Gettysburg in Miniature

February 20, 2009 6:46 AM

Miniature Gettysburgis "photographed on a 250 square foot diorama accurately representing portions of the terrain of the Gettysburg Battlefield as it appeared on July 2, 1863." The portfolio section has some very intriguing looking photos, unfortunately they cannot be viewed large. Some info on the artist's techniques here. [via]

Some only slightly larger pics available in the online store. I'm frustrated by the small size of the pics, but given my hobby of collecting toy soldiers and my fascination with the Civil War, I couldn't not post this.

People seem to like to do dioramas of Gettysburg. More here and here. Even more Civil War Toy Soldier fun at Mannie Gentile's blog. [previously]

posted by marxchivist (15 comments total)

This. What Cruse Elroy and Hadokens are to some of you, this right here in all it's 1/72nd glory is to my childhood. Thank you marxchivist.
posted by Faux Real at 8:03 AM on February 20

Earlier works like "Miniature Meatgrinder" and "Miniature Bhopal Disaster" were less well received by the philistine public but also of note for their intriguing use of FOV and diographic technique.
posted by freebird at 8:44 AM on February 20

Hmm - upon further coffee, I worry that might have come out wrong. As a lifelong wargamer and childhood-long model builder, I love this sort of thing and the links are excellent. It was just a little too early for me to think calmly about Gettysburg and the American Civil War in general. I've had my coffee now, am ready to face the horrors of History and the Day with objectivity and non-attachment, and did not mean to make any political or philosophical point in my comment above. Great post - it's the horrific war I'd mark for deletion if I could.
posted by freebird at 8:49 AM on February 20

Wow all that detail but then paints the figures in a neon blue you wouldn't have even seen on a legwarmer in the 80's, much less 1880's.
posted by uni verse at 8:50 AM on February 20

Where are the dinosaurs? Didn't one of them bite off Dan Sickles' leg?
posted by Man-Thing at 9:08 AM on February 20

I didn't even know people were doing tilt-shift photos back then!

Seriously, this is pretty dang neat. I love dioramas. It is too bad about the photo size.
posted by brundlefly at 9:28 AM on February 20 [2 favorites has favorites]

eat your heart out, david levinthal.
posted by barrett caulk at 10:05 AM on February 20

Anyone remember that Harlan Ellison story where a man fills his miniature battlefields by plucking soldiers out from history at the moment they realize they're about to die and turning them into tiny statuettes?
posted by The Whelk at 10:15 AM on February 20

Wow all that detail but then paints the figures in a neon blue

Surely there's a Photoshop tutorial for something like that.
posted by ZakDaddy at 10:46 AM on February 20

Is it a tilt-shift lens, or just a really shallow depth of field? I find it extremely distracting either way. I'd think that in order to show how good of a diorama artist you are, you'd want to show more detail in a deeper depth of field for at least some of the shots. I enjoy shooting shallow DOF for most of my work, but I would have definitely mixed up the DOF a bit if it were my job to shoot this.

Good on him for not using flash; it was overcast for much of the battle that day. It would be super-cool if he could simulate a break in the clouds (as it might have happened that afternoon) with off-camera flash in the right position for where the sun would have been.
posted by bugmuncher at 1:08 PM on February 20

Is it a tilt-shift lens

Isn't that the whole point of building dioramas? To avoid buying a tilt-shift lens?
posted by StickyCarpet at 2:18 PM on February 20

I had a great, great grandfather who was wounded in at the Wheatfield. He was an early testament to Vreeland hard-headedness that continues to this day -- he was shot in the head & lay wounded on the field for 2 days before he was retrieved and taken away to a hospital. He survived for quite a few years, apparently. My granny still has his hat with the bullet hole through it. It was one heackofa battle.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:49 PM on February 20

Isn't that the whole point of building dioramas? To avoid buying a tilt-shift lens?

As opposed to buying a time machine?
posted by Enron Hubbard at 9:28 AM on February 21

Isn't that the whole point of building dioramas? To avoid buying a tilt-shift lens?

That and to feel like Godzilla. RAAAARRR! *STOMP STOMP STOMP*
posted by brundlefly at 3:16 PM on February 21

When I read the words "Miniature Gettysburg" I had a feeling this would be a post by Marxchivist
posted by zzazazz at 7:45 AM on February 22