How did a Heathkit oscilloscope move me into the world of SLRs?
A good friend of mine, Don, had an SLR. It’s been a while and I don’t remember for sure the make and model. But, it was full manual and had a universal lens mount, meaning the lens screwed onto the body. Don would expain to me the basics of f/stops and depth of field. He also was in the OSU engineering program, so we liked to talk technology and physics. It happened that while Don had an SLR, I had an oscilloscope. It was a fairly simple scope, a low-end Heathkit I had built. I won’t bore you with an explanation of what an oscilloscope is – a Google search will do that.
Anyway, Don needed to use an oscilloscope, and I really wanted to play with a good camera, meaning an SLR. So we did a swap. It wasn’t a swap forever, it was a swap for temporary. How weird is that? In fact, I still have the scope and should really get rid of it. But using Don’s SLR hooked me. I always loved taking photos, but this was so much more. All these creative techniques were there for me to explore.
I soon purchased my own SLR, the newly announced Canon AE-1. My friend, Dick Boden, who’s picture I show here (with me in his glasses) was a great photographer and avid Olympus shooter. He owned the OM-1 and OM-2 bodies and a host of lenses. The AE-1, he told me, had this new fangled autowinder. It was hugely cheaper than the power drives on more expensive cameras, just slower. But, I’d be able to attach it to my helmet and shoot in freefall. Cool.
I bought the AE-1 and the power winder, and Dick helped me fashion a camera mount onto a helmet. I bought a six-foot remote release which I could maneuver down to my hand, and I was good to go. Well, it’s tougher shooting in freefall than it looks, but I did get some decent shots. Maybe I’ll dig some up and scan them.
Sadly, in 1977, Dick was jumping in Florida with a helmet mount similar to mine. During parachute deployment, his chute caught in the mount causing what we called a malfunction which took his young life. Dick was a great friend, also an engineer, and a mentor. I’ll never forget him or his influence on my photography. I miss you Dick.
Sigh. Anyway, that’s the long version of the oscilloscope story. How Heathkit helped direct my passion for photography. Here’s another shot from back then. Not sure if this was using Don’s camera or the AE-1, but it’s one of my favorites. It’s my wife, my love, my friend, Lynne.
