I located my PIX!!!
I'm back after a LOOONG absence! Our printing business has been very busy and trying to get back into photography has taken an awful lot of my time.
On the UPSIDE, I've located several hundred slides and negs that I've been looking for since this thread began!
I'd forgotten that I'd sent much (if not most) of my slides and negs to my Dad when I was in Nam'. He was an avid photographer and I knew he'd take care of them for me. I talked to him last night on the phone and he's going to box all of it up and send it to me.
I have no earthly idea what he's got, but it sounds like he's got a lot of stuff! As soon as I get it, I'll have to start going through it to see what's there. I'll be posting more pix as soon as I can go through it all.
My last post, I think I talked a little about our training, so I'll pick up from there at this point.
As I mentioned, the photo school was very good and the training heavily emphasized the fundamentals. We came out of it as a "jack of all trades, and master of none". By that I mean, we'd been trained in portraiture, closeup & macro, flash, studio, photojournalism. I can do any, or all of those things reasonably well, but I'm certainly not the BEST at any of them.
The final phase of our training was intensly concentrated on aerial, reconnassance, and Combat photography.
The aerial photo training was a lot of fun and was without a doubt some of the most difficult. As an example, we had to learn how to make aerial photo mosaid MAPS. This required a thorough knowledge of something like ten or twelve difference mathematical formulas to determine, altitude, ground gain, exposure intervals, etc. The system was extraordinarily complex and each step relied on the previous one. If you got an incorrect calculation on the first, second, etc. step, there was no way the last one could be correct. Accuracy was therefore of paramount importance.
I don't ever remember having to use any of that stuff, but the other aerial training turned out to be very important when I arrived in-country. I probably took more photos in the air in that one year than most people will take in a lifetime. Aerial shooting has it's own set of unique problems that vary by aircraft, speed, altitude and all the rest. The FIRST and most important rule is that you never allow your hands or arms to rest on any portion of the aircraft due to the induced vibration. This is particularly true in rotary (helicopter) aircraft. Those damned choppers vibrate so much, it's a wonder they don't fall apart in mid-flight. If you know the basics however, they make a good shooting platform as they can fly (or even hover) at slower speeds than others.
That brings us down to the COMBAT PHOTOGRAPHY training! That was an absolute JOKE! They took us up to Ft. Dix, N.J. and we spent a week or two in the filed with an AIT (Advanced Infantry Training) unit there. We basically just followed them around, burning film. We got NO specific training on HOW to shoot combat pictures, it was simply an exercise in "hanging with the troops". I suppose that the one thing we did learn during that short spell was to "stay out of the way" of the troops and not interfere with their mission. In looking back on it however, I guess that was the most important aspect of Combat Photography. Interfering or getting in the way of the "grunts" caused hard feelings as well as endagered lives.
I remember one "jackass" of a photographer I went on ONE mission with, who was constantly getting up, walking around, talking and generally exposing our position until one of the grunts told him "if I have to tell you one more time, I'll shoot your sorry ass"! When we got back to our base and the photo lab, I told our 1st Sgt. that I WOULD NOT make another mission with him. He was quickly re-assigned to work in the studio and lab at base camp.
I think I'll close for now, I'm rambling on again! As soon as I get my hands on all the "lost film", I'll post more pix.
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