The reason that I go to the Wade House re-enactment is because I really enjoy the "characters". I have found that most of the attendees have an actual character from the past that they are portraying. This article sets the scene http://www.midwestweekends.com/plan_a_trip/history_heritage/frontier_history/civil_war_wade_house.html if you are interested.

This man is a photographer from Minnesota. He makes tintype photos for the re-enactors. It is his business and he is said to be very good at it. I watched him make a tintype of this soldier. First he focused, then prepared the plate and inserted it into the camera. At this point the subject had to stand very still for the exposure. After the exposure, the photographer took the plate to a little black-out tent that he had and developed it. Here is the tintype soaking in the water bath at the end of the process. If you notice, it is reversed from the soldier's pose.[img][/img] [img][/img]