More Fun at Home….

Photo © Bob Krist

Well, I know this is supposed to be a travel photography blog, and I have been traveling lately (but again, can’t show the results just yet due to legal issues), but I am having a stone-cold blast working on my “New Hope: In Character” community portrait project.

New Hope, or Coryell’s Ferry as it was called at the time, was the place where Washington and his men crossed the Delaware to defeat the Hessians and the Brits in Trenton on Christmas Day all those years ago.

These guys re-enact that crossing every Christmas Day here in Bucks County. They get in those longboats, and unless the river is choked with ice, they row across Delaware come hell or high water. It’s an amazing sight to see and a Christmas morning tradition in these parts.

Now, I don’t want to say that they take their roles seriously, but some of the guys who re-enact the crossing had ancestors who were actually involved in the original crossing three hundred years ago. Can you say, “tradition?”

I was so appreciative that these gentlemen decided to come up and participate in this portrait project. In these parts, these guys are almost as famous as the men they are embodying.

For a look at the lighting setup, hit the jump.

Photo © Bob Krist

It’s the same basic lighting I’ve been using all along. One DynaLite 400 Uni Jr. into a 4×6 foot Photoflex softbox. A black cutter card right behind  the box to keep some light off the 12 foot painted canvas background. And two 4×6 Litepanels with white coverings as fill cards. Behind the fill cards, I’ve got another grid spotted Uni 400JR hitting the background to create some separation.

And here’s the painting that started it all. As an historical aside, the flag in the painting did not exist when Washington actually crossed the river. More than likely, they had the flag that is depicted in my photograph, not the original painting!  Who says photographs lie?