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Simcoe, Ontario

Canada

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 "Titanic"

20-foot  model/float

 

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Table of Contents:

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**Ralph's column in The CTS' journal, The Wireless: "LOST and FOUND"

 

RALPH B. WHITE

Ralph White enjoys a distinguished professional career as an award winning cinematographer, video cameraman, and editor with over thirty years of production experience and hundreds of motion picture and television credits.

  Ralph is one of the few experienced people in the methods and technologies required to safely reach deep ocean depths to acquire images. In 1985, he documented the expedition that found the Wreck Of The R.M.S Titanic and in 1987 he co-directed the salvage operation and photography during the recovery of over 1400 artifacts from the Titanic's debris field. He was the submersible cameraman for the 1991 Imax 7o mm feature film Titanica, and in 1995 was the expedition leader and a second unit cameraman for Jim Cameron's 20th Century Fox Feature Titanic. White holds the record for the most number of dives to the 12,000 foot deep wreck of the Titanic, and has qualified as a co-pilot of the French Nautile and Russian Mir submersibles. His latest feature credit was universal's Virus.

For more than twenty five years Ralph has served as a contract cameraman for the National Geographic Society, where he and staff photographer Emory Kristof pioneered the development of advanced remote cameras, 3-D Video, H.D.T.V., and deep ocean imaging and lighting systems. His assignments have included; the Discovery Of Active Volcanic Vents and their unique biological colonies in both the deep waters of the Eastern Pacific Rise and Mid-Atlantic Ridges. The first multinational Exploration Of Lake Baykal in remote Siberia. He has filmed the world's whales and sharks, including the largest ever seen flesh-eating shark, a 30'Somniosus Pactficus. He has been to both poles, and filmed the 153-year-old wreck of the HMS Breadalbane under the arctic ice cap. Other N.G.S. credits 'include; Loch Ness, Suruga Bay, Wild Horses, Reptiles, Sharks, The Beebe Project and The Great Whales which won the coveted "Emmy" for best documentary. His cinematography has won The Grenoble Film Festival Gold Medal Golden Eagle, Cindy, and Golden Halo.

White served as one of the field producers and cameramen for the Alan Landsburg television series Those Amazing Animals, That's Incredible, as well as Bill Burruds Animal World, Challenging Sea, Treasure, Islands In The Sun, True Adventures, The Wonderful World Of Women and Wanderlust. White was one of the innovators in documenting the behind-the-scenes making of a major motion picture with Columbia's The Deep 20th century fox's Tora-Tora-Tora, and The Valley Of The Dolls. He co hosted and was a segment producer and cameraman for Jack Douglas's Adventure and Journey series. He’s covered the thrills of victory for ABC's Wide World Of Sports, NBC's Sports In Action and CBS's Sports Spectacular. His commercial credits include; D.B. Needham, J. Walter Thompson, D.J.M.C. And The Honig, Cooper, & Harrington Advertising Agencies.

He is a highly qualified Helicopter & Astrovision Aerial Specialist, and was the co-inventor of the Bell Camera Helmet, which he first used in the filming the free fall skydiving sequences for Ivan Tors Ripcord series.

Ralph White is a Knight, Order Of Saint Lazarus, Knight Order Of Constantine, and the recipient of the Cross Of Scotland for his filming and conservation accomplishments. His extensive field experience has been rewarded by his peers, as; A Fellow, The Royal Geographical Society Fellow, The Explorers Club, Fellow, The Academy Of Underwater Arts & Sciences, and past president of The Adventurers' Club as a highly decorated reserve forces captain, Ralph commanded the elite award winning Los Angeles county sheriffs department's photographic unit.

BIOGRAPHY OF RALPH B. WHITE

1976: Member of the original team of Dr. Robert Ballard from Woodshole Oceanographic Institute, Emory Kristof from the National Geographic Society, and Bill Tantum of the Titanic Historical Society that first proposed the idea of mounting an expedition to search for the wreck site of the R.M.S. TITANIC.

1978: Cameraman for the National Geographic Photographic team of Emory Kristof and Al Chandler that first deployed a 12,500 foot Deep Ocean Imaging & Lighting Systems from the U.S. Coast Guard cutter "EVERGREEN" over the purported sinking site of the TITANIC, 41 degrees 46 min­utes north, 50 degrees 14 minutes west.

1985: Cameraman for the four man American Team of Dr. Robert Ballard, Emory Kristof, and Billy Lang, from Woodshole to begin phase one (the sonar search) for the R.M.S. TITANIC aboard the EFREMER Research Vessel "LE SUROIT" utilizing the French "S.A.R." Side Scan Sonar System.

Cameraman for the phase two (Electronic Imaging Search) aboard the Woodshole Research Vessel "KNORR", which found the wreck of the TITANIC on September 1, 1985 utilizing the towed vehicles "Jason & ARGO".

1987: American Team Leader and Sub Sea Photographer for the TITANIC Artifact Recovery Expedition aboard the EFREMER Research Vessel "NADIR", utilizing the 20,000 foot deep diving submersible "NAUTILE." recovered and documented over 1,400 artifacts for the International Preservation & Trust Fund.

1991: IMAX Sub Sea Cameraman and navigator for the feature length Imax film "TITANICA", utilizing the Russian Research Vessel "KELDYSH" and their two 20,000 foot submersibles "MIR 1 & MIR H which were equipped with the newly designed 5,000 watt H.M.I. Lighting Systems, which he help develop.

1992: Co-expedition leader for the MAREX / R.O.V. TITANIC operation aboard the R/V SEA MUSSEL.

1994: Developed specialized photographic & lighting equipment and planned the second unit filming on the wreck of the TITANIC for filmmaker Jim Cameron.

1995: Expedition Leader and Second Unit Cameraman aboard the R/V Keldysh for the hundred million dollar 20th Century Fox /Jim Cameron feature film "TITANIC".

STATISTICS: Number of dives: 35 aboard a deep diving sub­mersible. abort due to a battery buss failure at depth.

Numbers of hours: over 400+ hours on the wreck site.

Titanic Expeditions:

1978; 1985; 1987; 1991; 1992; 1995; 1999; 2000, 2001 & 2005.

 

                                     

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