Probably one year ago Steve started working with a tour company to provide a Civil War Battlefield tour called: In the Footsteps of the Civil War Soldier. That work came to fruition last week when 22 Civil War buffs –including myself – embarked on a five-day tour with Steve as their peerless leader. I actually didn’t get very many photographs. As you can tell from my website, nature shots aren’t really my thing. But Antietam and Gettysburg Battlefields are incredibly beautiful – and I’m sure my photos don’t do them justice anyway. First I’ll share some pictures of Antietam.

The third morning of the tour I got some time in downtown Gettysburg to do some of my more typical photographs of the urban environment. I was so lucky that the light was absolutely amazing and the town was full of interesting textures and angles. I really could have spent hours there but only had around 50 minutes.

My last day on the tour (I only got to tag along for 3 days) included a morning at Gettysburg battlefield and the stories we heard were absolutely amazing: both shocking and heartbreaking. If you’ve never been then you need to go to Gettysburg and talk with experts about the battlefield and the battle that changed the course of the Civil War. (At least I think that’s what they said.)

My photos are only meant to give you the briefest taste of the beauty of these National Parks. Both of these battlefields are maintained by the National Park Service. Thank you to the NPS for doing such a spectacular job!