FOCUS: Photo memories from the 1960s

By Chuck Boyd, special to Charleston Currents  |  In 1964, I had a picture pending to be on the full MISCELLANY page in LIFE Magazine, but I could not identify where it was taken!

Boyd in the 1960s

I was in a helicopter, returning inland after taking photos of surfers for my newspaper, the San Diego Union-Tribune. I was a staff photographer for the paper, lugging a bulky 4×5 Speed Graphic camera.

I quickly managed to grab two shots as we passed over an apple orchard with the word “QUIET” plowed in the field in huge letters.

Back at the paper, the editor passed on using it, but when I sent a copy to LIFE magazine, the editors immediately called to say they needed a caption with the facts! We photographers at the paper had submitted shots before and always received a polite stock rejection slip… but this time, they phoned me.

I hopped in my car and drove around madly where I thought the field might be in the countryside, but it could only be seen from the air.  So I was forced to pay $90 to rent a fixed-wing plane and fly around.  I quickly spotted it. I noted landmarks, landed and drove to the orchard’s main house.

The man who answered the door was surprised anyone knew about the message he had plowed!  I explained how I had captured the image.  He gave me the needed background and I phoned the details to LIFE.  The magazine wrote a breezy caption, I got a photo credit, a check for $300 and some great “bragging rights!”

(Recently I went online to see what that $300 would be in today’s dollars and found it would be more than $2,200!)

Here are some more of my photo memories. In 1965, I covered the Beatle’s morning press conference when they played in San Diego.

• • Photographer Chuck Boyd lives in Hanahan.
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