I saw my first hologram on a watch in 1982 at a shop in Italy. It was a watch with a hologram of an Eagle on it. I was so captivated by the fact that a truly 3D image could be captured on a flat substrate that I had to buy it. I spent endless hours looking at that hologram, specifically at one little section and watching different parts of the Eagle come into view as I tilted the watch. I was amazed and hooked.

In the Beginning

I researched all I could about holography but resources were very limited. I then found at Edmunds Scientific a kit for Sandbox holography. I bought the kit and an additional book, The Holography Handbook Making Holograms the Easy Way, and constructed a small 4' by 4' by 3 1/2" sandbox on 4 inner tubes that sat right on the floor of our basement. Edmunds also has a Metrologic 1/2mW HeNe laser kit that I bought and constructed. The Sandobx kit had optics mounted in cut PVC pipe that was easily set into the sand. The kit also had holographic film. The first four or five exposures did not turn out completely but I remember running to my family members and yelling...See.. See... here is a flash of red color from black and white silver halide film. They must have thought I was crazy. Then a few days later my first Denisyuk hologram turned out quite well. It was a white model car with a man sitting on the hood of the car. The car was on a black book with its title "Optics" facing the film.

More Tables

I then built a lab in the garage which was separate from the house. I sectioned off the back, painted the walls black, set up a fold down jig which has stops for cutting the plates in pitch black. It also had a 30 gallon plastic jug with a hose and a valve that I would haul water out to and fill up, mounted over my processing area for running water. It was a 4 x 8 foot sand table with a 3/8" piece of steel covering the whole table.

After about 1 year I moved to the barn cellar. There I built an 8 foot by 8 foot concrete table on inner tubes. I had to mix the concrete by hand one bag at a time. Still no running water but I designed a water system that I would hook the garden hose up to and had water were needed. I was using a 5 mw HeNe at that time. I made many holograms in that lab. I also built a pulsed ruby laser from scratch which lased but I was never able to get a hologram with and abandoned the idea.

I then moved and rented a different home and build a 4 x 8 foot concrete table in the cellar which has no exterior entrance. When I moved out I had to bust up the table and carry it out one buck at a time. The funny thing is after about 4 years I ended up moving back into that house and actually buying it and this is where I am today. So, I built another 4 by 8 foot table in the cellar but made it of sand this time because when I first moved in I did not know I would be there this long, 11 years now.

About three years ago I moved out to the Garage which was built as an in-law apartment. It has running water, climate control, a room for the holographic table, a room for fabricating and processing film and a room for miscellaneous tasks. The table I built in that room is on concrete blocks, carpet, then plywood, carpet again, then inner tubes, then plywood and finally a 3/8" thick steel plate. It is almost 4' by 8'.
 

My first holographic "JOB"

During the time I was in the garage and barn I searched endlessly for another holographer I could talk to, chat with, and exchange ideas. One of the best resources at the time was the "Holography Marketplace". I bought two I think, the current issue and a back issue. I read that book over and over and over. It was cutting edge technology at the time but never really gave details on exactly how to make what they were reporting on. But one of the most valuable assets of the book was the listing of suppliers and holographers in the back. I tried to call nearly every one of those holographers but mostly they never wanted to talk much as I was very much a newbie.

But then I found a company in Maryland, North East Holographics. I called them and told them I lived in Maryland and simply love holography and they chatted with me for some time. I begged if I could come to their lab. I told them I would do anything, take out the trash, clean the bathroom, anything. They finally agreed. So that following weekend I visited them. They had a foyer with a couch and a couple of chairs and a desk with a lot of their holograms displayed on the walls. I was stupefied. I just stared and stared at all those holograms. Literally for hours. They never let me go any further then that room for that visit and the next few. It was about a 2 hour drive each way. But I didn't care as I was talking holography to other holographers. Well I went there every weekend and finally they gave me a tour of the Table room. But they did not turn on any white lights. I will never forget the first time I entered that room. It was the mastering room and it had the blue beam, unlike my HeNe's up to that time, bouncing more ways then I could image. The entire table had dark plastic around it so I had to peak in at one little opening. It also had many blockers. It was simply unbelievable. I was now more hooked then before. Well, I kept visiting that place and eventually they let me clean glass, package and ship final products, write some software for new automated configurations. They also taught me to cut steal with an acetylene torch and how to weld, thus I was able to start making them new static bases for their optic mounts. They were made of 3 inch thick steel. Finally after months of doing volunteer work they hired me.

During my tenure with them I learned how to care for an Argon Ion Laser, care for a HeCd laser, cut plates, set up a two channel rainbow master holographic table, expose each slit in silver halide, process with pyro and AmDi bleach for replay in HeCd, clean glass and coat with photo resist, set up H1 to H2 holographic table including aligning and tweaking a fringe locker, shoot in photo resist, process photo resist, atomize silver onto the resist hologram, build a nickel electroforming tank, monitor Ph, temperature and nickel concentration (different for each type of shim), fixture and jig hologram for electroforming, electroform mother and child shims from the silverized resists, design and build and entire large format automated embossing printer (10" wide format), load shim and adjust temperature and pressure to get very nice runs of Mylar embossed hologram. I worked for them for about 3 years there. Then they moved the lab back to New Jersey. Since the drive was so long (about 3 hours each way), I used to go up there on a Monday afternoon and stay right at the lab, sleeping on a sofa or in the chair watching the fringes from the fringe locker, or next to the table, anywhere I passed out from exhaustion until Friday afternoon at which time I would drive back to Baltimore to be with my girlfriend for the weekend. I lost her because of that holographic passion. Some times we would get a very great stable set up and cook holograms for 24 hours . "When the sun was shining we made hay".

What I am doing currently

Today I am in my garage mentioned above. I still use the same Argon Ion laser that I have had for about 12 years now. I have started to master the art of DCG (Dichromated Gelatin). I now make my own plates which is another art within itself.  I have even fabricated a few multi color DCG hologram using a novel technique of target painting different parts of the object to match wavelength selection of 457, 514 or both and then processing to shift the colors to green, yellow, orange etc. Currently I can get all colors between green and orange in one single beam dual exposure DCG hologram. I have also done quite a bit of research within the realm of DCG included testing different blooms, different Ammonium Dichromate concentrations, different exposures, different processing concentrations, different processing temperatures, different additives to the emulsion and different processing and hardening techniques. I have worked with Jeff Blyth on one such research as he was the brains and I used my resources to test his ideas. I also participate on Colin Kaminski's Holographyforum.org. I chat often with other holographers. I simply love to think about, talk, sleep and eat holography.