I always enjoy being able to take photos at Texas A&M University. It is where I really had my photography skills refined back in the late 1980s when I was a student in the journalism department.

Going back with a digital camera is a delight. I was using a Canon AE-1 back in the day. Working for the Aggieland Yearbook, we rolled our own black and white film, processed it, and spent hours in the dark room printing photos. The senior in charge of photography really taught me how to take black and white and get it to pop with contrast. He was always telling us that he wanted to see both the whitest whites, and the blackest blacks in every photo. I still hold to that principle today and rejoice at the ease editing software makes the task. Those who actually worked in dark rooms developing photos will remember the countless filters we would go through getting the right level of contrast.

For the record, I didn’t have my digital Canon on this shoot. I had to use my iPhone. Since the boys and I were there to see the Aggies play, we were told that I wouldn’t be able to bring my camera inside the stadium, so I left it inside the car.

Amazing that my iPhone SE actually takes better pictures than my old Canon AE-1. No one could have imagined that I would be walking the A&M campus with a phone, much less, one that took really great photos.

My son Andy in front of the statute of John David Crow. He was the first Aggie to win the Heisman Trophy back in the 1950s.

The 12th Man statue.

All photos are copyright © Timothy J. Hammons, 2021.