In conversation with ... Richard (RP) Crowe

[Donald]

©Image, Steve (Wirefox)


Name: Richard Crowe
Location: In a semi-rural area near Escondido, California, about 35 miles (56 km or so) north of San Diego.
Website: http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/

CiC: Richard, thanks very much for taking the time to participate in this series.

I am happy to reply...

Perhaps we can start by you telling us something about your general back-ground. What about your work history – anything interesting?

My Navy and my photographic career began in the Naval Reserve from 1957-1960 during which time I attended Navy Boot Camp and then, Navy Photographer's Mate "A" School at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, Florida.

When I reported for active duty I was attached to Light Photographic Squadron Sixty Two, Jacksonville, Florida (1960-1963). My squadron flew the single place Chance Vaught F8U-1P Photo Crusader aircraft and did the low level photo reconnaissance of the Cuban Crisis. I processed and printed the large photos of the Russian missiles in Cuba which Ambassador Adlai Stevenson displayed in the United Nations.

Later my duty included working in the Photo Lab of the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia (1963-1964) from which I was selected to attend the Special One-Year Enlisted Cinematography Program at the University of Southern California. As a result of that training, I eventually became a Navy Motion Picture Director. Also, as a result of my year at USC, I found that I liked higher level education and ended my educational career with two Bachelors and one Master's Degree.

Upon completion of my USC Program, I was assigned to the Pacific Fleet Combat Camera Group, NAS North Island, San Diego, California. I served with the Combat Camera Group from 1965-1972 and spent about 26 months In-Country Vietnam as a Combat Cameraman and Naval Aircrewman. I filmed all facets of Navy and Marine Corps activities during that conflict.

Some of the activities that I covered included three opposed Marine Corps amphibious landings, all activities of the "Brownwater Navy" including the introduction of the PBR river patrol boats and PACV air-cushion vehicles to the conflict. I flew with the Navy Seawolf “Huey” helicopters and the Navy Black Pony, Light Attack Squadron-4 attack aircraft. I documented Navy Seals inserting acoustic, magnetic and seismic sensors for the Dufflebag program and I made an incursion into Cambodia with the Vietnamese Navy. I filmed a Navy Surgical Team working in a Vietnamese hospital in Rach Gia on the Gulf of Thailand and filmed medical evacuation operations of Marine Corps casualties from the field in the I Corps Area to USS Tripoli where I also covered the triage and surgery. I was pulled from Vietnam and sent to the DMZ in Korea right after USS Pueblo was captured by the North Koreans and I spent a month on the DMZ in that country.

In the interim between deployments to the Pacific area, I covered Navy activities and events such as Sealab II and did a film on the history of the aircraft carrier for which I shot film interviews with Navy aviators from World War II and earlier.

My next duty station was the Naval Weapons Evaluation Facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico where I spent four years (1972-1975) running the photo lab and from there to USS Constellation (CV-64) where I became Leading Chief Petty Officer of the ship's Intelligence Center (CVIC) and later was assigned as Constellation's Photographic Officer and OP Division Officer (1975-1978).

I received orders to Fighter Squadron One-Two-Four at NAS Miramar, California where I was the work center supervisor for the introduction of the Tactical Air Reconnaissance Pod System (TARPS) for the Navy F-14 aircraft from 1978-1980.

I then returned to the Combat Camera Group of the Pacific Fleet Audio Visual Command where I my duties included Command Senior Chief and Training Officer (1980-1984).

By this time I had promoted myself out of any jobs in the San Diego Area and I was anxious to remain there. I crossed trained as a Drug and Alcohol Counsellor and retired from the U.S. Navy Drug and Alcohol Counsellors School in San Diego where I served as an instructor.

After I retired from the Navy, I worked in several non-profit agencies assisting persons with disabilities enter the competitive workforce. I also shot weddings and other commercial assignments. By that time, I realized that my arthritis demanded that I pursue a more sedentary occupation than photography as my main source of income. It was a wise choice.

And what about your family life?

I am married to a wonderfully supportive and intelligent lady who is a retired professor emeritus at a local college. Judy taught nursing for many years until she retired.

We have grown children and grandchildren in Carlsbad, California, near where we live, and in Albuquerque, New Mexico and upstate New York.

EDITOR'S PICK #1
On the basis that we couldn't have this interview published without some pictorial reference to the work that Richard and his wife do in rescuing Maltese dogs (that's the breed, not dogs from Malta!), we have this one. See Richard's comments below on this work.

If you were staying in tonight, what would you choose as one of your favourite books and/or films to keep you entertained, and what you be having as a favourite meal?
I like books concerning history, both non-fiction and historical novels. I very much enjoy documentary films on the Vietnam Conflict. Occasionally, I will spy some of my own footage in these films and then it is déjà vu.

OK, photography is a given, but what about other hobbies or personal interests?

I enjoy genealogy and have been lucky enough to trace some of my line back to the Kings of Scotland, such as David I and Robert the Bruce and also to many English royalty back to William the Conqueror and from there to Norman France. I also descend from some very important leaders of the Cherokee Nation. My people began coming to America in 1634 and, of course, my Cherokee ancestors were already well established here before my European ancestors arrived.

Judy and I once raised and showed pedigree Maltese dogs but, for the last four or five years or so, have dedicated ourselves to the rescue of these little white dogs. We fostered and placed over thirty Maltese in “FUREVER” homes during 2010. We also have a wonderful 70-pound Goldendoodle who shares our home with us.

Judy and I both enjoy traveling. We travel quite a bit in our motor home and we spent two weeks in China during 2010. I have visited Alaska in 2008 and spend a few glorious days. Last year, in Yosemite National Park, California which is one of the most photogenic natural areas I have ever visited. On our list of future travels is back to Utah for the Fall colors and Washington, D.C. next Spring.

Let's get on to photography - how long have you been a photographer, and what got you interested in the first place?

I answered most of that when describing my career but, I distinctly remember my first “real camera”, a half-frame 35mm Mercury-II which my father bought from a friend who needed money and gave to me when I was fifteen years old. It had no rangefinder, nor an exposure meter but, it did have a shutter capable of up to 1/1,000 second and an f/2.7 lens which was remarkably fast in the mid 1950’s.

What type of photography are you interested in, and why?

I am interested in just about any type of photography and especially like to document my travels and photograph my dogs. Good pictures of rescue dogs are literally life saving, since they spur interest in adoption.

Any particular photographic influences?

I have read about photography and photographers all of my life. Most people who live in the developed nations of the world have had a great opportunity to study photography. We are constantly bombarded with images from newspapers, magazines, movies and television. However, most people only look at those images, never really “seeing” them.

What do you hope to achieve through your photography - or what have you achieved already?

I am 71 years old, soon to be 72. My photography is for my own enjoyment and to help our rescue Maltese find “FUREVER” homes. It is a wonderful feeling to take a Maltese whom no one has been interested in and producing an image of the dog that spurs peoples interest in adopting it.

What you think of CiC? Any way it could be improved? Where should it go from here, in your opinion?

I am very happy with CIC and visit it every day. I have learned a lot from the forum and I have, I hope, contributed to it.

Getting more personal if you don't mind...what keeps you awake at night, apart from Photoshop?

I really don’t have many worries except a bit of arthritis. Judy and I are extremely lucky to be in good financial, physical and mental health. We both exercise regularly, watch our diets and try to lead a reasonably healthy life.

I have to ask this…. What photographic gear do you own, and what software do you use for editing?

I shoot Canon 1.6x crop equipment and have cameras ranging from the old D60 (not 60D) to the latest 7D. I have a great assortment of lenses and shoot most often with a my 7D and 40D wearing 17-55mm f/2.8 IS and 70-200mm f/4L IS lenses. My flashes are the Canon 550EX and 430EX as well as White Lightning and Multiblitz studio strobes.

It’s a tough one to answer, but how would you rate your photographic skills and ability?

My skills are far better than most; yet vastly inferior to some. I was a better motion picture cameraman than a still photographer but, I am not really interested in video. It seems too much like work. I am always learning and experimenting with stills. The advent of digital photography has been a boon to me, since once the equipment is purchased, shooting is virtually free.

What will the digital camera be like in 2020? And will you still own one?

If I am still here in 2020, I will definitely own a digital camera. Could be my 7D. I don’t change cameras like some people do. I skipped an entire generation of Canon cameras (EOS film) and continued to shoot with FD manual focus cameras until I purchased my first DSLR; the Canon 10D.

Are you in a position to help or encourage others in their photography?

Through my local photo clubs and also through a doodle website that has a photo group.

Another tough one for you…do you consider photography to be art?

It is both an art and a science. Mastering both is necessary for a successful product. However, it is less of an up-front science than it once was when I had to mix my processing chemicals from their individual ingredients and certainly less of a science than when photographers needed to concoct their own wet plates before shooting. Most of the science is now behind the scenes inside our remarkable DSLR cameras.

How do you feel about having your own shot taken?

I don’t mind it a bit but, don’t really like to look at my images. I don’t feel as old as I look and don’t like to be reminded of my age.

What single piece of advice do you think is most useful to someone starting out with photography?

Shoot, shoot and shoot some more and above all – seek and accept criticism from those you respect.

Can we see two of your shots that mean something special to you, and could you explain why.

Although I enjoy landscape photography such as this...



I really like bringing home images of people from my trips...



Finally, can you give us one interesting/weird/silly thing about you that we probably don’t know?

I have probably made every mistake that a photographer could possibly make. Luckily, I seem to have learned from most of them and seldom repeat the "mitstakes".


Click here to access all previous interviews in this series

[ktuli]

Excellent read, Richard!

- Bill

[jiro]

That is some photography experience you got there, Richard. Thank you very much for letting us know about your work history and the life you are having right now. An honor to meet you, Sir.

[Lon Howard]

Not only a wide and stimulating photography career but a fulfilling U.S. Navy career as well. As a fellow retired Navy CPO I express a hearty "well done" on both fronts, Richard. But please allow a small iota of jealousy, in that I was sent to Class A Personnel Man school in 1957 instead of Photographer's Mate school.

[koolkat]

Since joining this web site, I had read some of Richard's comments and knew He has a lot of experience & lots to share. Reading this "interview" confirms those thoughts & I for one look forward to more of his "suggestions".

[Dave Humphries]

Wow, what a history Richard!

Especially the Navy career encompassing so much real "history" (in the world sense) - it makes most people's rather bland by comparison.

... and of course, more photographic experience than we can shake a stick at.

Thanks for sharing,

[Peter Ryan]

Thanks Richard, I am just catching up on some reading and like all of these it does not disappoint. We do have some very interesting characters here at CIC with interests outside photography that help ground us.