more photos and story to tell but I will write about that later. I would like to talk a bit more about Cantigny Parks and Gardens. There are year round activities at Cantigny and there are things to do for the entire family. I encourage you to visit http://www.cantigny.org/ and when you are in the western Chicago suburbs plan a visit.

In regards to the photos and the edits I had recently obtained a product from Alien Skin software called Exposure 4. This editing software allows you to take your digital images and give them a variety of B&W or Color film effects. I know that there are a lot of free applications that do this type of editing but I enjoy the outcome of Exposure 4 the best.

Here is a video about one of the features of Exposure 4



Now we all pretty much know that photography did not exist during the revolutionary war but I wanted to give my images an older look with some impact. I chose to edit my images with the B&W - Vintage Calotype - Sepia (no grain or blur) filter. After showing my images to my family they said that they like how the edited images look authentic. I’m glad they like them and I hope you like them too.

There are many more images on my Facebook Page.


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