Civil War History - Stone Bridge at Manassas 150 Years After Destruction

(Click Here) to see the image larger.
 
Exactly 150 years ago yesterday, on March 9, 1862, the Stone Bridge at Manassas, Viriginia, was destroyed by Confederate forces. The bridge was the site of a failed diversionary demonstration by the Union, to take attention away from their main Forces, approaching from the north on July 21, 1861. This was the beginning of the First Battle of Bull Run, a resounding victory for the Confederates.
 
Leaving Manassas on March 9, 1862, Confederate Captain Edward Porter Alexander blew up the bridge to avoid future use by the Union army. The destruction was successful, as you can see in the image on the left. However, the Union reconstructed it long enough to use it once again in August, 1862, as a retreat route from Second Bull Run. Union forces again destroyed it after the battle.
 
The bridge was restored in the 1880s, and remains as a footbridge today. Automobile traffic is now carried across the river along the same roadway, now called Lee Highway, but on a modern concrete bridge.
 
In order to get a similar angle of view for the modern shot, I had to stand on the new highway bridge and shoot with a wide angle lens (Lumix 14mm f2.5).
 
It was meaningful to me to be there to photograph it 150 years to the day after the initial photograph by George Bernard. The original photograph is part of the collection at the Library of Congress:
 
(Click Here) for the link to the Library of Congress page.
 
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Lumix DMC-LX5 Delivers the Goods

 

Image Source: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1033&message=40541917

Poster tkbslc on dpreview posted this lovely family portrait, made with the Lumix DMC-LX5.

(Click Here) to see the post.

The post makes the point that these kind of results make it easy to leave your big heavy DSLR behind at home. A response indicates that they would like something in between the tiny, powerful LX5 and a DSLR. To me, the answer is obvious: Micro 4/3! But to each his own.

Here's one of mine with the LX5:

Casual Weekend Morning, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5, iso400, f3.2, 1/30 sec

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Redwoods Shot with DMC-GF1, by Graham Gibson

Graham Gibson posted this and a couple of other shots of hiking in the redwoods over on dpreview.

Image Source: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6805773075_4acac555ed_o.jpg

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1, Lumix 20mm f1.7

 

(Click Here) to see the original post on dpreview.com.

 

The shot I've included in this post is just wonderful. The diffuse light coming through the fog at top is a winning element on its own. To see if you agree, just use your hand to "crop" the human figure from the bottom of the image; still looks pretty darned good, doesn't it? But, the figure adds scale and interest as well. This is an excellent image.

 

Multiple replies in the post joke about the fact that the GF1 is three years old, and doesn't have the latest in high iso and dynamic range performance. The GF1 is a great camera. The GX1 is even better. Micro 4/3 has truly arrived.

 

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Slain Photographer Hiroyuki Muramoto's Family Gets A Letter, But No Visit From Thai PM

Image Source: http://www.japantoday.com/images/size/x/2012/03/photo_1331022630798-1-0.jpg

 

The family of photographer Hiroyuki Muramoto, shot dead in 2010 in Bangkok by government forces while covering civil unrest in the capital, will receive a letter from Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Shinawatra is on an official trip to Japan, but will not meet with Muramoto's family "...due to tight schedules..."

 

Apparently, the Thai government is planning to compensate families of foreigners killed in the uprising.

 

(Click Here) for the story at the Japan Times webpage.

 

Covering armed conflict is risky business. Everyone involved, including Muramoto, knows that. That doesn't make his murder okay.

 

Coverage is also critical, to show what is really going on in the world. The advent of the camera phone is making it ever harder for the truth to remain under cover.

 

It's a shame that Shinawatra cannot find time to address the family.

 

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Another Insightful Post from Kirk Tuck, The Visual Science Lab

 

Image Source: http://visualsciencelab.blogspot.com/2012/02/spirited-nonsense-and-neutral-reality.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheVisualScienceLab+%28The+Visual+Science+Lab%29

 

Kirk Tuck shared a very interesting post about how our choices in equipment are so much better than ever before.

 

(Click Here) to see the original post at the Visual Science Lab site.

 

I very much like and agree with Kirk's opinion that none of the excellent camera formats available to us makes any of the others obsolete. As he states, everything from medium or large format film, down to Micro 4/3 (and smaller) is useful in its own right. I very much like his thought that the small size of Micro 4/3 gear may open new market opportunities for those in applications that benefit from it.

 

I find that I still rely on my full-frame Nikon equipment for certain applications (wireless flash, the lowest noise at high iso, super-fast action), but am quite pleased to leave it at home when my Micro 4/3 kit (usually two DMC-G3s) will suffice. And, I find that it suffices most of the time.

 

I appreciate Kirk's approach of celebrating the opportunities these new formats give us, without trashing the more established formats and what they do for us.

 

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Further Evidence in Support of Small Cameras - GX1 Goes to the Beach

 

 Image Source: http://www.mu-43.com/f56/dinner-beach-21806/

Poster scottnz shared this and another nice image that he was able to make with the DMC-GX1 on a recent family outing to the coast, while his Canon DSLR sat at home in the cupboard.

 

(Click Here) for the original post on mu-43.com

 

I find it so true that my Micro 4/3 kit is easy to carry, and unobtrusive at family events.  My wife and daughter seem to roll their eyes so much less when confronted with a G3 and pancake lens.  And, as scottnz states, the result is images that just plain would not exist if they relied on us to carry our DSLRs.

 

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Limiting Myself to Wide Angle - The Results

Reflecting, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Lumix 14mm f2.5

iso160, f8, 1/400 sec

 

This weekend, I decided to shoot with a wide angle lens, exclusively. These are the results. I took one of my G3s and the 14mm f2.5 for a trip into Washington, DC yesterday. I met my friend James at Eastern Market, one of our favorite haunts.

 

Now, you may argue that at an equivalent field of view to a 28mm lens in 35mm full frame format, the 14mm is not that wide. For me, it is. Maybe I will continue to try wider, but for now, this was challenge enough.

Sulaiman, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Lumix 14mm f2.5

iso160, f3.2, 1/800 sec

Sulaiman sells fragrance oils at the Eastern Market flea. He is also an avid photographer (notice his necklace? a Leica M6). He's a super-friendly guy. Stop by any Sunday and test out his products.

 

 

 

Friends, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Lumix 14mm f2.5

iso160, f8, 1/160 sec

These young ladies were nice enough to let me take their picture as they relaxed curbside. I like how the wide angle allowed me to use the leading line of the curb, and include the walkers at the top left of the image.

Pairs, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Lumix 14mm f2.5

iso160, f8, 1/640 sec

I do need to work on holding the camera level, which is a challenge for me always, but is especially important with wide angle lenses. Thankfully, Lightroom makes slight perspective adjustments easy.

Front Yard, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Lumix 14mm f2.5

iso160, f8, 1/100 sec

I underexposed this one by one full stop, in order to saturate the red of the wall I find the white tracks of previous vines most interesting.

Reflecting Two, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Lumix 14mm f2.5

iso160, f4, 1/50 sec

In this shot, I captured the reflection of a tree and row house in a puddle. James asked if I was taking a self-portrait. Joker.

Trainer, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, Lumix 14mm f2.5

iso160, f8, 1/160 sec

So, after a weekend of wide angle shooting, what do I conclude? Only a few things: 1) I need to work on keeping the camera level, 2) sometimes it allows me to include elements that I would normally miss, and 3) I'm glad that I have other lenses. However, I do feel a little more appreciative of that tiny little 14mm in my bag (buy yours from Amazon, below). Sometimes it's good to force yourself to try something like this.

 

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