I am studying the use of still photography
at Cape Canaveral, Florida from 1955-1966
and at Vandenberg AFB 1959-1966. I would
like to discuss equipment,conditions and
procedures for prelaunch and launch photos
of the missiles. My interest is spurred by
the Convair/General Dynamics Atlas missile
images I am printing and sorting for the
archives at San Diego Aerospace Museum.
Speed Graphics and Graphic Views were used
for many years at Cape Canaveral for 4x5
images. Also 8 x 10 Deardorff were used.<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: art45 on 2004-09-16 16:19 ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: art45 on 2004-09-16 17:04 ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: art45 on 2004-09-20 15:37 ]</font>

Hello Art45....

You might have already seen these 2 articles which were already on this website:

http://www.graflex.org/articles/experiences/archsmith/

http://www.graflex.org/articles/experiences/bernd/apollo1.html

I don't know for sure, but perhaps you could try to email the authors (by clicking on their names at the bottom of the articles) and they might be able to help you in your quest for information. The authors, however, seem to have been newspapermen in the Cape Canaveral area, so their "inside" knowledge of the inner-workings of NASA photo divisions may be limited. I believe that by the middle to end of the 1960's, NASA was using medium-format, (primarily Hasselblads), for most of their close-out still photography work.

You might also look at http://www.spacecraftfilms.com/ They have transferred many original 16mm and 35mm NASA archival films to DVD for consumer release. If you email or call them, they may have info about NASA still photography archives as well as the excellent motion picture transfers that they have done. Or they may have contact information for appropriate people at NASA that could help you.

I will also try to uncover additional information and if I can find anything of interest I will post again.

Any other regulars on these boards who might know anything??? Who knows, there may even be a retired NASA photographer or two who follow this Help Board!!!

Hope this helps!!!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: SobahGuy on 2004-09-17 07:46 ]</font>

Hi Art45,

Here are a couple of other possibilities for photographs and info...

http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/
http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/index.cfm

At the bottom of the 2nd linked page is contact info for a curator if you have further questions.

Hope this also helps.

Many thanks for the NASA information some of
which I have. I am really looking for RCA
Photo Lab people who did the actual photos
or processing or any documents about the early days. I would also include the missile
contractor phototogs as well for info. The
early stuff is probably not in NASA archives
but I will check it out. Much of the early
activities were military and not NASA; NASA
was actually a small player until Apollo
projects started with Ranger in 1961. The experienced people can tell some great
stories and fill in on equipment.
Thanks, sobahguy... I appreciate your help.


Art LeBrun