Visit with Photo Engineer

[falotico]

I had a chance yesterday and today to go to Rochester, NY and visit with Photo Engineer, Ron Mowrey. We had wonderful conversations (among other talents he can speak Japanese, French, German, Russian, and some Greek) and I showed him some dye transfer tests made by Technicolor in the 40s and 50s.

On the subject of dye transfer I mentioned a patent from 1950 that Kodak owned which described a process to dye tanned gelatin on the basis of isoelectric point. The inventors of the process were David Dean and Robert Houck--Patent number 2,529,922. They discovered that acid dyes would stain tanned gelatin if the dye solution had a Ph lower than the isoelectric point of the gelatin. The isoelectric point of gelatin could be lowered if the image was developed by a tanning developer such a pyrogallol. Similarly, basic dyes would stain gelatin if the dye solution Ph was greater than the isoelectric point of the gelatin. The whole concept seems promising.

Photo Engineer and I talked of many things from the Mercury Program to his interactions with the executives from Kodak. Did you know that Kodak had bins the size of a room that were filled with dye couplers? You could shovel out pounds of the color you needed into a bucket.

I will post a photo when I get back to my regular computer.

 

[Bill Burk]

falotico,

I'm envious, and happy to hear you got to spend time with PE...

Did you talk about Pluto flyby?

Regards,

Bill

 

[samcomet]

Wow! He's my absolute hero!!! :joyful: I am envious of you. Looking forward to seeing some photos too. Thanks.
cheers,
Sam

 

[EdSawyer]

Nice info! I bet there are a lot of great stories of Kodak in it's heyday, like that. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Peter Simpson]

Kodak is one of those companies, like Xerox, IBM and The Bell System, that used to be powerhouses in basic research. I was reading recently about Kodak's work in cameras and lenses for the SR-71 and spy satellites. Now that adaptive optics are public knowledge, it seems amazing that this work was done in the 50s and 60s, without the computer modelling and simulation we take for granted nowadays.

Thanks to both you and PE for sharing.

 

[Old_Dick]

The more I learn about Ron, the more I'm impressed. Very nice person.

 

[BrianShaw]

What a great experience! Bur for those of us who may never get to meet him in person, please do tell: Is he really 12 feet tall? Does he really have a halo, or a glow around his body? What is his favorite flavor of Jello?

Like Sam said earlier... I'm jealous!

 

[Bob Carnie]

I have been lucky enough to meet with Ron a couple of times now at GEH and he was very gracious to intro me to Mark O , Chris and others. His emulsions on paper
are exceptional and he is wonderful to talk with.
I hope to keep on visiting GEH and Ron.

 

[c.d.ewen]

Can't tell. It's been years since I've been in his presence, but back then my eyes were always respectfully focused at his feet. I did notice a distinct aroma of French toast with maple syrup, though, and now that I think of it, I'm not sure his feet touched the ground.

Charley

What a great experience! Bur for those of us who may never get to meet him in person, please do tell: Is he really 12 feet tall? Does he really have a halo, or a glow around his body? What is his favorite flavor of Jello?

Like Sam said earlier... I'm jealous!

 

[Sirius Glass]

While I have taken inorganic and biochemistry, I do not have the photochemical background to take PE's time one on one.

 

[M Carter]

PE is a badass. His generosity has helped me here many times.

 

[Photo Engineer]

I think I'm feeling

Thanks guys. I just got in from GEH where the new workshop is going on.

PE

 

[Photo Engineer]

PS, after working with photographic gelatin for years, I no longer eat Jello!!!

PE

 

[Prof_Pixel]

Here's a picture of Ron and Mark at the GEH last week.

 

[Photo Engineer]

And that is what steroids do for you. I've gained more than 30 pounds since the Avatar photo was taken.

PE

 

[Sirius Glass]

Here's a picture of Ron and Mark at the GEH last week.

Is Ron on the right or left?

 

[falotico]

It was an honor to visit with PE. I will post a full report when I get back to a reliable computer.