Old Images of War

Comments Welcome.

Joe, I am SO JEALOUS, I've been searching for ages for an event in the UK like this and I've come up with nothing close. Wonderful modern interpretation of this genre in your folder as well! I must dig out my colour version with a twin-cockpit spitfire similar to your prop picture sometime :-)

it would make a great documentary photo,were it not your construct.i tend to like it nonetheless,but i'd rather not rate it

Tony, Thanks for your comments.This was the first time I have been to this event in Pennsylvania.

It is one of the biggest WWII Weekend events in the States.This event has ,so many things to shoot in B&W. Plane's ,Tanks,miniture towns,Battles,old 1940 live radio shows,entertainer look-a-likes from the 1940s ,ect. This event is held at Reading Pennsylvania Airport the first weekend in June every year.

Now your making me even more jealous, when I saw it was taken in Reading my heart jumped as I thought "yes at last" ... then I saw it was the one in Pennsylvania which is a little far to travel to lol

 

We have so many events in the UK this time of year related to D-Day and the 749 US military personnel who were lost in Exercise Tiger near here at Slapton, training for D-Day, but alas none of them include the kind of thing you have here.

 

Exercise Tiger Link

 

Joe: a good idea (I might try that with a few I have) and a good job merging the two photos. The one comment I have is the same one that I received from "Owl Ink Photography" on a shot of an old B-17 (http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2330720) I did a few months back:

 

"I think...is too sharp for the nostalgic look you're after. Also the magnification factor many digital cameras have is different fronm the perspective of the old lenses."

 

Unfortunately, he was right about mine. I still haven't gotten it quite right - even after some post processing in Photoshop, I can still tell mine is a modern photo. Anyway, keep trying...and if you figure a way to get the WW II era grainy texture and softer focus, please, please, please let me know. Thanks. :-)

The re-enactment looks like fun, but based on personal experience, everything looks too clean and tidy. Even when buying this stuff as surplus in europe (and there were TONS of it into the seventies)this equipment didn't look that good...

I'd capture the brand new clothes line with Photo Shop and take out some contrast, make it darker. As is it draws too much attention. Minor point, otherwise, a perfect image!

Let's roll in the dirt a bit...I remember in France, going on long hikes using this equipment, standing in pouring rain for hours, soaked to the bone, eating raw food out of a can.....punching the C-rations out of the cans and smoking the stale Lucky Strikes...

Good composition.

Although it was retouched, It's really good one.

 

Love it. Makes me want to watch Band of Brothers again!!!!!