"Bunny Ears" by Wes Aldridge
Today I was prepping to shoot a portrait of a husband and wife team that ran an acting studio and performance theatre. They were both former players in Broadway shows and really seemed to enjoy what they were doing. I wanted to shoot them on stage and try to use the lighting rig behind them as part of the backdrop. I wanted the look of stars to be coming from the lights, so I needed a really long exposure time to make that happen. Naturally, I wouldn't be able to hold the camera steady for a good 4 seconds, so I put it on the tripod. While I was making adjustments to the angle of the shot, the two were playing around and having fun. I was looking into the viewfinder when I saw... the bunny ears. Snap, and I got a moment of this little ol' couple's happiness, pure and unstaged... no pun intended, of course.
"The Ref" by Wes Aldridge
I am on assignment right now in a suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. Fishers, oh Fishers... I have come to you again. I shot this magazine a year ago, and I am back again.
So, I had to shoot a family having fun at a local upscale bowling & gaming facility for a feature story. I shot them playing the lanes and think I got some cute stuff, mission accomplished. I needed to get another shot of the facility for a different department of the magazine. There was a room with nice pool tables, akin to Buffalo Billiards, for all those who may have that fine establishment in your town. I got a nice shot of a platinum blonde mother-daughter team playing a game of pool. I was finished. But then the owner grabbed me and said he wanted to do one more thing. Alright, I'm game.
He said he had messed with one of his servers a little earlier about being in one of the photos, because he knew she really didn't want to. He said he was going to get her and tell her she had to be in a shot. He told me to be mean.
At that point in time, I let every thought of the "traditional prick" photographer run through my head. It was time to get in character. When she walked in, a little confused, I started barking at her to "pick up the pace, sweetie, because I've only got five minutes." And it was on from there... and I let her have it.
If you know me, it is pretty hard for me to be a true and absolute jerk. I made her get in this pose about to break the rack. I kept telling her to give me a real smile because the "fake" one she was doing made her look stupid and really screwed up the picture. I was gruff and kept cutting her off after everything she started to say. She had this astonished look on her face that was priceless. It was totally awesome. I kept busting her chops and you could tell she was really getting pissed. At the point I could tell she was going to blow up, I put the camera up to my face and said, "smile and on three, say 'I got duped.'" She was like, "What?" And then I spilled the beans to her about her boss setting her up. The entire place busted out laughing and she ran around trying to kill her boss and me. Man, it was funny. Here she is, disgruntled smile and all. She was a really good sport!
But, as you can see on the TV screen in the background, my boy Vick and the Falcons are wearing the NY Jets out and I need to tend to some Monday Night Football.
"The Pumpkin" by Wes Aldridge
The Fall is truly a great time for pumpkins.
"McGavock Sunset" by Wes Aldridge
I shot a freelance marching band assignment at McGavock High School today... all day. I was shooting directly into the sun the entire time, which made the exposures on the shadowed faces of the particpants pretty difficult, especially with cloud coverage knocking me around 3 f-stops every few minutes. It made the autofocus on my camera not work worth shit. Really need that autofocus when the quota is to shoot at least 100 different photographs of constantly moving people in a span of about 8 minutes. Not easy, but sure is fun. Shooting the marching band competitions is like playing a game at the fair, I think. You figure out the movement patterns, lock in your focal point and push the shutter button second after second as each band member marches by until both of your hands start to cramp... then you do it some more.
After I finished shooting my 24th band (members ranging from 50 to 150) of the day, it was time to download the thousands of shots and get the heck out of there. While I was standing there finishing up, I looked over the tree tops and saw the beautiful sunset. Not much to the shot really, just Nature's majesty.
"Stix" by Wes Aldridge
What a brave tree to keep on standing after his prime.
"Ol' Cowboy" by Wes Aldridge
The sun was beautiful. The expression tells his story. Too long and hard at it, and getting too late in the day for him.
"The General Jackson" by Wes Aldridge
I went searching around as the sun started to set tonight. The sun is setting much earlier these days. I barely have time to drive from the office to my place before the colors become brilliant. Yes, it is Fall now. The days are shorter, the weather is more unpredictable and the nights are becoming longer and longer. The life of a photographer becomes a little harder right now, but that's alright. I love the weather because I know winter is just around the corner and that is when things get really tough.
But, tonight, for all of those who love when I shoot ANOTHER Nashville skyline shot, this one is for you. I went across the Cumberland River to see what I could see. I had planned on shooting some of the industrial sculpture work close to the landing. I was doing sunset silhouettes when I looked up and saw the riverboat General Jackson coming down the river. I hadn't gotten a shot of it before and it is most certainly a part of iconic Nashville. Cool, I thought I would get a shot, and what the heck, someone might even want to buy a print of it, right? Hehe. I hope so.
Well I got lucky because the boat docked right in front of the Bellsouth building. I thought I was going to have to shoot it while it was moving. I put up the tripod and metered out the light. The exposure was less than 10 seconds, I think and the aperture was somewhere around f/7.1. Anyhow, I like it.
"Oblivious" by Wes Aldridge
After work, a few of us went for cocktails. Of course, the Canon was in tow. I saw this guy sitting at the end of the bar by himself. He just had this look about him. I wanted to get a natural scene without the subject noticing me taking the shot. It was incredibly dark in there and I was forced to shoot at ISO 1600, hence the large amount of grain in the frame. I sat the camera on the bar and positioned it toward the lone man. I exposed for 0.6 seconds at f/7.1 to let enough light in with my 50mm lens. I snapped the shot. The man never was the wiser and I had another two happy hour beers. It was fun, expecially just knowing the abilities of my camera and lens system to compose and meter the light in the shot without even looking through the viewfinder. I think I am starting to really feel it inside me.
"The Feed Store" by Wes Aldridge
So tonight, I am still at the office doing a photo database that has to be in by midnight. I took a break and did a wild run to find a shot with the full moon in it. I was having no luck what so ever. I started to fret. Then, I see a sign that says, "Welcome to Nolensville." I had no idea where the hell I was and only hoped for the best.
I was in luck.
I saw this old feed store of some sort, no idea where or what it was. The moon lit it nicely. I threw the camera on the tripod, shot at ISO 400 with a 30 second exposure at f/22. Of course, that is me in the Jesus Christ pose in the shadow in the foreground. Just thought it made it a little more creepy. Right on.
"Moon and Leaves" by Wes Aldridge
Here is a shot similar to the last one. It is the effect you get by simpling adjusting the exposure to capture the ambient light of the tungsten light on the leaves of the trees framed around the moon in all its streaking glory.
"Shooting Moon" by Wes Aldridge
I went out just a little too late to catch the last warm rays of sunshine on this beautiful day. It is ok though. After a few days of fun, fun, fun, I was able to think outside the box and I came up with a good one I think. The center light in the frame is of course the moon. The streaking coming from the center is, believe it or not, tree leaves. IT was completely dark outside, besides the tungsten coming from the street lamps illuminating the leaves. I put the camera on a tripod with my wide angle lens. I set it at f/22 with a 30 second exposure and zoomed the lens in, giving that streaking look. Its pretty cool.
"Autumn Abstract" by Wes Aldridge
Finally a beautiful day and the deed is done, once again.
I can see what I want to see, can you?
"Bridge to Somewhere" by Wes Aldridge
I saw this scene and shot it for a purpose today. Its pretty symbolic of how I am feeling in life right now. I mean, you clearly see the boards right in front of you on the bridge. And you can see what's at the end of the shot, even if where the treeline meets the sky is a long way off. What you can't see is where that bridge goes when it dips down in the center of the frame. You know something is there, just not sure what. Do you just stand on the bridge where you are, because hell, its a pretty rockin' view from where you're at? Or, do you face the risks of the unknown and journey to that place where you can't see?
"Open your eyes..." - Vanilla Sky
"DND Drummer" by Wes Aldridge
The chain of events that lead to the shot.
I did a portrait of a teacher today. She asks if I like Metal. I reply yes. She invites me to go see a band she really likes, her treat. They happen to be opening for Dark New Day, whom I shot last Friday night in Nashville. I walk in with my camera in hand and the girl for DND at the merchandise table says, "hey, I know you." Then the tour manager comes over to me and gives salutation. The rest is merely detail captured with the flicking of a shutter button. After the show, we were invited to come to a private gathering of the bands and tech crews. Pretty nice being able to have cocktails with rockstars.
My birthday turned out to be pretty good, even though I spent it with total strangers. Twenty-five and counting, who knows for how long...
"Another Beautiful Day" by Wes Aldridge
Before anyone comments about this not being my usual delicate touch of nice photography, let me explain.
This shot encapsulates what was my day: dark, dreary and raining. The wet ground and gray skies have been present for two days now. The only thing really missing in this shot is the rain and frustrations of trying to get in touch with all of my assignment contacts. And lets just say that this single frame is the only one I have snapped of any exterior photography. The forecast doesn't look much better for the rest of my time here in Lexington. But, you know, I have Hope. I know I will get all my assignments done one way or another, and I fear not. I shot a magazine in New York in the dead of winter with four-and-a-half feet of snow on the ground and it turned out just fine. A little rain? Ah, no problem.
Let's hit the hay, lots to do tomorrow.
"Where's My Glass?" by Wes Aldridge
Well, after another night of immortal hell of trying to get the blog up, including, but not limited to jumping from hotel to hotel, it is complete. And, what if the shot is a little cheezy, huh? Who cares. Of course it is a self portrait, maybe one of the better ones I have done of self.
I was at this very, very cool vineyard and winery called Childress Vineyards. Childress was once a NASCAR great and upon retiring, he returned to his native home of Lexington to start this grape juiced extravaganza. The grounds and facilities were beautiful and easily the most impressive vineyard I have ever photographed. My self portrait came from doing a light test for a shot I was going to do of the winemaker. I thought the wine barrels made the perfect setting for him, so I set my camera on my tripod and fixed up my 550EX flash on a light stand with an umbrella reflecting toward me set on self timer.
The winemaker was very funny and laid back and a pleasure to photograph. The shot of him is similar to mine, but he is about five inches taller and he has a wine glass in his hand. His attitude was just so good I got perfect facial expressions from him. He enjoyed the time and offered me a chilled bottle of Childress Chardonney at the end, which I gladly accepted and thoroughly enjoyed tonight!
"Bass: Chris Lowery" by Wes Aldridge
Ok, promise, last shot from Dark New Day. I just enjoy sharing my rockstar photos. This is Chris Lowery, bassist. He is one of the most animated performers I have ever seen on stage... pure energy. Anyway, the reason I love this shot is the lighting of course. The deep shadows and brilliant highlights are good enough to convey the mood in this situation.
"Vox: Brett Hestla #2" by Wes Aldridge
I wanted to put up one more shot from Dark New Day. After I posted the last shot, I noticed that the interesting details of the singer were covered by his arm. Notice his hair and tattoo here. Interesting stuff. Completely shaved balled besides his center line of spikes, a la Mohawk and his tattoo of an angel on the back of his head. Just wanted to share those little details.
"Vox: Brett Hestla" by Wes Aldridge
Tonight I shot Dark New Day at Exit/In in Nashville. They completely rocked. I saw them a couple of months ago and this time the show was even better. They totally controlled the crowd and dominated the venue. It was great.
"The Frist" by Wes Aldridge
A night shot of the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville.
