Until George Strock photographed the cyclorama at Gettysburg for TIME (see ART), no one had ever before made a continuous still photograph of this circular panorama.

This may seem surprising, when you consider the number of amateur and professional photographers clicking shutters at every perceivable object on the American scene. But the reason becomes obvious from the story Strock told me about his assignment. His problem was to capture with one exposure a scene which surrounded him--a painting which covers 11,840 square feet on the inner wall of a special cylindrical building at Gettysburg.

Besides skill, the project demanded two weeks' time, 20 helpers, 70 reflector bulbs, two 30-ft., towers -- and unlimited patience.

The building interior first of all required proper lighting--26.250 watts' worth, twice the amount needed for the torch lights on the Statue of Liberty. Strock's lighting plans called for the erection of two towers, each one studded from top to bottom with sockets ten inches apart to hold the 375-watt bulbs. These towers, mounted on rubber casters, were to be moved slowly around the room to synchronize with the turning of the camera.

However, there were several structural obstacles. The flooring was broken by a null entrance ramp with guard rails on each side. After the rails were taken down, the ramp had to be covered so that the entire floor would be on one level.

Next impediment was the ceiling, an umbrellalike structure peculiar to buildings which house cycloramas. This is hung so that natural light from a skylight is diffused over the painting. Because the outer edge of the umbrella hid parts of the painting from the camera, a roofing company was hired to raise the umbrella. 1/2 With floor leveled and ceiling raised, there remained the most challenging obstruction of all, a large steel pole standing in the center of the building--and this was immovable.

There was insufficient time to build an intricately synchronized moving platform to carry the camera around the pole. Instead, Strock found a way to work with the camera's own built-in turntable rotating at a speed synchronized with the exposure of a 6-ft. 1/2-film strip. But this turntable could only be set up at one side of the pole. And inevitably the pole was going to block one section of the battle scene as the camera rotated within the cyclorama.

To solve this problem, Strock put his camera and turntable on an ingenious sliding platform. When the camera reached the point where the pole got in the way of the continuous picture, the platform -- and camera -- were pulled smoothly to a new position which permitted a clear view of the final section of the cyclorama.

Students from nearby Gettysburg College were engaged to handle the lights -- six to move the towers, seven to handle heavy cables which were delivering 105 volts at 224 amperes, and two to keep guy wires out of camera vision. Lights, camera and sliding platform were then put through several trial runs.

The last trial run ended in chaos.

Supporting wires snapped, the 30-ft.

towers careened wildly and toppled amidst the staccato explosions of 32 bulbs. Strock's reaction wound up philosophically. "Now," he said -- in part --"we know what not to do." In the days and nights that followed, Strock and his chief aide Walter Lane worked fast in order to meet the deadline of this issue of TIME.

After the crew had untangled wires and cables, Strock decided to double all supports, increase the voltage, rent a new transformer, order more bulbs and run fresh color processing tests.

Practically everyone in Gettysburg took a personal interest in the project. In particular, Dr. J. WTalter Coleman, superintendent of the Gettysburg National Military Park, was of great assistance from the beginning of the project through the race of reconstruction.

Three days after the crash, the first photograph of the cyclorama in color was on film and on its way to TIME'S editors for publication on this anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Cordially yours,

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