Burning it Up at the Fort

So today I went to Fort Ticonderoga, and I had the time of my life! Of course, I burnt to a crisp in the process too. x'D My calves are wicked sore, and my arms and face are just radiating heat while my stomach is upset and I'm freezing. Yikes. D: Hell, even my EARS and the backs of my HANDS are burnt. OTL And the lines from it... are ridiculous. I'll have (bad) photos of that up later.

I'm still working on editing through the photos from today as well, so I won't have any for you yet. I shot 489 photos throughout my time there, and the initial inspection has narrowed it down to 134. Now, you definitely won't see all 134 for two reasons.
1) They have to pass the quality inspection now, as I go through and actually check focus and stuff.
2) Some of these are just detail shots and stuff for Lora Innes of The Dreamer to use as reference for her comic.

The work is slow moving, since Lightroom doesn't want to behave that well. I don't think it has anything to do with just adding 8gb of photos to it... >.>;;;

SO ANYWAYS! ON THE BETTER HALF OF SOCIETY! MY DAY AT TICONDEROGA!

It started off at 6:45am. That's when I woke up. And I was out the door by 7, because I was smart and packed the night before. Even running on about 3-4 hours of sleep, I was cruising.

I hit Stewarts since I needed to withdraw a little cash, and get a drink. I wanted to get a bagel too, but they only had two made and they were both nasty. Who the hell wants a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese? Lets be realistic folks... plain will sell the best. And at 7am, no one gives a shit about sandwiches, which they had plenty off. GIVE ME THE BAGELS!!!!!

Anyways...

So after that quick stop I was completely on my way. There was like... no traffic. It was WONDERFUL. So I was hot shit on the Northway doing 70mph. I passed EVERYONE, even though there weren't many others. xD The only thing that sucked was that once you got a bit north of Warrensburg, you were between mountains and it became a wind tunnel that literally blew you all over the road. I actually made a pitstop at the nearest rest stop (which are rare on the Northway) and cracked both my windows, because that's the only way you can battle it. And it sucked, because the morning air was COLD. If you're wondering, even though my car is an '04, for some reason they thought it'd be clever to go back to CRANK WINDOWS... so no nice power windows or locks for me. :<

By 9am I was at the Fort. After having watched the person following me down Rt74 and fall behind due to a "rough road" (seriously... it was pretty damn smooth LMAO) and getting stuck behind someone who couldn't tow a teeny-tiny trailer, of course. There was no line this time either, and I was in the first parking lot. I was proud of myself.

I'm about to go alllll over the place with what I remember from the day, so let me just post a list of generally how it went.

-Explored the camps
-Explored the fort
-Watched the bateau launch
-Chatted with another photographer
-Explored suters row
-Ogled stuff in suters row
-Watched the battle reenactment

There weren't as many camps this time as at Carillon, nor as many visitors. Most blame yesterday's weather, which is probably what kept people from visiting. But there was still a good turnout.

The fort looks AMAZING. I am sad though, because they took out the dungeons and stuff to put in a modern museum. Which really ruins the feel of the fort to me. I'd rather see all the stuff in the rooms as they were when the soldiers occupied Ticonderoga. And they do have a good portion like that... but it's still a shame. Don't get me wrong, the museum is GORGEOUS, but I feel it cheapened it a bit. :\ Oh well.

I also was talking to the parking attendant a lot, and he gave me lots of tips and stuff. Super nice guy. He tried to help me get to stay down below for the reenactment, but it didn't work out. I left too soon it turns out though, because they did end up letting the photographers stay below. Everyone else was told to go up on the hill though, because they had brought the canon down and were afraid one might explode. It's a bigger risk than you think. It was a missed opportunity, but that's okay. He was so nice, he told me "If I had known how to reach you, I would have gotten you back down here in a heartbeat."

Then there was this other photographer and his wife (I think) who talked to me a lot. she even got me a drink out of the blue. She set it down and was like "That one is yours dear" and I was like "Me?" and she said yeah. I was shocked. I had already gotten a drink, but I was thankful nonetheless. That was a really nice gesture, considering I'd known them for all of an hour. O_O; For some reason he seemed to think I liked to paint though, and that I was good at it. I have no idea why. But he had this AWESOME shot of a Benedict Arnold reenactor on horseback, so when that comes back in five years I will be ALL OVER IT.

This other photographer though was just arrogant. He kept forcing stock photography down my throat, and that you couldn't market yourself to sell photos as art. It got to the point that I just smiled and nodded because I honestly have no interest in stock photography. And I was MASSIVELY jealous of him, because he had the Nikon D700... and had GIVEN AWAY the D200 to his son. HOW MUCH MONEY DID THAT GUY HAVE!? Good god.... o_o;

There were also these five kids playing war, 3 boys and 2 girls, and they were adorable. They were all in period clothing and had toy wooden guns, and they KNEW the commands. Like... as good as the 50 year old men. And I stopped to take their photos and the one boy was like "Attack the girl with the camera!" which made me laugh. I had to change CF cards though because the one I was using was full, and as I did the one little girl said "No!" and the boy protested, asking why not, and she hit him and goes "Because dummy! She's taking OUR photo!!!" and then they all turned and looked at me as I took another. Kids can be so cute. xD

This other little boy, about the same age who was there with his grandfather was just a hyper ball of excitement. He was running all through suters row telling the vendors all these facts about the war and the things they were selling that they definitely already knew. But it was cute, and damn, it's good to see at least some kid is paying attention in school--which I did tell his grandfather who laughed and we had a brief conversation about it.

I also spoke with two of the vendors, one who was selling these bright necklaces that were made of Chekhovian glass beads, and I was explaining how they were made since I at least knew that and he was curious. I had never realized there were such things back then. It was cool. And then this other vendor, a female, I bought from. And she was giving me business tips and explaining her products and stuff. Wicked nice woman. She looked a bit like a pirate though because she had full period clothes on and then a man's hat. LMAO

The bateau launch was also great! It really worked! And we cleared away the bass tourney fishers for the fifteen minutes we needed for the launch and photos too, which was funny. I wanted to ride but it wasn't an option. xDD I also found out who I can send photos to for the Fort Ticonderoga website too, which is awesome. And she took my business card! WHOO! The stairs to get down to the lake though were hella steep and hella scary. I thought I was gonna die climbing back up, and when I got up I sat down. simply because the picnic table was closer than the vending machine, so the drink could wait. xD

Of course, to get down to the launch site I needed directions, so I asked some reenactors, and the one lady told me to follow the yellow brick road. And I asked if there would be dancing little people, and we all had a good laugh. But they did point me in the right direction, which is all that mattered. :3 FOR ONCE I DID NOT GET LOST! OwO;

I was also discussing the photographing of artwork and stuff in the museum with a photographer, and how I wouldn't do it out of respect. And he thought himself great enough that he had to, in case something happened to the originals and they were lost forever. Camera flashes destroy the artworks. And also, that's what copy photographers are for. They know how to properly light and photograph the art in a non destructive manner to preserve it. Some people just amaze me sometimes.

Oh yeah, that stock photographer also was afraid of the Indians, which I found amusing. The Indians are my favourite part, though there was definitely a shortage of them this time. :<

During the reenactment I met an old couple from Ti who brought their grandson. They were very pleasant folks. And I also spoke with some of the females, and now know that there will be another reenactment day in Johnstown next weekend. So guess where I'll be? LMAO And we get to see Great Aunt Ruth afterwards, and seeing how she's a riot, it will be great!

There was SO MUCH I wanted to buy though! Because I saw REAL WAMPUM AND BONE KNIVES, but that was $200+, and then there were the expensive period costumes and hats. It was all so pretty! But I ended up getting two ribbon necklaces and this decorative hot plate. Sooooo pretty. :3 Some day I'll have the money for wampum! God I want some so bad. And a period dress. Oh man... I'd kill for some. owo~♥

Sadly, my view of the battle sucked.

So at about 3:15pm, when I forgot about getting baked goods and my ink well, I headed home. Traffic on the Northway was a bit backed up due to a breakdown of a horse trailer in the middle lane, and I had to pee badly at one point plus I called home to let them know I was on my way, so I was a bit late getting home. But I arrived back here at about 5pm, and I took a nap. Because my skin hurts really bad from the burn. And I'm about to go back to sleep, and worry about the photos after my work training tomorrow.

God... I don't want to go to work. And yet I do. OTL

But yes, look forward to massive amounts of photos soon!