Helen Stephenson's Royal Gunpowder Mills Pictures, 22nd September 2007

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I joined the The London Photography Meetup Group in 2006, but didn't go on an official meetup with them until the day when Stephen and I formed part of the merry band of photographers who spent the afternoon of September 22nd at the Royal Gunpowder Mills in Waltham Abbey.

Two re-endactment societies were present that weekend and added a lot of colour (and noise!) to our visit.

These pictures were captured using a Pentax K10D digital SLR camera.

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I've started out with a couple of portraits of re-enactors at their campsite. I don't know what was in the flagon that the man on the left was drinking for, but he spilt a drop!



Moving out to the battlefield area, I've found some "soldiers" with their firearms. These were muzzle loaders, and I believe they were muskets.



Back at the campsite, I've photographed some cooking and eating utensils. They guys (and girls!) really get into the spirit of the re-enactment.



The next three pictures are things which are always on the Royal Gunpowder Mills site: a little waterwheel which turns because a small pump is aiming a stream of water at it; part of an object in the Rocket Museum; and the cab of a narrow guage steam locomotive.



The man whose portrait I have captured in the picture on the left is the drummer with the group in the other two pictures. I liked his wig a lot! The other two pictures show the troop halted in front of a "dead" re-enactor, and on the march with their bayonets.



Here is a portrait of a woodsman. This particular woodsman had his wife with him and was enjoying the luxury of a caravan tucked further back along the site, but many of the re-enactors were going as far as sleeping in their tents. We have a "Native American" on the right with his warpaint on.



I'm not sure whose "side" the next man was on. He could be "milita", or he could be a "settler".



The final pictures were taken at the grand parade at the end of the day. If a "real" soldier pointed a weapon in my direction, I'd be ducking very fast, or putting my hands in the air, or something, but these guys were firing blanks and it was all smoke and flash. The picture on the right is an enlargement of the right end of the picture on the left. I really did catch the moment when he fired!



This was another group who fired together. This picture was taken after they had fired and while the smoke was hanging around them. I thought it looked better than the pictures I took just after they pulled the trigger when the smoke cloud was still tiny. I had the camera in continuous shooting for these last pictures and I just pressed the button when the order to fire was given and I got some interesting sequences.



I wrote more about our day out in my blog: Entry for September 23, 2007 - Royal Gunpowder Mills covers our visit to the Royal Gunpowder Mills and our side-trip to Lakeside on the way home.