I’ve attended the Washington’s Crossing event—either the Practice Crossing or the Christmas Day Crossing—nearly every year for the past 15 years. But this was the first time I chose to photograph the 120‑year‑old Washington Crossing Bridge that links Pennsylvania and New Jersey. What took me so long? Honestly, I’m not sure.

For years, my goal was to strip away anything in my photos that didn’t belong in the 18th century—spectators, modern structures, anything that broke the illusion. My focus has shifted now. I want to capture the full experience of the event, not just the reenactment itself. The modern elements, the people, the setting—they’re all part of the story worth telling.

This year, I took a panoramic shot to show the spectators gathered along the bridge. It’s a composite of five images. Unfortunately, the crowd ended up disappointed. There was no crossing: the water level was too low for the replica Durham boats—built in 1975—to launch. The same thing happened at the practice event two weeks earlier—a real bummer.

One of the highlights of the day is watching when reenactors carry their long oars down to the boats as part of the preparation for boarding the replica Durham boats. They're portraying John Glover’s Marblehead Regiment, who rowed Washington’s army across the Delaware on that fateful night of December 25–26, 1776.

Catching the expressions of the reenactors carrying their oars to the boats. Here, the expression is contentment. Maybe he's happy because he's part of the event, because they're not rowing across the Delaware on this day, or because it's Christmas and he's envisioning what the rest of the day will be like. We don't know; we can only imagine! 

The pomp and pageantry as the reenactors march toward the Durham boats is always impressive to witness. First come the rowers, followed by the troops—serious, focused, and moving in crisp unison. On this particular day, no boarding would take place.

But there is always the speech.

George Washington’s address to his troops—drawn from the words he read on December 25, 1776, taken from Thomas Paine’s The American Crisis—is delivered before the crossing. It is a stirring & powerful moment.  Afterward, Washington moves down the line, inspecting his men with a watchful, deliberate eye.

George Washington was known for his reserved, taciturn demeanor, yet he also possessed a famously fiery temper when pushed too far. After all the photos I’ve taken of him over the years—and there are many—I don’t believe I’ve ever captured one quite like this, where he looks genuinely angry about something. What set him off, I wonder? It certainly makes you think.

Sometimes failures turn into unexpected successes—and that’s exactly what happened here. Getting photos in perfect focus can be a real challenge. My first SLR camera and Nikon’s first autofocus film camera, was the 2020 model, didn’t make it any easier. Back in the day, it took several seconds to lock focus and made a squeaky, door-like sound while doing so. For nostalgic reasons, I recently tried shooting film again with this camera. It didn’t go quite as planned, as I shared in blog #91.

At events like this, the action is nonstop, and sometimes the camera can’t keep up. When that happens, you get an out-of-focus shot—the very thing photographers try to avoid. But every once in a while, you get lucky.

This was one of those moments.

The soft blur makes the image look almost like a painting. You can tell its George Washington, and the pose feels reverent—like he’s praying. I never could have planned a shot like this, even if I tried. Sometimes the imperfections create something unexpectedly powerful.

Click here for Washington's Crossing 2025 Photo Gallery!

Thank you for reading! Blog #106 will be posted on March 15, 2026. Be safe & well!

Huzzah,

Ken Bohrer