A Cornell Capa Story

Sometime in the late 1960's or early 70's, my father, then a graphic designer with IBM had the task of designing an important project requiring photography. The shot needed was of a high-level board meeting. Since this was an important project, he hired renowned photographer, Cornell Capa to do the shoot. The execs said "NO STROBES OR FLASH". The conditions were poor, lighting was low, so Cornell said the shots will be very grainy, and may not be acceptable. Without any other options, the shoot took place and as Cornell warned, the shots came back unacceptably grainy.

The shots were subsequently rejected by the executives, despite being warned this would happen. A big problem that now needed a big solution!

My dad liked the shots, and thought he could save the job if he enlarged them, and have a retoucher airbrush or reduce the grain from the shots.

At great expense, he proceeded with the retouching. This is pre-digital, so all airbrushing was done by guess what...an airbrush!

The large, retouched prints were reproduced to smaller sizes, tightening-up any minor imperfections.

The job turned out to be a perfect success, and my dad was commended for his solution, saving the job and a difficult situation.

Capra's photos were terrific, despite the grain, but the retouching saved them from the cutting room floor.

Cornell Capra, and his brother Robert, are important figures in the history of photography.

Here's Wikipedia info on Cornell:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornell_Capa

A cool story, I'm glad to share! Feel free to comment.