"Fountain Square" by Wes Aldridge
I ventured down into the heart of Cincinnati late tonight in the hunt for the shot. I drove around for what seemed forever, and ever, and ever. Then as I was driving down Vine Street, there it was. A wonderful fountain statue was in a plaza square in front of the Fifth Third Bank building. It was lit by flood lights and its bronze cast caught my eye immediately. I wanted it. The only problem is, parking is Hell downtown.
I must have circled the block (yes, one way streets everywhere) 20 times or so because I didn't feel safe strolling all over downtwon with my camera gear. As I was driving by one of the many times, I noticed the flood lighting on the fountain went away. Damnit, you gotta be kidding me. I had been working to get a parking space and missed the moment. But, it was getting later and I was getting more tired, and I was determined to turn this location into my photo for the day.
I parked and started walking toward the square, cussing under my breath all the way up the block. When I want a shot and have it set in my mind, I am going to get it, or simply die trying. As I came to the crosswalk I looked up to see the lights were illuminating the fountain once again. That's odd I thought, oh well. So my spirits lifted and I gingerly trotted across the street.
In mid stride, I saw the lights go out again. I thought, "This must be some kind of whacked out power shorting thing going on or someone is watching me from a hidden compartment somewhere and cutting the friggin' lights on and off just to screw with me." I continued to walk over to it and busted out the tripod, pissed again. As I was positining for the shot, the lights came back on. Ah... they must be on a timer for some reason. So, I played the little game with the timer. The pattern was on 2 minutes, off 1. Makes things tricky when you are doing about 30 second exposures.
None the less, I chose a detailed shot of the sculpture. It was interesting to see this ancient style sculpting sitting in the middle of a fast paced modern cityscape. Day one in Cincy is done. Enjoy.
