Visions From The Mirror

"Legislative Reflections" by Wes Aldridge


"War Memory" by Wes Aldridge

This afternoon I felt defeated, almost depressed. Just watching the sun go down before I leave the office nearly makes me sick. There was nothing I wanted to do today more than shot some photos, but I was stuck in the office finishing up a database from my last shoot and starting to plan my next trip.

I stayed late to try to get ahead of the game to schedule appointments because light was gone and fighting rush hour was pointless; there was no sunlight left to shoot under. I came home and watched some television. Around 11 p.m. I started to feel this overwhelming urge to go down to Legislative Plaza to get a shot. I really can't explain the feeling I had, something forced me to go down there. I bundled up and jumped in the Jeep and headed downtown listening to Shinedown's version of "Simple Man."

When I got there, I saw my angle immediately. I sat up the tripod with a 25 second exposure at f/22 at ISO 100 with my 16-35mm lens. The exposure of the first shot I took, the horizontal above, was dead on the money. I used the reflections of one of the calm pools where fountains spout during the daytime to get the War Memorial building and the Capital building. The vertical shot was at the same exposure settings of just the front of the War Memorial building. I liked both of the shots, so what the hell, I posted them both.

I really like these shots, but I am not satisfied with them. I want to reshoot them when there is either a sunrise or sunset in the sky behind the buildings instead of pitch black. I could see it in my mind; waiting for that perfect moment when the ambient light in the sky faded with enough dull color to even out with the flood lighting on the faces of the buildings. Wouldn't that be wonderful? I know that getting that shot wasn't highly likely before New Years Eve and the end of the year-long photo project. This is part of the sickness in my head, probably in other photographer's heads as well. We just have a way of seeing a picture, even if it isn't really there... and then agonizing over it if it isn't possible at the time.