A jaunt down Memory Lane..
Danny "The Eskimo" Tichonchuk was a nice guy and welcomed me to the San Diego Union and Tribune Photo Lab with helpful hints.
He encouraged me to "hang in there" when I was hired and assigned to the tiny Wirephoto Room (still going to school) where I could do course reading after I turned the lights back on.
I often would read during the 7-minutes it took for an AP photo to be transmitted then I would turn off the overhead light, flip on the reddish-yellow "safe light," open the machine, take out the newly-exposed photo paper, wrap a new sheet around the drum, close the machine and then process the one just received in the trays of developer and fixer. Then it would wash for 10 minutes or so after I turned the white light on again.
This was time to "hit the books" again before the cycle repeated itself. And it did over and over as I was privileged to be seeing the BEST examples of news-worthy photography.
When the prints were properly washed, I would drain them and take them down the short hallway to dry them on the glossy dryer so they would have the shiny finish necessary for use in the paper.
We really didn't worry about extended washing for long-lasting archival quality. These were news photos shot by AP professionals from around the world, and were discarded at the end of the day.
The Photo Editor would have seen the facsimile thin paper copy and alert me when he was really interested in a shot.
Sometimes I got a LOT of reading done for school and other times, not so much "white light."
Stan Griffin started a few of us in Wire photo so we could see these professional images and learn a thing or two about how to be a winner with our camera. Stan knew what he was doing!
After about 6 months I "graduated" to the large room where multiple prints and enlargements were made for the CNS, Copley News Service, working with Al Sund.
Shortly thereafter, I was paired in a small darkroom with Thane McIntosh and went out on my first assignment as a staff photographer for the San Diego Union and the Evening Tribune.
I started this during my sophomore year then took a break from college for four years to concentrate on being a news photographer. I got married, had two children and DID return to USD for my final two years and got my BA in English/Journalism in 1968.
Stan encouraged me to complete my education and he and Charlie Sick arranged for me to work weekends and split days off when I went back to school.
I never did make the cover of TIME Magazine but I DID graduate in 1968 so I did a bit of manual cut-and-paste to have me featured.
In 1964, my full page in its sister publication LIFE, was for real.
I had snapped two shots of a sign I saw carved in an apple orchard while flying back from shooting aerials of surfers.
The paper turned it down (?) so I offered it to the national magazine. It was the Miscellany Page and I got a byline...and a $300 check.
After I graduated and had my BA in English and Journalism, I wanted to apply to the paper's Copley Training program and move over to the writing side of newspapering.
Stan Griffin broke the bad news to me.
After so many years as a staff photographer, my pay grade was much higher than the entry level for the writing/reporter slot. To use my newly-received diploma, I would have to take a cut in pay.
Instead, I started looking around and got hired as a Researcher by the CBS Cronkite Morning News. A new direction for my career in news.
Here are some miscellaneous views of me in the 1960s:
Labels: #Evening Tribune, #San Diego Union, CBS Cronkite News, CNS, Cousteau injured, Goodyear blimp, Healthy Exercise, LBJ, Minnesota Fats, President Kennedy, TIME & LIFE
"Hot enough for you?"
What a silly question!
Unless it's a waitress asking about your cup of coffee.
Or someone fiddling with the shower controls and making adjustments.
Certainly NOT when discussing the weather.
Weather is eternal as this picture taken way back in the 60s will attest.
I was a staff photographer then for the San Diego Union-Tribune daily newspaper.
The paper encouraged its photographers to keep an eye out for feature-type photos that could run with just a caption.
My son is 3rd from the left in this shot taken in our front yard.
Yes, he was upstaged by the boy with the swim mask who had ignored my request that nobody look at the camera. Well, sure, that's the one the editor chose.
A few years earlier, he was in a different type of "hot weather" caption-only shot.
Hot weather, kids, water hoses and tiny inflatable pools were all pretty easy ways to see my photos published in the paper.
Having young children of my own meant "willing" models to capture these chilling moments.
It wasn't just weather shots.
When Chris was 3, he and I toured the San Diego Aerospace museum.
It ran as a long-caption item.
Not really a fleshed-out story, just a look at a boy in wonder, looking over a brief history of aviation.
The availability of exciting pieces of history meant I could move him around in a time warp - from a WWII Flying Tiger aircraft to a Mercury capsule suborbital spaceship like the one that carried John Glenn aloft.
The resulting story inspired some of my fellow photographer at the paper to take a hard look at their relatively idle children.
Hmm, they wondered, what setup could be used so their kid too could appear in print.
I was having a good time and my son enjoyed the new, strange surroundings his dad was showing him.
One joint effort with a fellow parent-with-a-camera was for a pre-Valentine's Day story.
The illustrations were to show his young girl in the role of Cupid, with a rubber-tipped arrow in her bow.
(The actual steel-tipped arrow was added for this shot.)
My son was to carry a large heart-shaped box of chocolates.
As I recall, he got a haircut and a new striped outfit.
In the 3-picture sequence, she sneaks up, shoots the arrow through the candy box, then hugs and tries to kiss his cheek as he squirms out of her grasp,
Sounded pretty simple but it took more than an hour to get the shots we wanted.
Here's the key shot, taken on a cool February day in Balboa Park.
As I said, using our kids in shots was not limited to just the weather.
One of the pictures taken in the Aerospace Museum showed my son giving his impression of the toothy look of a WWII Fighting Tiger airplane.
It was included in an overview full page which heralded that the camera could not laugh.
I still enjoy trying to catch scenes that raise a smile.
Or, even better, a full hearty laugh.
(Click on the photos for more details.)
Thanks for stopping by.
Sitting in front of my computer, with the AC keeping me cool, sure beats going out to take some hot weather shots.
When I show this picture of President Johnson campaigning, I often have to explain who he is.
Sigh.
It WAS a long time ago when I took his picture in San Diego.
Labels: Hot enough for you?, kids..ignore the camera, LBJ, pre-Valentine's Day, President Lyndon Baines Johnson, SD Aerospace Museum in the 1960s, Splish Splash..., wild blue yonder
A Grand Moment In History....
My younger brother reminded me he was in Washington for the
John F. Kennedy inauguration. As we can see from his snapshot, he stood in a great spot.
It was the Senior trip for his class from Bishop England high school.
The bad news is he lost his new class ring while throwing snowballs.
I was fortunate to have been in D.C. for the Jimmy Carter ceremonies and, during my time as a newspaper staff photographer, I took pictures of Kennedy and LBJ.
I see a definite Democratic Party trend here.
But, here's the odd part: last year I was visiting in the District of Columbia and went to the exact spot where my brother believes he lost his ring 48 years ago.
There was no snow this time.
There also was no trace of his ring either.
(Take a look at the "fins" on those cars!)
Labels: Democratic Party, inauguration, John F. Kennedy, LBJ, President Jimmy Carter, school ring, senior class trip
Stan Griffin started a few of us in Wire photo so we could see these professional images and learn a thing or two about how to be a winner with our camera. Stan knew what he was doing!
The paper turned it down (?) so I offered it to the national magazine. It was the Miscellany Page and I got a byline...and a $300 check.
