Re: Civil War photo
It does appear to have been at least partly cloudy. The left part of the column appears to be in the sun, while the right part is in the shade of the clouds. That's no doubt why those faces appear darker, while the young man looking up has his face brightly lit. Glass plates in those days were not able to cover a wide range of light and shadow, because of the coating on the glass, which produced the image. My old eyes may be getting tired, but I only see a column of troops. No hats except on heads, and no wagon or pile of goods. Just men in uniform. Lens quality was not all that good then, either. Stan