"NY Gulls" by Wes Aldridge
Today was another magnificent day for photography, and my life in general. Nothing particularly special happened, I just know how fortunate I am to travel and shoot photographs for a salary. It was a whirlwind adventure, in and out fast. Now time has come to head back to NashVegas.
I miss New York already as I sit in the Buffalo-Niagara Airport munching on some city name-sake "Buffalo" wings as I hack away at the blog. Time is drawing closer to departure on the big red, gold and blue bird to Baltimore and then on to Nashville.
This shot was done on the banks of the Niagara River. It shows a somewhat primal aggressive side of seagulls, general what I consider as gentle creatures. The sounds they made were like women shreiking and chilled your blood. I got in as close as I could, without scaring the little birds into flight, and squeezed off a few frames while they were making their strange noises.
"Fall Colours" by Wes Aldridge
Today was spectacular. The weather was perfect. The photography flowed like clockwork. It was a blessed day to have my camera in my hand.
This is a photo a view of the American side of Niagara Falls from across the river on the Canadian border. At night, the falls have lights projected on them in different colors from the Canadian side. The colors cycle through and change from one to another and it was difficult to get the colors to show properly with a very long exposure. The shot was taken at ISO 100 at 1.6 seconds with an aperture of f/2.8.
"Candian Lights" by Wes Aldridge
This shot is offically my first international photograph. I know, I know, its just Canada. I went across the border tonight to scout out shots of Niagara Falls and I decided to snap a few neons on Centre Street in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The street was bizarre, much like I remember it when my friends and I went on a whirlwind day trip there about five years ago. It is a strange mix of the main strip in Gatlinburg, Tennessee (major tourist trap) with casinos sprinkled into the mix.
Crossing into Canada was strange in itself. I had to stop and let a pair of Canadian customs officers search my vehicle for contraband and answer several questions. I simply had to present my drivers license and after the search, I was free in another country. After flocking about in the streets of Canadia, I went to cross back into the States. It bothered me because only after a few questions like, "Where were you born?" and "How long were you in Canada?," I was able to drive my rental car back into the U.S. It was ultra simple to cross into the border and there was no search of my car or anything of that nature. I thought with the state of New York being as it is after 9/11 and the position of Homeland Security, I imagined the process of coming into the States would be a little more difficult, or thorough, however you want to look at it. Just something to think about.
I am not a person that wants or supports more restrictions on free travel and such. But I thought with the gigantic ordeal and emphasis being placed onto the ideal of broken borders and fear of terrorists coming into the country, it would be much more than a 3-minute event to cross the Big Line.
"Thrown" by Wes Aldridge
Tonight Thaxton Ward played a great rock show at the Rivers and Spires Festival in Clarksville, Tennessee. After the show during breakdown, the elusive Mr. Carter decided to throw the frisbee around... and I thought it would be cool to shoot.
Because it was very dark, I had to shoot at ISO 400. I slowed the shutter down to about 1/25th of a second to catch the motion of the frisbee in flight and give it the cool trail through the air. I hit Carter with a little flash from my 550EX to give him a little luminescence and to stop his motion and make his figure look solid.
"In Flight" by Wes Aldridge
This is a shot that I did at the office. We have this great gazebo that we go out to and spend some quality time in while its pretty outside. But, there are several pesky bees that are guarding something. They fly around and buzz by my head and try to keep the other bees from invading their terrirtory.
Anyway, I shot the bee at a very high shutter speed... and I need to hang out with a girl. See ya, bye, its Friday night.
"New Found Vitality" by Wes Aldridge
Ahhh... It is mid-April and spring has sprung. The air we breathe is a little fresher. The skies we see are much bluer. And for the love of all things holy, the greenery has come forth to delight our eyes once again.
This was a shot I did in our office complex parking lot. The light hitting the new found glory of the green leaf sapling was all I could stand to not take a shot at. The sky, perfect in its beautiful, majestic blue. Spring time is here and life has come again.
"Spicy Eggplant" by Wes Aldridge
Well, this is a shot I set up in the studio. The food looked pretty nice and colorful, but the image just needed a little more dressing up. I went to Pier 1 Imports and bought this little place mat that looked pretty Asian and seemed to fit in well. Then, of course, we needed some fly looking chop sticks. Funny though, no stores in Cool Springs had any for sale. Everything they had was for display only, not for sale.
I ended up in Hecht's department store and saw a table setting there... with chop sticks made of black porcelain. I NEEDED them. I told the store manager this in a frantic way, and he felt the desperation in my voice and could read it in my eyes. He agreed to let me take them on the premis that he "trusted me" to bring them back when I was finished with the photo shoot. Believe it or not, I got them back to Hecht's when I was finished. Such a good boy am I.
"Night Light" by Wes Aldridge
This shot is of the rotating guitar at the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Nashville. The neons look nice and contrasty against a pitch black sky, so I decided to take a shot. I just exposed for the neons and let the sky totally fall dark.
It was yet another night the post almost didn't happen. The Net was down at my place, so I went all over Nashville trying to find somewhere to hook in Wi-Fi. I had no luck. On my way home, almost giving up, I drove by my alma mater Belmont University and thought eureka. I drove up to the library and searched for a wireless network... and behold there was one. The fun didn't end there, though. I tried logging in with my old college passwords and couldn't remember them for the life of me. After racking my brain another 20 minutes with it, I finally remembered my codes and got online; And the post is up.
"Cards and Cigs" by Wes Aldridge
This is a little diddy set up using the deck of Harrah's playing cards from the casino in New Orleans that was given to me on my 21st birthday there. Not much going on in this one, but I think it looks neat. Could be a great shot for someone to hang in their playing/gaming room, hint, hint.
"Ole Glory" by Wes Aldridge
Well, it was a pretty day, the weather of course. So I shot this flag. Other things could be more to wish for, such as life's little path in general. Just a rather interesting time that I don't fully understand at the present time. But, I am not a person that cares to question the things that go on day to day. I let them come as they will... and yes, they will.
To sum up life's present situations and current events and happenings, I leave you with this quote from one of my greatest influences in life, my senior AP English teacher in high school.
"The rational mind knows limitations that the heart could never understand."- Henry T. Honeycutt
"RC Jones" by Wes Aldridge
This shot is of RC Jones, guitarist from the Nashville rock band Thaxton Ward. The show pretty much rocked tonight at The End. The crowd was happy and the music was tight.
The lighting in the club was terrible, so I was pretty much forced to shoot at a 3200 film speed. That means ultra grain, but I embraced it and thought of it as a creative factor. It adds a certain roughness to the photos and really enhances the situation.
"Le Turkey" by Wes Aldridge
This one is for Scooter.
The Sherlock's liquor store in Marietta gave us this profound anomoly. I am not sure who Jimmy Russell is, but he sure as hell signed this display for Wild Turkey.
No shot info. It was simply a special moment that should have been recorded for a dear friend.
"Slow and Steady" by Wes Aldridge
What a strange trip today has been.
Money. Greed. Fear. Opportunity. Deception. Realization. Redemption. Fortune. Tragedy. Uneasiness. Destruction. Temptation. Abomination. Frustration. Tranquilization.
Bliss, thank you girl.
Why can’t my life be like that of a turtle, where the only pressing quest is to cross the road without being smashed into oblivion? I guess I am that turtle. I try and cross that road everyday. I will keep the pursuit no matter what steps come in front of me to deter. I will do what is right and valiant, no matter how difficult, and fight the good fight until the sweet ending. My movements toward progress may be slow at times, but I will use my hard shell to guard me and persevere the atrocities before me. With my body tattered and worn, skin old and leathery, I still press on… and I will reach the other side.
Meet me.
"USA Fish" by Wes Aldridge
Yes. This was in downtown Somerset. Did you think I could pass up a post like this? Of course not.
Apparently the town has many of these statues hanging around, several in the Somerset Mall. One of my assignments entails documenting them through photography for a feature story. I didn't know about this one, but I sure saw it standing there tall and proud in all its glory.
The weather was garbage and what little sunlight that was available through the cloud-covered sky was on the other side of the beast. I knew I had to wait and shoot him at dusk, which p.s. allowed for no coloration in the sunset. So, I dropped my shutter speed to 1/13th of a second to let some of the ambient light from the street lights in and set my aperture to f/6.3 to let the right amount of flash and depth of field for this one. I used my 16-35mm lens for that ultra-wide distortion of the fish.
Anyway, what a patriot!
"Sun and Stones" by Wes Aldridge
One of my greatest fears is to sing solo in front of people, even if it is at a small birthday gathering with PlayStation 2 American Idol karaoke. I respect someone who has the ability and desire to stand with their naked voice and sing. Enter Amanda. Today she sang the “Star-Spangled Banner” at a University of Georgia baseball game in front of hundreds of people… a cappella. I wanted to be there to hear her, because if you have never had the opportunity, her voice is intoxicatingly beautiful. It was in high school, and still is weeks before her college graduation.
Earlier in the day I told her to get her best friend to call me and hold her cell phone where I could hear her. I didn’t know if that would actually happen or not, but as I lay on the ground amongst white tombstones in a veterans’ cemetery at sunset, my phone rings. The voice on the other end said, “I think she is going to sing in a couple of minutes, hold on.” I couldn’t believe it. I looked up at the American flag blowing in the sunset and then I heard the sound.
She began the song (on perfect pitch) and something moved inside me. I expected her to sound good, but I wasn’t prepared for the brilliance in her voice, even over a cell phone speaker. I listened to her sweet soprano voice soar higher and higher with “the rockets red glare” and chills blasted across me. She sang on and my jaw hung wide open.
When she brought her voice back down to end the anthem it was in a wonderful whisper with “the home of the brave.” Right then, staring at the flag above me, lying in the grass in the cemetery as the sun faded away, something moved in me. A single tear rolled down my left cheek and I was sonically completed. I let the sun fade away and I just lay there and stared at the sky. I couldn’t move, and it was great. Everything was in its right place and I didn’t actually shoot the deep reds and purples in the sky after the sunset, it seemed better to just lie there and watch it sink away. Today I may have been on assignment in Somerset, Kentucky, but my ears and heart were in Athens, Georgia.
This shot is the scene I saw seconds before I got that phone call. And by the way, Nashville is waiting on that voice girl, bring it on up here and start the long, hard road.
"The Walking Bridge" by Wes Aldridge
This is a nighttime shot of the pedestrian bridge in downtown Nashville. I sat it on a tripod and did a long exposure to get this shot. I love this shot because of the beauty found in simplicity.
"X Commandments" by Wes Aldridge
I saw this and had to shoot it. I remembered the somewhat recent controversy surrounding the forced removal of the Ten Commandments at Montgomery's Federal Courthouse. I thought it was interesting.
The shot isn't technical at all. It is here for all to see. See it?
"Flyin' Brian" by Wes Aldridge
Meet Brian Fowler, or as many people know him, "Mr. Dance Ohio." He won this honor and the Licking County Chamber wanted to feature him in the portfolio section of their magazine. I thought this was an interesting concept from the get go.
My editor gave me his contact information only yesterday. That didn't give me much time to track him down and set an appointment for a portrait before I flew out on Sunday. Time was against me and I just hoped a power stronger than me would give me a hand on this one. And, yeah, that happened. I got in touch with him and sat an appointment for a couple of hours later that day.
I drove through the bitter cold in what seemed like a blizzard to the studio where this guy danced. I sat up a light and started shooting reflections of him Jete, Plie and Pirouette... and it blew my mind. I didn't know guys could make their bodies do the things this aerobatic wonder was doing. I had to get myself reflected in one of the shots. Do you notice his legs are parallel to the ground? Yeah, they are.
For the shot, it was at ISO 100 with a shutter speed of 1/200th of a second at aperture f/4.5 with a White Lightning strobe light bounced through out of an umbrella. I was using my radio slave to trigger the strobe to allow freedom of movement and I positioned the light at 45-degrees to the subject.
The kid asked me, "Can your camera shoot multiple shots right in a row?" I said, "Yeah, but I just shoot one at a time." He said, well, the newspaper guy that shot me had a real problem getting the 'right' shot." I just told him, "I'm not just some newspaper guy..." After I was finished shooting he and his dance instructors were pretty pleased with the action images I captured. Rock.
"Train a Goin' Home" by Wes Aldridge
One of my feature stories required me to shoot an industrial park. As you may or may not know, industrial parks are not the most photogenic stretches of architecture and landscape. So, I did what any goal-driven photographer would do... I shot it at sundown to add a little warmth to the shots and give it a little more of an appeal.
Anyway, I am out in the middle of nowhere, several miles outside of "the city," and the sunset is fading fast. I was speeding, frantically and desperately searching for something to frame a sunset and silhouette with. Just my luck, I see this train sitting off the road in a field. I slammed on the brakes, jerked the Mercury off the road and made a mad dash for the train. I got there just in time. The color shifts are beautiful in this one, really inviting to the eye. I particularly like the chaotic line formations.
The shot is between two boxcars where they are connected together. It just seemed like the right part of the scene to share with everyone. Enjoy.
"Self: On the Mounds" by Wes Aldridge
Here is a little self portrait action for you, via silhouette. Yes, that is me standing on an Indian mound... on a GOLF COURSE. This kind of disturbs me. This course was built in 1910, and it is very beautiful. But, I really don't know if I agree it being where it is. Anyway, it was a beautiful day and I thought it was a neat idea for a shot.
I personally like the arm-on-hip attitude going on. Not sure why. It has sass, and yes, I am a straight man with sass sometimes. Nothing wrong with a little pizzazz!
Enjoy the shot.
