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Table of Contents:
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RALPH B. WHITE
MEMORIAL
2008
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FEED BACK
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"His friends have carried out his last wish, taking his ashes to every continent"
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One of the greatest men that ever lived, passed away on Monday, February 4th, 2008.
He was the CTS' 2nd Vice president as well as a very dear and BEST friend that will be greatly missed.
He is survived by his daughter Krista, son Randy, son-in-law, Darren, and by fiancé Rosaly Lopes.
Ralph, Krista and Darren
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Fiancé Rosaly and Ralph
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RALPH
B. WHITE
Ralph enjoyed 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.
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He
was 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
held the record for the most number of dives to the 12,000 foot deep wreck of
the Titanic, and was 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 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 Pacificus. 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 won The Grenoble
Film Festival Gold
Medal
Golden Eagle, Cindy, and Golden Halo.
Ralph
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 Burrud's Animal World, Challenging
Sea, Treasure, Islands In The Sun, True Adventures, The Wonderful World Of Women
and Wanderlust. Ralph 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 included; D.B. Needham, J. Walter Thompson, D.J.M.C.
And The Honig, Cooper, & Harrington Advertising Agencies.
He
was 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 was 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.
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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
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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.
He was 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.
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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 II" 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".
1999: On September 17, 1999, through the combined and coordinated efforts of Ralph B. White, Pilot, Dr. Anatoly Sagalevitch, Observers; Mike McDowell & Fred Mclaren, took the CTS memorial plaque (below), to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, two and a half miles below the surface, where R.M.S. TITANIC lies after striking an iceberg, April 14, 1912. The plaque was placed at the foot of the ship's "Telemotor" where the steering wheel of the once proud ocean liner used to be.
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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.
***Death didn't stop this world traveler***
His friends have carried out his last wish, taking his ashes to every continent
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