With rain on and off all day today and ominous clouds overhead, I decided to hit Valley Forge National Historic Site on the way back from photography at the Shofuso Japanese House and Gardens. The dreary weather can sometimes set a mood that a bright sunny day can never hope to reach and sometimes a dreary mood best fits the subject matter of war. This is the same canon at the Muhlenburg Brigade encampment that I shot back at the end of may. General Peter Muhlenberg’s Brigade anchored the outer line of defense at the Valley Forge encampment from December 19, 1777 to June 19, 1778. Although no battle was ever fought between Colonial and British forces at Valley Forge, over 1,000 men lost their lives here due to severe winter conditions, dysentery, scurvy and a host of other ailments common to the times.

For more information on visiting Valley Forge National Historical Park, check out their web site.

I created this image as seven RAW bracketed frames, combined into an HDR image and tone mapped in Photomatix Pro then used the Topaz Simplify plugin for Photoshop CS4 to give the trees and clouds a painterly quality before finally applying a texture to give it an antique feel.

Thanks to alicepopkorn for the use of the free texture file Magic Veil.

The United States Memorial Arch, located at the intersection of Outerline Drive and Gulph Road, was erected to commemorate the arrival of General George Washington and his Continental Army into Valley Forge.

Revolutionary war era Canon pointed over the hill where General Peter Muhlenberg’s Brigade anchored the outer line of defense at the Valley Forge encampment from December 19, 1777 to June 19, 1778. Although no battle was ever fought between Colonial and British forces at Valley Forge, yet over 1,000 men lost their lives here due to severe winter conditions, dysentery, scurvy and a host of other ailments common to the times.

I shot this as five RAW bracketed frames then converted it to an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image using Photomatix Pro then layered and blended several free background textures from the following contributors in order to create an old fashioned feel to this.

Skeletal Mess (Painted Canvas 3)
Alicepopkorn (Magic Veil)

This small Revolutionary War era wood and mortar cabin is located near the National Memorial Arch

A reenactor playing the part of a Revolutionary War era infantry soldier near the cabins where General Peter Muhlenberg’s Brigade anchored the outer line of defense at the Valley Forge encampment from December 19, 1777 to June 19, 1778.

I’ve been listening to the unabridged audio book “1776″ by David McCullough who also narrates the book. It’s an absolutely riveting account of the armies, battles, personalities and monumental effort that went into the birth of our nation and I can’t recommend it highly enough for those of you interested in American history.

It was the first day on the job for this soldier reenactor and he really knew the part and had obviously done a ton of research on the lifestyle and day to day tasks of a soldier from this encampment. The reenactors interact with the crowd and really bring history alive at Valley Forge.

shot this as a single RAW frame, converted it to B & W using NIK Software’s Silver-FX Pro and then applied a texture containing a weathered copy of the Declaration of Independence.

For more information on visiting Valley Forge National Historical Park, check out their web site.