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The pictures below are in alphabetical order according to file name, except where I have grouped them together by subject. They were originally taken on 35mm transparencies (Kodachrome and Ektachrome) between 1967 and 1980. Most pictures were taken using a Rollei 35 pocket camera or a Nikon EM with various lenses. They were converted to digital format by Gamma Laboratories in Chicago using the Kodak Photo CD process. Click on the thumbnails to get the full-sized pictures. Fair warning: If you have a slow connection, opening a full-sized picture may take some time.
I took this picture while I was in Albuquerque during EMP tests of the E-3A (a picture of which is below). Albuquerque hosts a hot-air balloon festival every summer. I took a better picture of a mass balloon ascent, but unfortunately that slide was ruined when I lent it to someone. The original Ektachrome slide was starting to fade, and so I digitally enhanced the colors of the image.
I visited Berlin with my family in the summer of 1967, during the Cold War. The image of Eastern Europe as a giant prison camp with guard towers and barbed wire to keep the people inside remains indelibly engraved in my memory. This picture was taken at the famous "Checkpoint Charlie" border crossing made famous in numerous spy novels. I used digital processing to give the image a stark look with purple, brown, and olive drab colors.
When I arrived at the California Institute of Technology in September 1973, Los Angeles County was suffering from its usual smog problem. Although the San Gabriel Mountains were only five miles north of campus, they were invisible. One morning in October, I awoke to the sound of a strong wind blowing. Looking out the window of my dormitory, I saw palm fronds and other debris blowing past. Thinking nothing more of it, I prepared for the day and walked out of the dormitory, heading for class. The sight of the previously invisible San Gabriel Mountains hit me like a bolt from heaven! The wind—known locally as the "Santa Ana"—had blown away the smog during the night. I had no idea the mountains were so dramatically close to the campus. I went back into the dormitory and grabbed my trusty Rollei 35. Later that day, I went onto the roof of the Bridge Laboratory to take a picture of the campus with the mountains in the background. Historians of science take note: I took this picture from the same spot where, in 1933, Carl Anderson's cloud chamber recorded the passing of a positron generated by cosmic rays, the first detected particle of anti-matter.
The Nikon EM camera, a gift from my father (an avid amateur photographer), was my first single-lens reflex camera. I enjoyed playing with various combinations of lenses. The daffodil pictures were taken with a macro lens adapter—a lens that attaches behind a normal lens to allow the camera to focus on very close objects. My wife had a friend paint a picture based on the second daffodil shot, and she used the picture to focus her mind on something other than pain while she was in labor with our first child.
This picture shows the E-3A being towed into position beneath an electromagnetic pulse simulator prior to being tested. You can read about my experiences testing the E-3A in the Dikewood section of my biography.
One of the fun things to do in New Mexico during the weekends while we were testing the E-3A was to take the cable car to the top of Sandia Peak. We could also drive up the back side. When the wind conditions were just right, hang glider pilots would jump from the face of a 2,000 foot cliff to catch the updrafts. We heard that one intrepid soul went 50 miles horizontally one afternoon after climbing unusually high on a thermal current.
The first picture is Hanauma Bay, Oahu. In this protected park, we snorkeled with the colorful fish. The fish knew we were no threat and swam close to us, probably looking for a handout. The second picture is a rock formation on Maui called the Iao Needle. The third picture was taken at the Polynesian Cultural Center on Oahu. The performers are displaying boat and clothing styles from Tahiti.
The first shot is a Killer Whale (Orca) swimming by during the show, the second is a Pilot Whale jumping for a treat.
We took this shot as my wife and I walked along the beach at sunset. It was her idea to take the picture. Even with digital enhancement, the picture does not quite capture the colors, but it comes close.
The colors on the digital version, particularly the red of the windmill blades and the blue of the sky, do not do justice to the original. As with all of these images, I wish I could have taken them digitally in the first place! |
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Last update: July 06, 2000 |
