Is it a painting? No, just a special photo
from Kentucky photographer Mark Six

By ED FORD
Bugle Editor

The first thing you notice about a Mark Six photo is that it looks like a painting.

Multiple exposures of a subject matter are combined into a final single image, which makes an image appear much closer to what the human eye sees.

It’s a photo process called HDR (High Dynamic Range) that provides a wider, richer and deeper range of colors. The process is easier to accomplish with single dimension or non-moving objects, but Six makes it happen with Civil War re-enactors and scenes.

“I want to give viewers something they haven’t seen before,” the Shepherdsville resident explains.

With stationary subjects, multiple images can be photographed with different exposures and combined into a single photo. In that manner, all colors – such as sky, landscape and main subject – appear natural and rich in their individual hues.

“Where many Civil War subjects are concerned, however, I was unable to do this because of the constant movement of the re-enactors,” Six said. So, instead of attempting multiple images/exposures, he processes the images in the same manner, but uses only a single image.

“In a lot of my Civil War photos you may notice that I don’t include faces,” Mark explains. “I do this for a couple of reasons. For one, I felt that the period-specific apparel was more my focus in the photos and that’s what I wanted viewers to key on. And two, you’ll notice in photos such as ‘Preparing for Battle,’ where the Union soldier is loading his revolver with his head down and face not showing, it gives that feeling of him thinking of his final thoughts prior to riding into battle ... perhaps for the last time.”

Six uses a Canon 60D camera for his shots and shoots more scenic subjects than anything else. He was introduced to photographing Civil War events by a friend who invited him to shoot a re-enactment at Sacramento.

“I jumped at the opportunity as I knew I’d have a world of photos to take,” he stated.  “And, almost 800 photos later, I found there were more opportunities than I could imagine.

“In some of the true HDR photos, a metallic-based paper, or even an actual metal print – which has the photo printed directly on metal – looks best. This gives a ‘shine’ to a very deep colorful print. Traditional luster paper works well with nearly everything, but metal in any form gives a certain pop to a print.”

The manner in which Mark processes images allows more of the subject detail to be exposed. He also prints on canvas, which gives an image a totally different appearance.

Mark won first place last year in the Scenic Division of a Kentucky Living photo contest. This year, he took second place in the magazine’s contest with his “Preparing for Battle” entry.

“‘Preparing for Battle’ is in the ‘Altered’ category,” he explained. “The magazine considers ‘altered’ an image that doesn’t come straight from the camera, as some altering of the image was accomplished.

“To be honest, most finished photos we currently see are the result of altering the original image. And that makes for a better finished product.

“Thank goodness for the blessing of digital photography,” he smiled.

Six, who works full time with Louisville Metro EMS (Emergency Medical Service), became interested in photography while in high school and took photography classes during his junior and senior years.

“I’ve been hooked on photography ever since, but never spent much serious time on it until about three or four years ago,” he said. “My original focus was to be a wildlife photographer, but I couldn’t seem to separate myself from hunting long enough to get behind the camera and stay there. So, I’ve turned to taking more scenic, landscape, Civil War event, sports – and the occasional wildlife photo when one is presented to me. I’ve recently began shooting weddings as well.”

In addition, the Ohio native is a field producer for “Hills ‘n’ Hollers” television on the Sportsman’s Channel.

“We’re based out of Bardstown and do most of our hunting and filming in Kentucky, but travel throughout the U.S. and Canada as well,” he added.

Six originally came to Kentucky to play football at Western Kentucky University, where he graduated in 1996 with a criminology degree. He’s divorced and has a 12-year-old son, Clayton.

Mark can be contacted at his Facebook page, “Mark 6 Photography,” or by e-mail at mark6photography@gmail.com. He’s currently working on a website, to be named mark6photography.com.

A number of Six’s unusual photos can be seen on this page and in Picture Potpourri.