Getting in the middle of the action

Aside from photography, American History is another one of my passions. Every year that I am able to I attend the Civil War Reenactment at Fischer Farm in Bensenville, Illinois. The farm is about 15 minutes from me and is one of the many great events held every year.

During the Civil War Reenactment a local group called Taylor's Battery - 1st Illinois Light Artillery Company B fires a cannon on the hour and participates in a battle reenactment. I have been going for many years and the challenge is to get that one action shot that I never thought I could.

In the past I have always started clicking away when the cannon fires. This year I decided to start my camera shutter ahead of the action to see what would happen. Having been to the event before I knew the cannon team would go through several practice runs before actually firing the cannon, well aside from yelling "LIVE FIRE".

This year my luck paid off. In the age of digital photography we photographers have a new advantage. We can take a lot of photos and delete what we don't need. That means we can snap away to get that perfect shot. Yes, I ended up deleting a few but even some of those photos that I took in pursuit of "the photo" are fun to experiment with.

The photo to the left is the shot I discovered when I went back after the battle reenactment to review my photos. I had been clicking away and wasn't sure what I got but when I saw this I was thrilled. By starting to take pictures as the action began I managed to get this great shot.

Don't be afraid to snap away! Get in the middle of the action and follow it with your camera. Take photos in the pursuit of the shot. You never know what you are going to get. With summer finally here there is a lot to do, explore the world around you and have fun with your camera.