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Friday, February 29. 2008

Petersburg, VA

The Petersburg Courthouse, 1865, from photos of the siege of Petersburg, via Shorpy:

 

Posted by Bird Dog in History at 11:05 | Comments (18) | Trackbacks (0)

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I borrowed from daughter "Confederates in the Attic" (nonfiction by Tony Horwitz) and before she repossessed it (dammit) managed to read the part where the modern-day author, on a trek thru the old battlefields, covers the Petersburg area. Amazing how durable are the old emotions in the area.
#1 buddy larsen on 2008-02-29 11:30 (Reply)
It was not so long ago.
#1.1 BD on 2008-02-29 11:43 (Reply)
so true -- a boomer today could easily have had a grandparent with a living memory of it. Say, a five-year-old in 1865 when the pic was taken would have war memories, & could've sired kids around 1900 who could've told ma & pa's story to their kids, boomers born in 1940s or even 50s. No time at all, really; a couple or three long generations.

"Save your Confederate money, boys, the South shall Rise Again!" -- one of my grandpaw's (born in Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, where a great battle had been fought) favorite in-his-cups exclamations.

http://tinyurl.com/2tg8d3
#1.1.1 buddy larsen on 2008-02-29 12:11 (Reply)
My granddad was born in 1868, not quite early enough, but close. The last of his grandchildren were born about 1970, so if we subtract about 25 years all around, there could be boomers whose grandfathers fought in the war. Probably not many, though.
#1.1.1.1 chuck on 2008-02-29 23:09 (Reply)
Buddy,
As you have astutely pointed out the feelings in the old South about the Civil War are still fresh, handed down from generation to generation, the old photos and tin types of loved ones in battle accoutrement.
Both of my parents told stories related to then from actual Civil War vets, which they then passed to me. I have many tin types, and photos of that era, as well as letters written by kinfolk on the eve of battle.

I don't think many old South families have ever forgotten that they lost a war for their independence and way of life and then were treated so poorly for so long. It is no mystery to me how the KKK grew to over 25 million in a country with a population of less than 100 million, perhaps a smidge over. For many it was the only protection they had as well as a way to stay in solidarity with their ancestors.
But it is quickly fading and will soon be simply "an era" that took place. Big wheel keep on turn'n.

....and Obama once looked at a marigold and now he .....
#1.2 Habu on 2008-02-29 13:42 (Reply)
Wow. I was just tooling around Shorpy's and check out those 4x5 Kodachromes! They're amazing.

Kodachrome rendered skin tones beautifully. It's a shame really that there's only one Kodak certified K-14 lab in the US; There's a handful of others who do the processing as well. (With shipping, processing, and wait time, Kodachrome is for the serious hobbiest—plus the film is expensive).

Fuji Astia and Velvia 100 give similar results with extremely small grain. (They’re E-6 process, reasonably priced, and you can use local labs).

It's no wonder that Alien Skins Exposure 2, which duplicates various film grain and saturation, is popular software. People are trying to reproduce the feel of those films while maintaining the apparent ease of digital.

The B&W photos are wonderful in their own right, too. I'll have to take more time over there to look around. Right now I'm supposed to be converting a collection of color photos to B&W for a print project and here I am extolling the virtues of Kodachrome, et al.

Most ironically, I’m colorizing the Lange photo from the previous thread, (while I’m supposed to be de-saturating images). I just want to see what it would look like in color. (If it’s cool I’ll post it on my site and drop by here with the link).
#2 Jephnol on 2008-02-29 12:35 (Reply)
Please do so Jephnol... if it turns out well. That would be interesting to see and compare the images.
#2.1 Luther McLeod (Link) on 2008-02-29 12:43 (Reply)
Petersburg is where Grant's forces dug their ill fated tunnel under the rebel fortifications. They blew up the rebel line then conducted a disorganized charge in which they fell into the resulting crater and were slaughtered.
#3 Santay on 2008-02-29 13:18 (Reply)
Great central battle scene in "Cold Mountain" -- book & movie -- centered on that, the Battle of the Crater.
#3.1 buddy larsen on 2008-02-29 13:38 (Reply)
A terrible battle.
#3.1.1 BD on 2008-02-29 14:03 (Reply)
'Cold Mountain'. Right at the top of my Top Ten Favorites list. I loved the movie, too. What an exquisite book.
#3.1.2 Meta on 2008-02-29 21:09 (Reply)
movie great too -- Renee Zellweger sublime in it.
#3.1.2.1 buddy larsen on 2008-03-01 00:06 (Reply)
Okay, I tinted the lange photo from a thread or two back.

http://www.jephnol.com/2008/02/colorized.html
#4 Jephnol on 2008-02-29 16:09 (Reply)
nice -- very VERY nice. Depth is improved, detail more inviting--the figures are more human, and a viewer wonders about them for the first time.
#4.1 buddy larsen on 2008-02-29 16:46 (Reply)
Thanks Buddy.
#4.1.1 Jephnol on 2008-02-29 17:19 (Reply)
pleasure all mine -- great subdued colors -- wish i could do that in my 'paint' program --
#4.1.1.1 buddy larsen on 2008-02-29 20:26 (Reply)
It was easy to do... Just buy Photoshop and spend countless hours in front of your computer or a PS book for years on end.
#4.1.1.1.1 Jephnol on 2008-02-29 21:44 (Reply)
ha -- yeh -- funny how that goes, apply a great swath of talent, time & energy to something, and all of a sudden it's easy as pie.
#4.1.1.1.1.1 buddy larsen on 2008-03-01 00:04 (Reply)

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