It's not the camera, kids

Back in the classroom!

On Friday, I had a lot of fun as a guest speaker at Barnes Middle School in Seguin. Students are pursuing a project called "Hidden Seguin," which will culminate in a photo and written essay exploring their community. I love this project! I know lots of "tidbits" about my hometown, but the older I get, the more I realize that my knowledge just scratches the surface.

As part of my presentation, I went down the rabbit hole of my photography experience, and I remembered my first professional assignment for the El Campo Leader News. I was just weeks out of college, ready to take on the world of journalism. I was ready to right the wrongs of the world through the power of my typewriter.

I could take pictures, too.

Print journalism majors at Texas State University (It was Southwest Texas State back then) were required to take photography classes using twin-lens reflex cameras and darkroom chemistry. I liked the class, but I did not know it would help me get a job -- until it did. The Leader-News was a community newspaper with no staff photographer. Reporters and editors took turns taking all the photos, from oversized vegetables to Garden of the Week to Friday Night Lights.

But I didn't expect my first assignment to be, "Take photos of summer food."

I was a little hesitant, but after learning that there were some watermelon stands around, I set out in my AMC Spirit with my Canon AE1-P and started looking.

Now, this was July 1982. Digital technology was years in the future; we still used wax to place type on large sheets of paper to create layouts. So preparing for my speech to middle schoolers in 2022, I wondered if there was any way to find the results of my summer food search.

The internet is amazing.

It took just a few minutes to find the front page and the photo I took as a 21-year-old rookie. Thanks to the Portal to Texas History, there it was. My first professional photograph.

Now, I didn't use it to express nostalgia about darkrooms and chemistry and how that was better -- it's not. Rather, I wanted to show the young people, who would be using their smart phones for the assignment, that a good photo is about the photographer, not the camera.

Well, the photographer and a little luck. I found a roadside watermelon stand and a photogenic youngster. I remembered that open shade is best for taking photos of people. I snapped, crossed my fingers as I rolled film and processed the print with those stinky chemicals -- and I'm still pretty pleased with the result.

The point is, you can take a good photo with any camera, as long as you understand what it can do. And smart phones can do a great deal.

Thanks to Laurie Melcher, the eight year old in the picture, and my old boss Chris Barbee for taking a chance on me. I enjoyed my brief tenure in El Campo

And to the young adults of Barnes Middle School -- I can't wait to see your work!