JDW Photos and Life

Life Update: Today is my last day as an employee of TAMU though the last paycheck was June 1. Tomorrow starts my full time retirement job - essentially no change since mid-May but now official. Given the past 6 weeks, I will not have trouble staying busy as Donnice and I have had little spare personal time. For the past several days, I have been helping our son and his wife move from Spring, TX to Fort Knox, KY. He is active duty ARMY for at least a year though he is still in Army Reserves. He just completed a 6 month tour (Jan - Jun) at Fort Knox without Lauren moving with him. He is excited about his job and as a bonus will get back into Blackhawk flight rotation. I drove his pickup with the trailer and flew back Monday. They are living on post in a house about as close to the gold vault as you can get. The photo of the depository was taken essentially from his front yard. It was an adventure getting everything moved but he wisely hired a lot of help packing and unpacking the vehicle...

This is the last of the campus tour shots. This is the north side of the MSC with Kyle Field in the background. In a few days, this scene will be MUCH different as the Aggies open their 2022 football season Saturday. You see the huge video board is lit up and ready to go! Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

The more iconic views of the campus that you could see on brochures. The drought has been tough on the drill field. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

A view of Kyle Field from the second floor of the Memorial Student Center. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

This is a statue outside the campus library. It does a nice job capturing the power of books. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

A statue commemorating the 100 year anniversary of TAMU that occurred during my time at A&M. I really should have modified the edit of this photo. Pardon the "crunchy" feel and tilt of the photo. I am not at my normal desk right now. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

A&M has a rich military history and one of the most notable alumni is  Lt. Gen. James F. "Holly" Hollingsworth '40. He was " a three-time recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross along with four Silver Stars, six Purple Hearts, and a host of additional medals and commendations. His career spanned wars both cold and hot, and throughout, "Holly" was a hard-charging, hands-on soldier who could be irreverent and brash but always "led from the front.""  The best information I can find states that he is the most decorated general officer from A&M and the third most decorated American soldier in the history of this nation. As a new A&M graduate, he served under Patton's Third Army Division leading tanks against dug-in German troops.  His radio call sign during the Vietnam War was "Danger 79er" that stayed with him the remainder of his career. This statue was dedicated in 1999 (with him present) and is located at the ent...

The location of the Corps of Cadets dorms is known as the Quad. There are a ton of changes in this area between my day and current day. The grounds are considerably different and inside of the dorms are major different. These photos are of the entrance. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

The YMCA building is one of the icons of the university and is in many of my memories. Following a football win, the post-game yell practice is held on the steps of the building. The band marches from Kyle Field to the YMCA building and fills the steps and surrounding balcony. The yell leaders then hold yell practice (after being thrown in the fish pond) with a typically large crowd of fans from the stadium. The side view of the building is also pretty. Back in my day, there was no big ceremony involved in getting your Aggie Ring. It was a BIG deal but not the fanfare in today's ring delivery. I simply received a postcard in the mail that my ring was ready to be picked up in the basement of the YMCA building. The entrance to the basement is on the backside of the building shown in the next photo. As a sophomore transfer, I received my ring at a different time than my classmates so I simply stopped by the YMCA between classes and that was it. The event held now in the Association of...

Silver Taps is the most sacred of Aggie traditions. If a student dies (grad or undergrad) while attending A&M, they are honored in a special tribute on the first Tuesday of the month following their death. The summer months are delayed until the September ceremony. It is a goose-bump raising, chilling feeling all day culminating in a very somber walk to and from the Academic Plaza in total darkness and silence. As a young person attending these ceremonies, it is a reminder of how fragile and precious life is. The addition of note collection boxes is really nice. I don't remember any such collection during my time. Most families will have representatives at the ceremony. From the A&M website: "Silver Taps is held the first Tuesday of the month following a student's death. Starting in the morning, the flags on campus are flown at half-mast. The names, class and major of the fallen Aggies are on cards placed at the base of the flagpole in the Academic Plaza and on the...

This is the flagpole in front of the Academic Building. The flag is raised and lowered every day by members of the Corps of Cadets. This area is the Academic Plaza where Silver Taps is held (tomorrow's subject). The next chart shows the student makeup and location for the College of Engineering. As part of the 25 by 25 plan (25,000 engineering students by 2025), A&M expanded its capabilities to accommodate some cultural preferences while leveraging lower cost options for the first year (can extend into the second year for some majors) using Engineering Academies. There are currently 7 schools in this program located throughout the state. The first year math, science, and core  curriculum  are taught by TAMU faculty (often joint appointments but reportable to TAMU for these courses) using the same syllabi (e.g. goals, testing, grading) as the main campus. Once complete, the student may transfer to the main campus to complete their degree. As an academy student, they are alr...

One more shot of the Academic Building but this time from the opposite side of the plaza. I received permission to share some of the charts prepared by the College of Engineering. In my mind, I had the numbers a bit lower when I was here (graduated '78) but that's just faulty memory. Remember that this is total enrollment including grad students. This chart also highlights how much changed shortly after I arrived to teach in 2012. The job I had the past 10 years was very different than the job I thought I was accepting. The change in the past 10 years is huge in many respects. As much as the school changed, the community has changed even more. The growth in this area is hard to believe. If you have not been to the Bryan - College Station area in the past 5 years, you may not recognize much of the surroundings. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Today is my first job-centered day of retirement. The chemical engineering faculty are meeting today (all day) to map out improvement and plans for the next year. Though industry faculty like me don't play a large role in university direction, these meetings provide a lot of insight that I never saw before becoming a faculty member. I'm still on the faculty DL so I see some of the presentations. I'll ask if I can share them with the public as the numbers are really interesting. One more angle/view of the Academic Building. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Another view! Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Another angle of the building. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

A quick side-note for the Rudder Tower photo yesterday. Rudder tower is a bit taller than the cliffs that Rudder's Army Rangers had to scale using ladders, rocket-propelled grappling hooks, and ropes - all while under intense fire from the Germans. Think about that height next time you walk past that building. Of the original 250 men, 77 were killed and 152 were wounded. The sum of these two numbers is what was reported as casualties in my note yesterday. I took several photos of the Academic Building while on my afternoon trip. I used a technique to capture the full dynamic range (bright to dark) of the scene. It is nearly impossible to capture great sky detail and still keep detail in the darker shadows. This is a composite of 5 shots taken at different exposures and then blended. I really liked this view of the building framed by the live oaks. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

While on the subject of people that have made significant contributions to TAMU, James Earl Rudder is one of those individuals. Rudder was a 1932 graduate of TAMU and commissioned into the US Army. On June 6, 1944 as a Lt.Col., he led a company of 225 Army Rangers in the assault at Pointe Du Hoc in the D-Day Invasion of France. He and his troops faced 90 foot cliffs heavily protected by German fire. His mission was virtually impossible but with incredible bravery, they succeeded in taking the location, though only 90 men survived the assault. He continued his role in WW II, including the Battle of the Bulge, to its end.  After the war, he was a leader in private and public roles before becoming the 16th president of TAMU in 1959. He made the decision to transition A&M from an all-male military university to what you see today - corps optional, women, and integration. That decision was not received well by many/most former students but he knew it was needed for A&M to become...

To compliment my photo of Lawrence Sullivan Ross yesterday, I decided to make a trip to campus with the primary objective of taking a photo of the Matthew Gaines statue. The sky had beautiful clouds despite the 100 °F temperatures in the middle of the day. Yesterday was also one of the few days remaining without tons of people everywhere for the shots I wanted. Traffic in town is picking up and restaurants are getting full. My trip yesterday will likely be the subject of my next two weeks (or so) of photos.  I hope you enjoy this sequence of photos as they were earned with much sweat! First, a quick diversion. The trip ended up being a bit of a reminder of my retirement as Saturday was the first day in 10 years that I did not have a valid parking permit (saving me $650/year!). Retirement is beginning to feel real as the semester is ramping up with the Corps FOW  (Freshman Orientation Week) starting this same Saturday afternoon. As A&M worked through the Sul Ross controvers...

Lawrence Sullivan Ross, 1838-1898, Soldier, Statesman, Knightly Gentleman; Brigadier General C.S.A., Governor of Texas, President of the A&M College. One of many phrases burned into the memory of every member of the TAMU Corps of Cadets the past 100 years. This statue and the man it represents has been the focus of much discussion in this world looking at our past using our present-day glasses. Was he a perfect man? No, but none of us are - including other icons and leaders that people think should replace this statue. The university has wisely decided to not follow the lead of so many cities and governments by removing any reminder of our past. The fact is that without the legislative support and leadership of LSR, TAMU probably would not exist today. Yes, he served as a general in the confederate army. Yes, he fought as a Texas Ranger in Indian battles. Do not send me a bunch of reasons why the statue should be removed. He also lead Texas out of the Civil War as a state senator. ...

On that same chilly January evening, I set up the camera to take a photo of the Academic building on campus. At this low angle, the iconic dome of the building is not visible. There are challenges to take night photos of partially lit structures. You have the very bright lights at the entrance and the very dark details of the building. Your eyes do an incredible job compensating for this dynamic range of light. A camera is not so talented. I have to take a series of shots for the very different range of lighting. Software then blends those different areas of those shots into a single photo and the end result looks closer to what your eyes see. The photo below is such a composite blended from 9 different exposures. The wide-angle of the camera lens plus camera position will distort the perspective of the building. The building appears shorter and leaning backwards with details not perpendicular to the ground. Software can even correct for that as seen below. I like the first shot but it...

This is another shot of the Century Tree. The clouds were moving around a lot that chilly January night and we (a local professional photographer friend) were trying different techniques. This is a 15 second exposure where we set up remote flashes under the tree to light the trunk and major branches and then panned a spotlight and flashlight to capture the "outside" tree detail. The flashes were fired about 3 times during the 15 seconds. The spotlight and flashlight were moved smoothly over all areas of the tree for the duration of the exposure. Finding that right balance of exposure time and just the right amount of light on the tree to create the look we wanted was very much trial and error. I chose to edit this photo in a black and white finish. I think it paid off! I never printed this shot though I really should. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

This is one of my favorite night shots. This is the Century Tree on the TAMU campus. It is one of the iconic landmarks on the campus. It is truly massive and difficult to capture in a single frame. Many a wedding proposal has taken place on that bench under the tree. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

On Aug 2 2018, I created this photo from 60 exposures taken from my driveway (neighbor's trees at the bottom). The technique I use is somewhat similar to what the big boys do. The creation and edit of such a photo is not simple so I won't bore you with all of the details but you get a few. By using many shots of the same area of sky, software can determine what are actual stars versus noise in the sensor. By using the equivalent of a long exposure, we can see more light. Once I have the star-points, I can edit the contrast and colors a bit to fully enhance the vision. I am not changing the base data or colors - just the presentation. All of that information really is coming from the camera. The very bright dot at the lower left of the Milky Way is Mars. Saturn is one of the two bright spots in the Milky Way just above the largest bright spot. The wisps are thin clouds that were present that night. I REALLY want to do some of this work in a truly dark sky. It is on my bucket lis...

I did a little star photography experimentation back in 2018 and really need to do a bit more. It involves odd hours and a lot of time on the camera and computer. I hope to have a little more time now that I'm fully retired. This photo is a composite of 22 photos over an 88 minute time period. Each photo was exposed for 4 minutes. My tripod was set up on my driveway looking North. You can see the eave of our house in the lower left of the photo. You can see the North Star in the lower center of the concentric circles. It is the bright star with a very short trail. Our North Pole does not point directly at the North Star and this photo clearly shows that. This photo also shows the HUGE number of stars in our sky - and these are only the bright ones that the camera picks up. Many of these stars are hardly visible to the eye while taking the photos. I sometimes think of this type photo as our universe's LP album. I wonder what it is playing! Yes, I'm old.... Sadly, I'm bet...

I am back to my computer where my images are located. We still have some significant challenges in Rockport/Corpus that may interrupt me sharing images from time to time. I will have to start recycling some images from the past as there has been little time or opportunity for new photos. These are the two photos I tried to share last week in a rush as I was leaving the town. Hopefully, they go through this time. I decided to share another NASA image (not JWST). Talk about a nebula sending out a bat signal! It shows the remnants of a star after it went supernova and exploded 8000 years ago. A bat signal is a bit fitting with what is happening lately! More than batman, we need patience and a little good fortune for some parts to fall into place. Another image of this nebula using other filters and editing interpretation (again, not my work). Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/