Historical Battle Re-Enactments

An image where the photographer has cleverly added to the drama with some very effective post-edit work.

I can just imagine the ME-109 or JU-87 screaming out of the sky and the soldiers desperately trying to shoot it down. My mind tells me that the puffs of sand kicked up by the machine gun bullets should be on an oblique angle but I could well be wrong.

Either way it’s a great entry and a deserved top ten placing.

This is another image with a cinematic feel thanks to the effective elongate crop.

A very dramatic picture is this with the fog of war and background flames although could I suggest removing the distracting post far right?

Post or not, it’s a great image and so deserving of a top ten placing.

This image has a cinematic feel courtesy of the elongate crop and crisp monochrome conversion.

I love the little flurries of snow kicked up by the soldiers boots which really add to the energy of the scene.

Well done on your top ten placing …..

As usual I’d like to thank everyone who entered the contest for submitting such a variety and high quality of image.

As explained in the contest brief I was looking for entries which captured the drama and emotion of battle in progress and all of my top ten placed images fulfill that brief in their own ways. I genuinely had trouble sorting the top ten such was the high standard of the entries.

My first placed image just shades the others because as well as showing a battle in progress it shows the chaos of a battle in progress. Who needs zoom blur when you have the haphazard array of pike shafts pulling the eye into the central melee of English Civil War soldiers.

A brilliant photograph coupled with a crisp monochrome conversion.

Well done on first place!!

A nice bit of close-up swordplay.

Love the colours and the hyper-real effect you’ve achieved in post-processing.

A very dramatic image is this, love the viewpoint and your contrasty monochrome finish.

An image full of action and so suiting of the elongate crop and monochrome presentation.

I assume that the mist and murk has been added in post-processing, it’s well done and adds greatly to the atmosphere of the scene and also obscures any distracting background elements.

A well deserved top ten placing.

No muzzle flashes or explosions here but this image catches the eye with its close up action and punchy presentation.

I assume that the smoke has been added in post-processing but it’s well done and really adds to the atmosphere.

A great image ……. congratulations.

I almost missed this understated but very well worked composite of a group of Confederate soldiers in action during the American Civil War. It’s one of those images that doesn’t leap off the screen and hit you in the face but rather requires a deeper look to admire its qualities.

I love the swirly smokiness, the drab colours and the hint of flag in the background.

As I said, understated but very well done …….

The crop and monochrome presentation are most effective and the composition is good with the three shields and lack of distracting background elements.

Braving the rain was well worth it to produce this fine image.

Highlanders 4 Hire indeed 😀

It’s not by accident that I chose this image for the contest banner as it’s just the type of thing that I was looking for. A really well composed and believable battle scene with some great expressions on the soldiers faces.

It may be that an elongate crop and slightly desaturated colours could add to the impact of the scene but this is no criticism, just a reflection on the type of image that I seem to have favoured in this contest.

Well done on a deserved top ten placing.

This is a beautifully worked composite of a World War One aerial dogfight in progress.

The vintage edit work is very effective and the image is so full of life and drama that you can almost imagine the motion of the planes and ack-ack-ack of the machine guns.

A superb image …… well done.

A nicely worked image with fine attention to detail. Reminds me of my Airfix days when I had models of all these planes hanging off my bedroom ceiling.

Great creativity here and thanks for the smile.

I’ve never tried table-top photography with miniature figures but I can imagine it takes skill and practice to get a result as good as this.

Well done on daring to be different …….

There’s something about elongate crops and desaturated colours which really suits this genre of photography.

This is another fine example.

Keep your heads down lads !!

A fine image …… love your presentation.

You just have to admire the dedication of historical re-enactors, and in this case the photographer too, for venturing out in such awful weather!!

Well worth it though as it’s a mighty fine image.