Ross Lowell passes away

[gafftapegreenia]

The inventor of gaffers tape, as well as a system of clamps and light fixtures for on-location shoots, has died. He was awarded an Academy Award for Technical Achievement in 1980 for his work in portable lighting units.
https://www.dpreview.com/news/65501...YHLBQ2Edf-u85IUjdMRU5QyFiYXjV6QkzCIFaEYnf4CYQ

 

[dvsDave]

I can't tell you how many Lowel lights I sold over the years. I loved the Lowel lights and especially those super compact stands he came up with for his smaller lights. A true innovator. We all owe Ross Lowell a lot. Our industry would grind to a halt without his best invention, gaff tape.

Farewell, Godspeed Sir and Well Done. You will be missed.

 

[Van]

I saw that this morning but hadn't gotten around to posting yet. Another great.

 

[Drannabelle]

Just when i thought my day could not get any harder. This is so sad, a true legacy.

 

[Ancient Engineer]

Thousands... nay Tens of thousands of my corporate/industrial shoots were lit with Lowell lights.

Dozens of my features too.

Compact, focusable and rugged.

I have a soft spot in my heart for the Omni. That little instrument did more work for me than any other...

Sadly missed you will be, Father of Gaff Tape.

(Yoda I am not)

 

[Ancient Engineer]

I'll further add that the QuartzD 1K that evolved into the DP is one of the most useful set lighting tools from the pre-LED age.

We had a fleet of kits that consisted of a DP (Key), Omni (Fill), Pro (hair) and stands.

The foldable Lowel softlight was the ubiquitous source for quick and elegant "cheek shots" for CEOs that had neither the time nor inclination (or wall power) to tolerate a "full" setup in their offices.

We'd setup a good KFH rig and put a celo cookie in front of a Tota 500 with a L15 or L52 sheet P38-ed to it for the background swag and we felt like Roger frikkin' Deakins...

I duplicated 77.452786% of my corporate/industrial experience on my first feature and it served me well. There were more foot-candles, but the ideas were the same...

I get a little misty-eyed thinking back to those four instrument setups. We did some seriously spiffy stuff. (The collective "we" of professional production folks in the '70s-'90s)

 

[Jay Ashworth]