On Assignment: Greenville, North Carolina-Day Four

"Slither" by Wes Aldridge

Imagine this: You are walking through the dark woods, alone, searching for a shot of the rare, indigenous North Carolina, speckle-headed woodpecker for one of your assignments. As luck would have it, you see one and start tracking him through the thick forest brush ever so slowly and quietly. You continue this for three hours and finally the bird decides to land on the ground to look for food. You get on your stomach and inch closer and closer, trying to get the most exciting shot possible. There he is, with a freshly snuffed out earthworm in his mouth that he just plucked from the earth. This is the shot. You are looking through the lens, finger on shutter button, ready to snap the shot and then... you feel it... a sharp prick in your right forearm.

You drop the camera violently and the bird you are stalking flys away in distress. You jerk your head around as a burning sensation instantly grows stronger and stronger. You see eyes staring up at you, cold yellow eyes. The eyes of a copperhead snake, one of the most poisonous in North America. After whishing his pink tongue at you a few times, laughing in your face in his own snake way, he turns and slithers slowly away into the underbrush. My present grip of paralysis through shock and fear wears off, and I scream into the empty woods, the dark, cold, empty and all alone woods. No one hears your scream, so you decide to stop, you weakling. Stop screaming you infant. There is an equation of life and death at hand, and screaming without hope while two tiny streams of blood trickle from your arm is not the answer to it.

You gather your wits for five minutes or so, which seems like an eternity, and realize that you must get help immediately. You know without a doubt that you must lift your body from the ground and find your way back from the woods to your rental car. Putting one knee underneath you and then the other, you use the low hanging limbs of a spruce tree sapling to lift yourself to your feet. After becoming vertical, you feel the nausea beginning to take hold. You take three or four steps, numbers mean nothing, and bend over to vomit... and you do, twice. Sweat starts to bead on your forehead and your black polo shirt starts to become tighter and tighter with your breath becoming more erratic and cumbersome.

You must leave this place, on your own freewill. You don't want the help of a coroner just yet. And you stumble forward and the journey has begun. Find your way home, on your own, before you are called that way. What was that? Someone's voice faintly in the distance? What did the voice say? No time for that now, just find the car fast.

After wandering for what seemed like an eternity but was actually only 49 feet, you drop to one knee. You almost forgot about your forearm, until you rub it and feel the knot starting to bulge. And it feels slightly glossy and smooth, as if a thin coat of honey were on it. This is textbook protocol for the repercussions of a venomous snakebite. Jesus, the venom is starting to take hold.

You jerk again and lose what was left of your chicken salad sandwich that was once lunch. Your head spins hard to the left and your body buckles and hits the ground. You want to get up and keep going, but the foliage beneath you is so inviting and warm. The cold, dark forest doesn't matter now and you know that resting for a few minutes in your present state is the best answer you can muster. Your strength is fading and a power nap will do you well, you are certain. But your lips and mouth are drying out. Where is my canteen? Didn't think I would need it this trip. And so it was, the thirst continued.

The Carolina forest looks much different from the view on your back. You can see the silhouettes of the tree leaves above you dance in the wind beneath a blue sky somewhere beyond the treetops. That is where I am, that is where I want to be. It was the only logical thought that ran through my mind as my breathing became more relaxed and shallow.

I wish my neck wasn't itching so badly.

You rub around your Adam's apple and noticed the swelling... all the way up and down your windpipe. You rest easy because you know you are almost back to your car, even though it is four miles from where you lay... in the opposite direction you have been walking.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds and everything was black. "Keep going," I thought and opened them again. Vision seems funny, almost one-dimensional. Your left eye opened along with your right, but its vision just wasn't there.

Time to move along. Tried to get up. Fall. Rest. Rest. Rest. Sleep. You awake in an open field that you have never seen, but know as if you have ran through it a million times before... and I started, running toward the sun.

Thank God this ugly monster was encased in glass and couldn't strike me.

On Assignment: Greenville, North Carolina-Day Three

"Mexican Light" by Wes Aldridge

I went to shoot an assignment in a mexican restaurant today. I got really lucky with it. I walk into this place and most of the color schemes were in bright pastels. I knew I only had about 15 minutes to get this one done, so I looked around a little and found the perfect place to set up a shot.

One side of the building had a greenhouse-style room, glassed over roof, you get the idea. The warm and rich afternoon sun was shining through the glass and the colors were amazing. I knew this one was going to be good, and after I had set up the table, it was on point. I didn't even need to use any artificial lighting. I think this was only the second time I have done a food shot without someking of strobes and umbrellas and softboxes.

This is one of my test shots I did to meter light before the food came out. I just wanted to share it because the setting was so perfect and the light turned out so good. I was happy that something on this trip turned out nice and easy!

On Assignment: Greenville, North Carolina-Day Two

"Take Five" by Wes Aldridge

Tonight was interesting. I was shooting a ballet class, and it blew me away. Those girls could bend and jump and stretch in ways that were amazing. And, they could spin around on one foot without hitting the ground. It was awesome because I know that in a million years, I could never do the same things.

I think the thing that draws me to this shot is not the girl spinning in the foreground, but the girl still and resting on the bar in the background. They stretched and danced and balanced the entire time I was in there. I know it must have been extremely tiring and trying. The concentration they possessed was brilliant, totally focused, almost mechanical as the instructor called out positions and moves for them to follow. Yeah, the girl lounging in the back was totally uncharacteristic of the whole experience. Things were very proper and structured, and this was the total opposite. That's why the resting girl is so important: She showed that she was still human, and even ballerinas must take five.

On Assignment: Greenville, North Carolina-Day One

"The Touch" by Wes Aldridge

Tired.

Symbol of Civility

"Ride On, Rosa" by Wes Aldridge

I wanted to share this shot from my time in Alabama and tonight is the night. The large and beautiful white building in the background of the shot is the Alabama State Capital. In the foreground is the bus Rosa Parks decided to assert her God given rights of equality on. The bus tours the city, rich in civil rights history, during the daytime. I just happened to be standing across the street from the capital building when the bus drove by. I think I was pretty lucky on this one. This one strikes me as being politically strong because the capital being a symbol of the Old South and the bus driving by representing the struggles from oppression that people of color fought against in the days of Rosa.

My time (short though it was) in Montgomery was special and I will be making another visit to this city. I really felt like I connected to it and there was much history that I needed to try and take in there. Something that I observed there struck me as strange. There was a quietness in the city streets. No loud traffic with engines revving and horns blowing. No people talking loudly or rushing about. No, there was only the breeze blowing through the air and the beads of sweat running down my back. I guess the tension in Montgomery in the past was enough noise to last a lifetime.

Garden Delight

"Pinkie" by Wes Aldridge

Blah blah blah pink. Blah blah blah flower. Blah blah blah pretty.

A Brothers' Find

"The Plant" by Wes Aldridge

Tonight was great. After spending time with the family today for my father's birthday, I needed a blog shot.

I asked my brother to go on a search with me. We drove around our county for hours searching for a shot with little luck. I didn't mind because I wanted to hang out with him more than I was even worried with finding a cool shot to post. After driving forever, we found our way back to Tunnel Hill. We went down by the old namesake train tunnels that give the city its name, and my brother said, "That chicken feed plant looks kind of creepy." What the hell, lets give it a look, I thought. After setting up the tripod and taking a couple of shots, I knew he was right because it was looking pretty cool. I think the exposure was something around 30 seconds at f/4.5 at ISO 100.

We ended up screwing around for an hour down there with my off camera flash, popping it on my face to make multiple images of me in the shot. It was really fun and looked kind of evil, but a little too cheezy for me to post. The bottom line was we were having a great time coming up with ideas to mess around with the shot. Its times like this one that make me wish I was in Atlanta hanging out with him everyday. We are two pretty creative guys that definetly don't mind stepping "outside the box," regardless of what others think. And I think his new Mohawk hairstyle is testament enough for that.

On Assignment: Prattville, Alabama-Day Four

"Hank's Grave" by Wes Aldridge

This is a shot I did when I visited Hank's grave in Montgomery. Praise the Lord, he saw the light.

On Assignment: Prattville, Alabama-Day Three

"Four Times Even Light" by Wes Aldridge

If there is one good thing about the current hurrican situation, it must be that the weather makes for an extremely interesting sunset shot.

In this shot, all the light completely evened out. First you have the bright colors of the sunset, pretty much exposed on the money, bright and crisp warm colors. Next, you have the silhouettes of the ground and trees that are completely black. The face of the clock on the clocktower is illuminated at the right exposure, with a little flood lighting projected on the the corner wall. And finally, you can't overlook the menacing purple storm cloud that devours the sky with a patch of blue sky showing through the opening at the top.

I waited around for just the right time to shoot, and I am glad I did. Seconds after this frame, the wind began to pick up rather violently and I felt a few raindrops fall on my nose. And then, the damn bottom fell out of the sky and an insane storm came on strong. I really thought I was about to be in the middle of a tornado. Honestly, this shot doesn't even come close to capturing what was going on in nature right then. But, hell, I tried and rode it out until the nasty storm came... and happy I did. I got so excited about this shot that I called two other photographers to rant about it. I was awe struck over what I had seen, and it reassured me that I am doing what I am supposed to do, and loving it.

I wish you could have been there with me.

On Assignment: Prattville, Alabama-Day Two

"The Whole World Calls Me..." by Wes Aldridge

Tonight, I drove into the neighboring city of Montgomery, of course, the state capital of Alabama. Coach told me about the tie-in of Hank Williams to this city and I knew I had to make a quick visit. Honeycutt had introduced me to Hank when I was in highschool, and the things he showed me I will never forget, even since six years have passed from those days.

This is a statue of Hank that sits in the downtown area of Montgomery. I got there as the sky was fading into darkness. I ended up frantically shooting this with a high ISO of 400 at a slow shutter speed of 1/40th of a second (handheld) with my 50mm lens at f/1.8 to squeeze every little bit of light as possible into the scene before it was lights out. I got beneath the statue and the bronze reflected a little light off Hank's face at just the right angle and brought it to life. I like this one a lot.

I consider Hank one of the greatest American poets that ever lived. I mean, how could you not just connect with lyrics like these:
" Did you ever see a robin weep
When leaves begin to die?
Like me he's lost the will to live
I'm so lonesome I could cry"

Hank and Cash made the country music that I love. It meant a lot to find this memorial to him and get a nice shot to share on the blog.

On Assignment: Prattville, Alabama-Day One

Tonight, the format of my blog entry has obviously changed, and for good reason. I have seen the most bizarre place in my photographic travels to date. I don’t know exactly how to take the experience, but it was honestly the most interesting time I have had a camera in my hand. It was startling to walk through this creation and I couldn’t stop pressing my shutter button.

This is "The Cross Garden" in Prattville, Alabama. I knew nothing of the place until our chief photographer Greg showed me some shots that he had taken there. He was pretty insistent that I see this enigma for myself. I am extremely glad I took the time to stop in.

There was no way that posting only one photo from it would do the experience any kind of justice, so here is more of a photo essay where the shots are best viewed together.

This is the former land and art of a man named W.C. Rice, whom died earlier this year. He collected everything from telephone poles to kitchen stoves and assembled this “garden” in his yard. As you can see, he had somewhat of a fixation with expressing his religious views. People would buy these pieces of art straight from his yard for hundreds of dollars each.

I hate to be judgmental or to insert my opinion on someone that I have never and will never meet, but I feel like chiming in on this one. As some of his red-paint scrawlings say on the objects in his yard, here is my conclusion. Hell may be hot and God may be love, but this must be far, far over the edge. Taken seriously, this is the kind of religious throat stuffing that really turns people off from the whole idea of God or Jesus. I am not sure if this can be taken any other way or not. To take it in a comic sense would surely be blasphemy, right?

Please, brings some comments on this one. I would love to see everyone's opinions on it. I just hope the rest of my shots from Prattville will be this interesting.




"Read" by Wes Aldridge


"Hot, Hot, Hot" by Wes Aldridge


"Rugged Cross" by Wes Aldridge


"You Will Die" by Wes Aldridge


"On The Range" by Wes Aldridge


"72" by Wes Aldridge


"Help Me" by Wes Aldridge


"Sin" by Wes Aldridge


"Postmaster" by Wes Aldridge

Feels Almost Like Home

"True Americana" by Wes Aldridge

This is a shot from west Tennessee. It really hits me good. It is real. It is beautiful. It is Americana and I get a feeling that I am at home when I see it.

Can you imagine how lucky and wonderful of a life I have to be traveling about doing photography and to see a scene like this? Yes, some of us were born lucky. This is scene is the stuff that has stitched America together. These old farm scenes with the peeling paint and old red trucks and purple clouds in the sky, this is America. And I am so glad that I get to visit these small towns and countrysides to see such things. I am a city dweller, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I need my Tennessee Titans football games, my rush hour traffic jams and my 3 a.m. Taco Bell runs with the boys after a hard night of fun on 2nd Avenue. But, I also desperately need those real moments of country that are far removed from Urban Hell.

This was one of those majestic times, and I love it.

Reflections of Nature

"The Wetlands" by Wes Aldridge

This is a shot from a place in western Tennessee called the Sugar Creek Wetlands. It is a government funded wildlife and nature reserve. I drove by it and you better believe I turned around to get a shot. I don't think it needs much more explanation than that.

That Feeling

"Main Street Auction" by Wes Aldridge

I shot a freelance assignment of a marching band competition today in Milan, Tennessee. It was really fun, suprisingly. But after the assignment is when I really started having a good time. I felt it today, in that small town, I felt it.

I decided to go and find my shot for the day while I was still down there. It was time for a little exploration. There must be a downtown area with a traditional old courthouse or something of that nature that would make for a good shot. I followed Main Street and there it was.

The street was filled with boxes overflowing with trinkets, junk and just all-around yardsale items strewn about. People sat in lawnchairs on the street with iced tea in hand. A man was running an auction over a loudspeaker in front of the massive crowd of hundreds. The site was incredible. For a minute I felt like I had wondered into a different kind of place, something tucked away and hidden from societal norms. I felt like it was a National Geographic kind of moment. I can't explain it very well, I just know the feelings that I had.

And there they were, sitting proudly in their chairs. These two little ladies had just bid on an auction for a tea kettle... and won. The lady on the left had done the bidding and the one on the right had to pitch in her five dollars to help in the buy. It was just a perfect moment out of an old American novel to me. I felt it, and I caught it.

Farewell, Friend

"Catch It!" by Wes Aldridge

This shot is how I would like to remember things: Jarvis with a giant smile catching a waterballoon tossed some 30-feet by his partner during a game portion of our United Way picnic lunch today.

Sadly, after a couple of years, Jarvis is moving on from our company as the Photo Department's (and everyone else's) Go-To- Guy. He was such a gigantic helping hand for everything, whether I was out on the road and needed some quick information when I had no access to the Internet, or doing endless color corrections, Jarvis was always there and willing to help.

More than his work ethic and talent with Adobe Photoshop, he was a fun as hell guy to be around. There was rarely a time when he wasn't cracking me up, or saying "Bet" or asking me, "Where your week at, dawg?" The guy was a true gem with a huge heart and a generally happy disposition.

I knew that the last thing I could do for his tenure at Journal Communications was to get a great shot of him, happy as can be, and share it with everyone.

Farewell, friend, and good luck with being an architect. I bet it sure beats rounding up countless submitted photos from elusive story and photo leads! Thanks a million times over... and, "Where your week at?"

R'n'R and a Little Smut

"Slunt" by Wes Aldridge

I shot this band called Slunt... and they rocked my face off. Such a clever name, on the verge of being vile and certainly naughty. Not to mention the singer/guitar player and bassist were extremely hot. That helped out a bit. But their music was heavy and edgy and these girls mixed raw attitude with real sex appeal on stage.

Just look at her... hard-rockin' Slunt to the core.

I was up front shooting and she looked at me dead-on in the lens and I got this shot. A very seductive look. It was fun. Note the armband. Also, the play on the Coca-Cola Classic logo on her shirt, as if anyone would miss it. And she was also wearing some camo pants that laced up the side with one heck of mid-drift showing.

Now that's what I call pure ROCK.

Walk Through This

"The Golden Corridor" by Wes Aldridge

I found a great hallway where the shadows were black and the rest was gold.

Bronze Soldier

"God of War" by Wes Aldridge

I went to the War Memorial building in downtown Nashville and got this one. I didn't want to know the name of the statue, so I didn't look. I wanted to call it "God of War," because that is the feeling that I got when I saw it. Nothing special, but we all know how much I love to shoot a great statue.

Capital Colors

"Night Rider" by Wes Aldridge

Tonight turned out much better than I thought it would. I wanted to go downtown to the state capital and try to shoot. On my way there, the sky was very weak. It has been extremely hazy for a couple of weeks now. And with haze, sunsets and sunrise shots pretty much are terrible.

I had wanted the state capital building at sunset, but like so many times, things turned out a little different than I had planned. While I walked around the building searching for a good angle, I saw this horse statue and knew that is where my shot needed to stem from. I waited until the sun faded out and the lights on the capital came on to give that golden-pink light. The sky hadn't fallen completely black and with my chosen white balance, it really brought out and accented the purple in the sky. The colors were rich and the composition was pretty nice. I even enjoy the flags flapping in the background.

A Pleasant Find

"Episcopal Glass" by Wes Aldridge

This is a great stained glass window from an Episcopal church that I randomly wandered into.

Pretty stuff. The angle is cool because I just got right up on the window with my wide angle lens. I used a really shallow depth of field to pull attention to the cross because it was the piece that I found most mesmerizing.

The Tops

"4 Columns" by Wes Aldridge

These were four pillars at the riverfront in downtown Evansville, Indiana. There you go.

On Assignment: Henderson, Kentucky-Day Three

"Audubon Cattails" by Wes Aldridge

I went to Audubon State Park today to do some shooting at the John James Audubon Museum. The museum was interesting, but the nature aspect of the park was beautiful and I felt like I just had to search around to find a shot or two.

It was getting late, around six o'clock or so, and the sun was the wonderfully warm creation that all photographers love to shoot under. I drove around and found the lake on the property. It was stunning. The water was completely still like glass, only rippled by the occasional fish jumping from the water. The reflections were perfect and this one small yellowy-green leafed tree caught my eye. I shot it a couple of times, but it really wasn't the shot I wanted in my heart. So I decided to trek around the lake a little and then I found it.

A patch of tall grass with some cattails in their prime framed the perfect shot for the scene. I popped the 70-200mm telephoto lens on the Canon and sat it on the tripod to shoot a shot with a medium aperture at f/8 with a shutter speed of 1/160th of a second. It gave that perfectly in focus view of the cattails and my favorite tree had a mild blur, but it was still decipherable in the background. Then I decided to shift my position a little and got some of the sky reflected in the water as well. I took a deep breath and fired the winning shot... and I was happy.

Then some weird guy walked up to me and started asking me all kinds of bizarre questions about the park, but that is a totally different conversation altogether. My mojo was good at the time and I wasn't about to let some strange man kill it.

On Assignment: Henderson, Kentucky-Day Two

"Blanco" by Wes Aldridge

Luck this one got up. Headache is horrible. Sleeping it off cause it has to go away.

On Assignment: Henderson, Kentucky-Day One

"Shadow of David" by Wes Aldridge

On the way back from dinner in Evansville, Indiana, with one of my best friends, I saw this cool sight. We were driving through a lower income section of town and I see this cast of David. I did somewhat of a double-take because I didn't expect to see this in someone's yard in this neighborhood. I looked a little harder and saw the shadow of the figure projected on the brick wall and knew this was my shot for the night.

12th & Porter: Rock

"Scallions on Bass" by Wes Aldridge

Tonight I saw "The X's" at 12th & Porter. Fuel frontman, Brett Scallions, played bass and handled some backing vocals. Well, here is Brett.

Brother Flame

"Face of Fire" by Wes Aldridge

This is the final image from our excursion in Cloudland Canyon State Park. My brother was kindling the flames of our campfire and it made for a great scene. It was pitch black dark late at night and as I watched him work the fire, all I could see was his slightly lit face and the blazing fire. I think this one has almost a ghostly feeling to it. But it twas no specter, tis the brother of me, merely!

I came back with none of the types of photographs that I had envisioned I would get on this trip. No waterfall shots and barely any nature photographs, but the ones I have brought back are well-pleasing to me in a quite unexpected way. That is one of the most exciting aspects of the world of photography. Many times I think I "know" what I am going to shoot and kind of plan it all out in my head. More times than not, those plans end up changing and the adventure to get the shot begins.

Studio or Campsite?

"Off" by Wes Aldridge

Well, we had to travel to a nearby family friend's home to get the blog up tonight because the cottage we are staying in doesn't have a phone line. We are about 30 miles from camp right now in Mentone, Alabama. Oh yeah, it was uploaded by a dial-up modem tonight too. I am just glad its up now.

This shot is, of course, a bottle of Off! insect repellant. I think it is pretty killer though. I didn't do this shot in the studio. Nope, it was done on the picnic table outside of the cottage. I put a fairly bright flashlight behind the translucent bottle and it lit it pretty nicely. I shot it with the 50mm f/1.8 and washed over it with a 550EX flash. I think a person could believe it was shot in the studio and given that rustic look. But no, it was just some fun while having some Evan Williams around the campfire with the fam.

Shooting On the Farm

"Golden Rays" by Wes Aldridge

The family is having a mini-vacation at Cloudland Canyon State Park for the next few days. My brother had to work tonight so I drove him back to his gig in Dalton for the night. I had a guy ask me to come and shoot photographs of his family farm and decided to go tonight and give it a few shots and scout it out before we head back to Cloudland Canyon.

This shot is in the loft of an old barn standing on the Gowin Farm in Walker County, Georgia. I was pretty sure I would get some nice shots down on the farm tonight, but I think this one really is a gem. I am very well pleased with it.

Now, time to pick up the brother and head back to Lookout Mountain.

Bent

"Structural Distortion" by Wes Aldridge

A cool distorted reflection of a building in downtown.

Time to go on a little holiday.

New Orleans by Nashville

"Spirit of Nawlins" by Wes Aldridge

Tonight I shot Dancin' In The District on the bank of the Cumberland River. Better Than Ezra was the headling act, and they did it well. They played with Cowboy Mouth who suprisingly were extremely good. The kicker of the show, though, was that both bands are from New Orleans. I think they were playing to Nashville, but they were doing it for the ravaged homeland. They gave it all they had and I was satisfied.

This is the guitarist/vocalist from Better Than Ezra, Kevin Griffin. I like this shot because of the Pedestrian Bridge in the background. I think it really makes the shot interesting and it totally says Nashville. Also, the shadow of Kevin's hand on the guitar body strikes me as pretty neat too.

Decisions Made

"King's Eyes" by Wes Aldridge

Tonight I stared into the King's Eyes. They became a mirror and I saw myself in them. Sometimes decisions are tuff, especially when a beautiful blonde is involved in the scenario. But I am home and the blog was posted once again. I was wanted elsewhere, and believe me, elsewhere was looking mighty fine tonight.

I knew one thing though: If I didn't make it home and post a shot for the night, I would have failed. It doesn't mean much to some people, I assume. I don't think that most people can grasp the importance that this daily offering of my work is. I will definetly never win a Pulitzer Prize for anything posted here. I rarely make a sale of any prints from this, although the rarity does happen and is welcomed. No, this site is about a commitment to a very important person in my life. That person is me. I promised myself that I would do this daily posting for an entire year and now that I am into the ninth month of it, there is absolutely no turning back now. This sight owes nothing to anyone. It isn't here to please or entertain anyone. It isn't here as a political statement. It doesn't gain any revenue. Hell, it doesn't even have a visually compelling amount of artistic creativity in the site's design. But it is a piece of me. I would even go as far as to say that it is a testament to the devotion that I have for the gift of photography that I feel I was graced with.

I said that I had to go and do this posting because one day I want to see my work in National Geographic and if I missed posting this commitment that I have to myself, if I let myself down, then I would never achieve this awesome goal that I have set forth for myself. I don't think that I will accomplish it because I am "that" good. I think that I will get there because I won't settle for anything less and I refuse to let anything stop me.

So, The King didn't get Graceland because he thought one night he would let everything go on hold and forget about it. Graceland stands on top of a mighty empire because a young kid from Tupelo gave it everything he had, everyday of his life. And there you have it, he was The King. I don't want to be The King, but I don't want to settle for anything less than the absolute fullest measure of my devotion.

Men aren't created great... but some give it more than they have and one day they walk away with the prize.

Nice Window

"Broken Glass" by Wes Aldridge

Tonight we went to the rockshow. My ears will ring for days.

Wall Praying

"The Mantis" by Wes Aldridge

So tonight I stopped at Walgreens to find a rubberband for my hair. Nothing really eventful inside, just made the purchase. When I got to the cashier she was laughing and looking outside. She mumbled something about a bug and I see a kid dancing around on the concrete in front of the sliding glass doors. My interest was caught.

I walked outside and this little boy was dancing around wearing a Native American feathered headdress while cupping his hand around his mouth while mocking Indian chants. This was strange, I mean the child romping about in Indian garb by himself at 9:30 p.m. with no parent in sight. I finally saw the bug: A praying mantis, a very large one, scaling the brick wall of the building. I ran and grabbed my camera and the rest is in the details.

On Assignment: Asheville, North Carolina-Day Five

"Tie Your Shoe" by Wes Aldridge

Today was the voyage home. Tired. Worn down. Sleep needed.

Always remember to tie your shoes.

On Assignment: Asheville, North Carolina-Day Four

"Rugged Fiddler" by Wes Aldridge

Well, my analysis of Asheville... I love it here. Everything is free and accepted and people are their own people, no matter how far from society's norms they stray. A great T-shirt that I saw gives a great summary: "ASHEVILLE where normal is weird." I really enjoyed this place and felt perfectly at home.

This is a shot of one of the many street performers I saw here. She was incredible and I think I almost fell in love. if you know me, the girls that I go for are not exactly like this one: Blonde, raggedly dressed and with armpit hair. No, I generally don't go for the earthy ones, but this girl was incredible.

She played an accordian from the 1930s and a violin. I can't really describe the music except that it was enchanting and almost dark. It kept me mesmerized while I listened. It made me want to shoot and shoot and shoot. So I did and here she is, as happy as she wants to be.

On Assignment: Asheville, North Carolina-Day Three

"Strained In Glass" by Wes Aldridge

Well, I decided to go with another shot from St. Lawrence tonight. Not because I didn't shoot anything else today that wasn't good, but because everything I shot today is no more.

I had 128 photos on my memory card and when I got back to the hotel, they were all corrupted. When digital photography files are corrupted, then you have no more photos. That really sucks for me. Oh well, I really love this stained glass. I couldn't decide between it and the shot of the candles I posted last night.

So here is a look at what last night's shot could've been.

On Assignment: Asheville, North Carolina-Day Two

"Flickering" by Wes Aldridge

Today was another long one. I love it. I walked all over Asheville today and eventually ended up at the Basilica of St. Lawrence. I thought the prayer candles were great when I walked in the door. Moody. Cool.

On Assignment: Asheville, North Carolina-Day One

"A View In The Big Truck" by Wes Aldridge

Today I drove the Coach and myself to Asheville for a shoot for a few days. We were in a huge Ford Expedition so we could carry all of our photo equipment. The drive wasn't bad at all. We had good laughs and conversation and I really enjoyed the trip.

We had finished a shoot today and were trying to figure out what the next destination was for the following shoot. The Coach and I were getting into the Expedition and we needed to make room in the vehicle for the other members of our group (that had drove to Asheville in a serparate vehicle). As we were loading in, I was sitting at the helm of the Expedition and had noticed earlier that a drop-down wide-angle mirror was in the roof of the vehicle. I popped it down and took a semi-self portrait and group shot with my 50mm lens at f/1.8.. I like it. Sybil is scheduling something for the trip on her cell phone in the background and the Coach is being straight-up chill with his shades on in the passenger seat. It was simply a true moment in our present reality.

I feel good about this trip and the group we are with. I think things are really working together and feel like an important part of a team on this assignment. It is a stark contrast to the normal photo shoots we do out on the road all alone. It is great to be with another photographer, who is pretty damn good, and assist on his portrait shoots and learn the mannerisms of his photography. I think this trip will be a great expansion and enhancement for my photographic skills... and it also looks to be some fun too.

Tainted Walls

"Red Sea" by Wes Aldridge

The horror of a red splattered wall. What happened? When? How?

We don't know. We don't care to know. We don't fear it. We don't even trust it and we surely don't believe in it.

So, we wonder about it. Think. Analyze. Try to see the truth through all the smoke. Can we? Will we be able to find it? Cna we possibly look hard enough and never find?

Yes.

Where's The Metal Sheep?

"Steel Wool" by Wes Aldridge

Steel wool with a flipped 50mm for macro with a bounced flash.

Stop and Smell

"Sweet Roses" by Wes Aldridge

Tonight was the final episode of Sex Feet Under. I have to say that it was probably one of the greatest television series ever created. Some people look at that series as a show about death and morbidness, but that isn't close to the point. I think watching it really was an affirmation of life, love and family. It was pretty uplifting and an incredible journey to feel a part of. I wonder how long before the box set comes out?

The End of an Era... Let the Party Begin

"Free to Roam" by Wes Aldridge

Today was spent in south Alabama. There were many angry animals surrying about. We swerved and dodged them and they had the Fear.

Actually, today is a monumental day. Hunter Stockton Thompson's creamated ashes were shot out of a gigantic cannon on his farm. He was my hero and the sole reason that I became interested in journalism, and eventually picked up a camera. Tonight, we pay homage to this incredible life force with Wild Turkey, Chivas Regal, Monte Alban Mezcal and anything else that comes about in true Gonzo fashion.

If you don't know of HST, pick up a novel of his, perhaps "The Rum Diary" or "Better Than Sex," or you could always go for his cult classics "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" or "Hell's Angels."

"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die." - as said by Raoul Duke about Dr. Gonzo in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," written by HST