Star Gazing

"Star Streaks" by Wes Aldridge

So, for all those who keep asking for it... a new shot! It has been a while since I posted anything, but I really just want to put interesting (or at least meaningful) stuff on here now. And besides, my life has been strange as hell here lately and time has become a very rare thing. I'm in Corpus Christi, Texas right now for the week of the 4th on assignment. Hopefully some more shots will find their way to the blog this week.

Anyway, this photo was taken from outside of the mountain-top cabin my brother and I stayed in while vacationing in the Blue Ridge Mountains last week with my parents. It was an awesome time. I think I shot 12 rolls of film ranging from ISO 25 Kodachrome to ISO 3200 Ilford B&W, and about everything in between. Some people told me I was insane for wanting to go on holiday and take photos... but they just don't get it. I'm not a photographer from 9 to 5. I live it, breathe it and hopefully one day I will die snapping a frame off! But let me tell ya, it doesn't get much better than than two artistic brothers getting together and hammering down on a bottle of Jack with some camera gear, guitars and audio recording equipment on a mountain top during a clear night listening to coyotes fight off in the distance as a hundred stars dot the sky overhead. It is always really fun to shoot photos of the people I know and love. They just become themselves and its such a pleasure to photograph the fun and strange times we have together. My brother is a prime example of one of these people. I can't wait to get all those rolls of film developed and scanned to digital files. I will most surely post some of them. There is one with him in a bathrobe sitting by a refrigerator with a guitar inside it. Hope those turn out, because it was just some Gonzo photography for Gonzo times. I have been on this film shooting kick for about two weeks now. I don't know why, but I just am. Its expensive and I can never find the time to get the special process stuff taken to ProPhoto. That really sucks.

This photo was taken with Nikon D2X and I have to say I am pleasantly suprised with how well the digital noise stayed somewhat under control. It only looked decent up to about a 15-minute long exposure (after that, the pixelation really started to kick in and degrade the image). So, this one was shot at f/2.8 for 15.4 minutes to get that neato star trail effect. Also, I light-painted the tree in the foreground with a pretty powerful flashlight for about 5 minutes of the exposure.