OUTSTANDING
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Doctor Doug White, PhD.
When I started teaching underwater photography
I ran into a challenge that I really hadn't given
much thought. The challenge was not teaching in the classroom, the challenge was
after making the dive and
taking the pictures, the students were a little impatient to see their results.
I do a lot of thinking ( some people call it
daydreaming ) and I got an idea that I tested to see if it would work.
The idea was to process the slide film right on the spot where we did the
diving. We actually had two
places that we used, one was local and the other was a quarry in Racine
Wisconsin.
Now, think about the challenge. How were we
going to process color slide film, which required a certain
chemical temperature and where were we going to do all the work it required:
unloading the film from the
camera, loading in a new role, and loading the film into the processing
container.
Actually this was not all that difficult. In
the photographic business they have what they call a changing bag.
This is a black bag ( light proof ) with a zipper and two places for you to put
your hands to work inside the bag.
This was great and we were then ready to
process the slide film in what was then the Kodak E-4 process.
Today, this process, I believe, has been replaced with the E-6 process.
Now, how was I going to get the chemicals to the right temperature?
As I sat at one of the locations, while the divers where in the water taking pictures, I gathered my thoughts.
First of all, I needed water. Water that could
be temperature regulated. To make a long story short I finally
decided to use the water that was contained in my car. Now, you must understand
that I have a great imagination.
What I decided was that I needed to build a
rigid clear plastic box with an opening on one end and a second opening
on the front of the box which could accept the rubber hose from the water
system. My plan was to loosen the hose at the
block ( the top of the radiator hose remained connected ) and connect it to the
end of the plastic box. A new
hose was to be connected from the front of the plastic box to the block where
the other hose had been connected.
Once this was complete I turned on the engine
and let it idle. I used a thermometer to measure the temperature of
the water running through the system. Actually, all I did was put the plastic
box into the system so that the water
that normally circulated through the block and the radiator had to also
circulate through the plastic box.
At the top of the box were 12 holes that
allowed me to put into each hole one covered container
of each chemical that was required to complete the color slide processing.
Oddly, it took twelve steps.
When the temperature reached the correct level
I started with the first step, then the second, then the third,
and so on until I had completed the 12 steps necessary for the slide film to
develop.
Once I had completed the 12 steps I simply
opened the slide film container and took out the reel of color
slide film. We didn't mount the slides, yet we were able to look at each slide
in sequence to critique it
for each of the divers.
This was very crude, yet, it worked and we were able to process on the spot and see the results.
This was the knowledge we needed to process
aboard a research vessel or yacht, in the middle of the ocean.
There is an answer for every challenge! Never give up...
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SPECIAL NOTE: When you are faced with a challenge, use your imagination.
As silly as it may seem at
the time, use your imagination and complete the process. Some of the people in
my group said that my idea
was crazy. I didn't listen and completed the project successfully.
Never listen to the prophets of doom. CDW.
“I work with people who want to live a longer, healthier, happier and
more prosperous lifestyle,
to any age they choose.” CDW.
Make contact today 1-
(Info@DrDougWhite.com)
Out of the U.S. send me an e-mail AbetterLife@DrDougWhite.com
and list your name,
phone number and the best time to call and I will make contact to get you
started. CDW.