Elvis on Broadway

"Viva NashVegas" by Wes Aldridge

Not much to say here. I needed a shot, and I went to Broadway and yep, you guessed it... I saw Elvis.

In the opinion of someone, this shot seems to look like a painting. Almost like the way this subject was shot, it starts to look like a 2-D object. But Elvis was very 3-D in person, or statue. He stands on Legends Corner, honky-tonk central, in downtown Nashville to greet all the passers-by.

Big Boss Man, this one is for you. Viva NashVegas and Hot Sauce from the King.

A Day of Softball

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"Megan" by Wes Aldridge

Today my excitement consisted of shooting TSSAA softball for around four hours, starting around 10 a.m. This was an amazing task for me, considering the amount of fun I had last night and how late I was up. I am suffering for it now. Sick, coughing and half-zapped on pain relievers and cough medicine. Oh, and did I mention the body aches? Yep, those too! All for a day full of fun doing the thing I love to do the most... shoot.

Anyway, this is Megan, the daughter of one of my co-workers. I thought the shot with the flag in the background is pretty cool. Not exactly action sports photography, but editorial that is pretty interesting.

Time for bed.

On Assignment: Brentwood, Tennessee-Day Trip

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"The Red Barn" by Wes Aldridge

I shot this shot today on assignment for out Brentwood Chamber publication. I did it kind of as a joke. I'll explain.

Last year's edition of the Brentwood magazine was shot by my boss/chief photographer, Greg. The cover was this same barn. I guess it was kind of ironic that I ran across the same random barn that he shot last year. So, the joke was, I went back to the office and all full of pride I boasted, "Greg, I shot the cover of the Brentwood mag just now." He said, "Oh really? Then show me what you got."

I handed him the camera and sure enough it was the cover of the Brentwood magazine... from last year's edition. I don't think he thought it was anywhere near as hysterical as I thought it was. None the less, it is a pretty nice shot of a patriotic barn. Enjoy.

Bright on Dark With a Little Contrast

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"The Light" by Wes Aldridge

Today was my mother's birthday and a joint family meeting for dinner and fun was arranged in Manchester, Tenn. It is halfway between Nashville and Tunnel Hill, Ga., where my parents live. As usual, I was armed with my camera.

After dinner, our party was walking out the front door into the night. I saw this lamp on the side of the building. I loved its old cast iron design, but the shadows it cast on the brick wall really is what got my attention.

I couldn't pass up a few minutes of shooting it for different angles and this is my favorite one. Who knew an O'Charley's restaurant would make it onto the blog? Certainly not I, but I do love the unexpected.

Shot settings were ISO 200 handheld at 1/20th of a second at f/2.8 with compulsory strobes from my 550EX flash. I liked the way this shot came out because of using the flash on it. And, honestly, I can't even tell that a strobe was fired once, much less the multiple times I fired it off.

Velvia, the Beautiful

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"Slides" by Wes Aldridge

I am almost ashamed to share this with everyone. You are looking at the slides from the first roll of slide film that I have ever shot.

The slides in the frame are processed from Fuji Velvia 50. I must confess, I am in love all over again. No digital shot I have ever taken can compare with the vivid colors of these slides. The colors simply explode from them. I was looking at these shots on the light board and thought I needed to commemorate the moment.

I bumped my ISO up to 400 and shot at f/8.0 handheld at 1/40th of a second. I was directly over the slides and focused on a shot of a goose that I was looking at through the viewing loupe.

Minute Detail

"Tiny Droplet" by Wes Aldridge

Here is another look into the fascinating world of macro photography. Even the most common item can take on a different dimension when it becomes larger than life in a macro photograph. Thank you Mr. Boshier for letting me use your extension tubes once again to achieve this interesting up-close-and-personal shot... and no, you shouldn't start charging me for the times I want to use the tubes!

Shooting with extension tubes is extremely difficult. Focusing with the front ring on the lens is more or less out of the question. I fix the ring in the position closest to the subject and move the camera back and forth by centimeters to focus on a subject. The extension tubes allowed me to get the front element of my lens about 1 inch away from this tiny 1-inch leaf on the potted miniature rose plant that I received for Valentine's Day. I used my E-TTL 550EX flash shot at 1/128th power as the light source pointed dead on to the subject with a diffuser screen, shot at f/3.2 at 1/200th of a second.

The water droplet itself was probably less then half an inch in actual size and the depth of field for the shot is crazily shallow. I used my 50mm f/1.8 lens, which has a normal minimal focusing distance of about 1-and-a-half feet without the extension tubes. If I had shot the lens wide open at max aperture, I don't think the water droplet would have even been decipherable, as you can see how difficult it is to make anything out in the shot at f/3.2 as it is.

With this shot as support, I think personal studies into macro photography must continue to be examined. There is a whole new world just waiting to be shot out there.

Life Feeds On Life

"Wascillay Wabbit" by Wes Aldridge

You don't expect to see a scene like this driving on Mallory Lane in Cool Springs behind the Galleria Mall. This carnage isn't typical of quaint urban settings. Of course I had to shoot it.

I drove by these three enormous (about thigh height) vultures standing on the side of the street at rush hour. I parked at an A&W Root Beer stand and mounted my f/2.8 70-200mm L lens to my Canon with my 1.4x teleconverter. The beasts were busy fighting over and shredding the carcass of a rabbit that had seen better days. I crept closer and closer to them and they seemed to hardly notice me.

I got within about 10 feet of them and shot away. The scene was that of carnal instinct and nature being intertwined with suburbia. They jumped in and out of the road, where the poor rabbit lay roadkill, until one of those black monsters had the great idea of dragging the carcass out of busy traffic and onto the curbside grass. It was very interesting to watch the three big birds screech and bite at each other. It was even more interesting to watch them violently shred the animal's flesh as they were feeding.

This is by no means a pretty picture. My motivation is not to offend, but to share what I considered an interesting moment of my day. It was nature in a harsh form on display for many robotic office workers to witness on their frenzied drives home after a strenuous day of pushing pencils and sending faxes from their cubicles. Can you imagine the executive from Company X driving by, talking on his cell and drinking his latte seeing a scene like this? Isn't it divine? Ha! I love it.

And All Was Blue...

"Glass Under Blue Sky" by Wes Aldridge

I was driving down Commerce Street when I looked up and saw this great mirrored building. The glass had several different shades of blues that complemented the tones in the sky behind it. The angles of the building were great and I moved around until I found an angle that really confuses the eye. The geometry of the building enabled my mind to run crazy with the composition concept of leading lines and rule of thirds for this shot. I was pleased to snap a few frames and jump back in the Jeep happy.

I had been listening to A Perfect Circle's 2nd album "Thirteenth Step" before I got out to take a shot. When I cranked the engine again, the CD player spit out these lyrics: "Call it aftermath, she's turning blue. Such a lovely color for you," from the song Blue off the record.

I thought, "Well, if that isn't a sign that I should use this shot for the blog, I don't know what is." These lyrics fit pretty tightly with this shot. They meant a lot to me during some of the tougher times in the not-so-far-removed days of my past. And now, they have had a little resurgence with my art.

A Shoot at Home

"Beautiful Day" by Wes Aldridge

Today was spectacular. The weather was nicer than it has been in quite some time. I got out of bed around 2 p.m.-ish and went to Dury's and bought two beautiful rolls of Fuji Velvia 50 slide film. I forgot how exciting it was to go to the camera store and buy pro film. I definitely need to put the digital camera down and shoot some good ol' slide film more often.

This shot, another of NashVegas, was taken from the pedestrian bridge on the side of the Cumberland River where the Coliseum (Nashville Titans football stadium) sits. I was walking around with two cameras slung around my shoulders with a tripod. It was a rather fun time. People would look at me and I could just see them saying in their minds, "This guy must mean business."

I got several really nice shots today, but I went with this one because the colors were so similar to the sunset I posted from my final day in Corydon, Indiana. I just drew a parallel to how two places can be so different, but something as simple as a sunset can tie them together.

The shot is of course digital (no time to process slide film today), shot at ISO 100 on a tripod at f/2.8 with a shutter speed of 1/1250th of a second to get that nice black silhouette.

On Assignment: Corydon, Indiana-Day Three

"Corydon Sunset" by Wes Aldridge

Another sun has set on another day and another photo assignment is complete. Even if Corydon, Indiana doesn't have much more than corn fields, the susnets are pretty nice in the flat land. Here is one for you shot from Interstate 64 between Corydon and Louisville, Kentucky.

And here it is... your moment of zen.

On Assignment: Corydon, Indiana-Day Two

"Comfort in Paranoia" by Wes Aldridge

Ok, so I don't know if I was playing the game in my head or if the man in the chair was playing it. I was doing a shoot at the new library located on the Indiana University Southeast campus. I walked by this guy sitting in the chair. He eyeballed me nervously as I walked by with my camera. I noticed he kept looking over his shoulder, seemingly paranoid, as if someone was watching him.

As fate would have it, I ventured up to the second floor and saw some railing around an opening in the floor that looked down onto the lower level. Yup, and you guessed it, Mister Nervous was sitting right below. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a shot of him. He needed it in his life, I know he did. So, I stealthily popped off this frame. He was a part of my game. I caught him. I caught him.

He looks pretty comfortable with his legs propped up on the table. Well, little did he know, my eyes were watching him now. He had been my subject and all his paranoid fears had just come true.

I guess the game was all in my head and maybe I am a little crazy for thinking like this.

On Assignment: Corydon, Indiana-Day One

"Dedication: The Show Must Go On" by Wes Aldridge

Today, the photo blog almost broke the 365-day consistency. I went through hell and high water to get this pretty little flower pic online. So the story goes...

I decided to take a different approach, in leiu of the currently falling snow, and try to find something worthy of shooting at the lovely Hampton Inn I am staying at. I shot everything from reflections in the indoor pool to a strange elevator sign to cigarettes in a giant stone ashtray. I thought the relection of the flowers were just pleasing to the eye and something a little more positive and uplifting to post for the day, so I went with that shot. Now, here is where the fun starts.

I am using a loaner iBook while my PowerBook is being repaired. It doesn't have an Airport card, hence I can't use the hotel's high-speed wireless connection. So, I got a network bridge from the front desk. Turns out the snow storm knocked their Wi-Fi down, so no dice. Then, I tried the good ol' trusty dial-up modem. I just kept getting booted off and never was able to establish a connection. After a few hours of trying to get wired into the Matrix, I thought no post tonight. That is mainly due to the fact that the thriving metropolis of Corydon is minute in population, i.e., no places were open to get Internet access this late at night in a small town. And I panicked. Yessir.

Then, survival mode kicked in. I thought, "I've gotten this far, no time to start giving up on this project." And so I grabbed the YellowPages and started thumbing through and brainstorming. I called all the area hotels and one finally agreed to let me use the computer in their business suite. Then, the guy asked if I was a guest... "No" I says. I thought, for the love of all things remotely holy, just let me get on the freaking Internet. I begged a little before the guy could really change his mind and he agreed to let me use it since it was so late in the evening... and he was probably worried I might hunt him down like a wild dog if he changed his mind on me. He could hear the desperation in my voice. So, I jumped in the Jeep and drove out through the billowing snow to the Holiday Inn Express. And there, my friends, is where I got wired and the show goes on.

Humanity: The Hollow Testimony

"Thirsty" by Wes Aldridge

This photograph tells a sad tale of human nature. I walked by a planter in downtown Nashville late tonight, very upset that I couldn't find a reasonable photo to post on the bloc, and I saw this. A cheap, generic bottle of mouthwash from Dollar General Store. It was empty, as you can see, turned upside down with the lid beside it. Not a drop remained in the bottle.

I assumed (and we all know what happens when one assumes) that a transient had made this a part of his nurturing for the night. I had heard stories about alcoholics sometimes drinking Listerine to get their fix when no other drink was available, but I had never seen anything quite like this. It was rather haunting. All the things inferred and implied from it.

Maybe I am totally off the mark here, but I don't think so. I mean, why would a bottle of highly alcoholic mouthwash be lying empty in a planter in a tougher part of downtown? I don't have the answer. I just hope that whomever used it had a better night because of it.

The shot itself was more based on opportunity than technique. I had no way of getting around the fact... I lit it with a punch flash from the camera, straight on. You surely can tell. It just lied in near total darkness. I thought there was some merit of recording the image and sharing it though. It really made me stop and think. I was shocked by it.

The day the mind tried to rest

"Hot, hot, hot" by Wes Aldridge

What can I say? The hot sign was on, so I stopped. It was a wonderful idea with a head full of night time sinus medicine and Turkey. It was a welcome thought with the dreadful loss of one of my heroes today. Damn, that doesn't leave many. There is still Q., thank God.

I asked the kid behind the counter if I could shoot the donuts on the conveyor belt. He obliged. I stepped behind the counter and he shouted, "you can't get behind the counter!" Too late my young friend. The shutter has already snapped and I am one day closer to completing this year long journey through the mind of the photographer.

The shot settings? Figure them out for yourself, if you care. I have a feeling you don't. Toodles.

Goddamn what a bummer

"Too weird to live, and too rare to die" by Wes Aldridge

Today is a horrible day. My icon fatally shot himself. Hunter Stockton Thompson is gone. He was a journalist and I wish I could have had only one conversation with him.

His work is the reason I am where I am in my life at this moment. After I read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, I got really interested in the wild ride he made of journalism. I got the itch, thanks HST. Its strange how his semi-fictitious representation of himself in his character Raoul Duke could mean so much to my life. He was why I began writing ruff editorial columns for my university newspaper and then started digging deeper and writing news and features and then, picking up the love of my life... my camera.

If I had never read Fear and Loathing, I would be pursuing the disgusting Music Business World and not having the great traveling adventures I am afforded with my job at the magazine publisher. Can you see? The value of literature?

If it weren't for him, I never would have acquired my lustful tongue for Wild Turkey. Now, that above all, would be have been a tragedy. I went to the archives and dug this shot up from about 2 years ago. I shot it because of HST. Could it not be more perfectly fitting for the man? A ripped, twisted, distorted and wonderful bottle of Turkey... bone dry from an agonizingly wonderful night of insanity. He was the one that proved to me that you can push yourself to absolute physical and mental limits and produce amazing works of all kinds. I aspire to be half of what he was.

I wish everyone could have had the chance to know him the way I do. I never needed to meet him, I learned more from him at a distance than I ever could in my entire life. But, now I will never get a chance to sit with him and get him to sign all my first edition publications of his books that I have collected over the years. Honestly, I just wanted him to sit and talk to me with his beautifully articulate mind and knock a few drinks on the books as his "signature." We are friends. I don't think ill things of him being gone, I am just proud to have gained the things I have through the life he had. A part of me died with him today.

A very fitting quote I leave you with from the pages of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Raoul Duke: 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.

The Watching

"Cold Eye" by Wes Aldridge

Well, it is Saturday night, minutes before midnight, fun is being had, and the blog shot is still going to get posted. How cool is that?

This shot is one I have waited on for a while. I acquired some extension tubes that allowed me to get close enough to the subject to do this shot. I was shooting the 24-70mm lens with a few extension tubes on. I lit it with my 550EX with a mild cyan gel filter that I bounced off a white card about 3 feet from the subject. I think it worked just fine.

Have a good one all.

Playa From the Himalayas

"That's Clean" by Wes Aldridge

World, meet Jarvis. He is a hilarious guy that is the photo assistant at our company. Jarvis keeps us from falling on our faces with the massive archives of slide film we have and the submitted photos that pour in for our magazines, he also comes and plays with us on various local shoots we do.

He never fails to keep us laughing, but on top of that, he doesn't mind when we experiment on him as a model for portrait work. If I were him, I would have told us to get out of my face and get a life by now. We get him to pose probably far too much. Thanks for being a good sport, killer.

Here are the shot specifics. ISO 100 at f/8.0 and a shutter speed of 1/200th of a second. I handheld the camera with a blue gel on my new 550EX, pointed directly on the subject with a diffuser screen, attached to the HotShoe on camera. I held my 420EX to the left of the subject in my free hand with a red gel on it. Shooting at 1/200th pretty much eliminates the ambient light from the flourescents in the room and allowed the gels to really do their thing. I had this image in my mind of doing something that looked like vision through 3-D glasses. Anyway, it is a little something different to look at and I think I will pursue more experimentation with the red and blue gel filter lighting mix. Also, notice the shadow on his face from the rim of his glasses... I personally think its pretty clutch.

And by the way, if you aren't one of the boys back with me in the photo department, you won't understand the title of the post or the name of the shot.

On Assignment: Leiper's Fork, Tennessee-Day Trip

"The Dead Field" by Wes Aldridge

Ah, nothing like shooting landscapes and scenic shots in the dead of winter. It is usually a bust assignment if you need any kind of vegetation, other than a holly bush or pine tree, in your shots.

I was in Leiper's Fork, Tennessee, shooting today. It is a tiny town south of Nashville where life seems to slow to a crawl. I went into Puckett's Bi-Rite supermarket and had one of their "world famous burgers" as locals in overalls and John Deere hats joked and laughed at me while I did some food shots of my meal. It is a different world there. I feel something majestic in it, a wonderful place to visit.

This was a random field that I drove by. It was dead, and perfect for what I wanted. I think the vivid colors of the sky and fence make a tremendous contrast with the dead tree and rotten grass. The shot pretty much is void of any photographic rules, I don't like to consider those anyway. Everything inside me told me not to take this ugly shot, but I simply had to. It was a perfect scene. I couldn't have asked for much more vivid contrast. I think the extreme contrast of this scene is fitting to the contrast of Leiper's Fork. It isn't much of a town, all 2 miles of it, but something about the people there make it so alive.

Product Shots on a Budget

"Limitations" by Wes Aldridge

Well, you would not believe the trouble I went through shooting this photograph. The long and toiling hours spent in the studio... the contemplation of every minute detail of the shot... the hours upon hours of photo editing.

No. None of that at all.

This shot was taken at my desk at work. Yup. I used my new Canon flash (550EX) on camera to get this one. My desktop was glass, not mirrored, and that is what the computer sits on top of. I shot at 1/15th of a second, without a tripod, by balancing the edge of the camera on the desk. I shot with such a slow shutter speed to eliminate the scan/refresh lines that would have appeared on the computer screen if it were faster. I tilted the monitor a tiny bit to eliminate the flash flare from appearing in the shot.

This was an exercise in how you can get very good photographs without having tons of expensive gear. I shot with an aperture of f/5.0, so you don't even need an expensive Canon "L" series lens at f/2.8 to get a shot like this. You don't even need a backdrop... the orange was simply from the color on the wall behind the desk. Heck, I didn't even clean the glass on the desktop or the glass on the monitor before the shot.

I love to set up intricate studio shots, but this shot is great and it took zero set up or pre-thought. Just some food for thought.

Valentine's Aftermath

"Pillars of Fire" by Wes Aldridge

I frantically searched for a shot as the sun was going down. I was hoping for a dramatic sunset, the clouds were amazing today. Anyway, the sun sunset wasn't nearly as great as I had hoped for and I wasn't getting any very good vantage points of framing ideas to shoot it with. So, I started to get annoyed.

I ended up instinctively driving towards the Parthenon. Centennial Park will always have a shot waiting for me. There are just infinite possibilities over there. The Parthenon itself has appeared on this blog before, but I got a little something different this time.

It was obviously illuminated with red flood lighting for Valentine's Day. I thought that was pretty unusual and I need to grab some shots to document it. I shot the obvious shots with a total view of the structure with my ultra-wide lens from a distance, but that wasn't what I was seeing at the moment. I needed to look harder.

I ended going up on the side steps of the building and looking up to find the moon. And there my shot was. I tilted the camera all the way back on the tripod, closed the aperture to f/22 to focus to infinity, set the shutter to 20 seconds at ISO 100 and went as wide as I could at 16mm. It is something a little different. I like how the positioning of the moon in the shot totally throws off the photographs symmetry.

Rock Bottom Spotlight

"Stoned Colours" by Wes Aldridge

This shot has no meaning at all. It was just a funny random thought that blossomed into a photograph. A little game of "can we make it work?" We did.

The container was a glass vase with glass or marble flat rocks in the bottom with a blue hue. I shot my 420EX Speedlite up from the bottom of the vase with blue and red colored gel filters on top of it. I shot at 1/200th of a second to eliminate almost all ambient light in the room at f/5.0, ISO 100. It looks almost as if the vase is floating in the air. The rim light on the top of the water abiscus is pretty neat as well.

Happy Valentines everyone.

Have a Drink On Me

"I [HEART] Vodka" by Wes Aldridge

This shot was taken at Sam's Place on 21st Avenue in Nashville. It is a cosmopolitan, of course. Yummy Stoli vodka and cranberrry juice, with a lime. Gotta love that. It is so fu-fu, and you know I don't drink it. But in mixed company, you are bound to have one floating around. Thank God it makes for good photographs.

This glass was handheld up close to the light over the table to let the color of the drink shine through. In the background, to the far left, there is a traffic light with all three (green, yellow, red) lights lit up. To the right of it, a Tennessee Titans logo shines brightly.

Anyway, this was with the trusty ol' crappy 50mm f/1.8 lens. You know, bars are very dark, so be amazed at these settings. ISO 100 with a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second. Pretty sweet, huh? No pixelation or distortion at all. Gotta love that. Plus the person that was holding it had a lot of vodka, bless her heart. Well, enjoy.

On Assignment: Franklin, North Carolina-Day Four

"Thumbs Up For Good Ideas" by Wes Aldridge

This shot is proof of a bad decision on my part. My final assignment in Franklin, N.C., was to shoot a new trailway on Cowee Mountain. The sun was perfect and the weather overall was pretty stellar for a winter day. I love to go out into the wilderness, so I was totally excited about this assignment.

I traveled on several forest service roads ascending the mountain side. The crude roadways were nothing more than dirt and loose rock steeply winding up to the mountain peak. I couldn't go more than about 5 m.p.h. in the Impala I rented from AVIS. I creeped along about 10 miles worth of dirt road up the mountain to around an elevation of 5,000 feet, and then I saw the snow. I had been driving trying to find the trail for about 1 hour and 45 minutes, so I thought I should keep going and get my shot.

Stupid. The snow covered the road. If you notice, the road is extremely narrow and a significant drop off is on the side. I kept trying to drive through the snow and the wheels kept sliding a bit. It scared the hell out of me, but I still trekked on because I NEEDED the shot.

I finally got to the last forest service road the trail was supposed to be connected to. Just my luck, the entrance to the damn road was blocked off. So, yes, I idiotically drove through snow-covered, narrow mountain passes to try to get this shot and then the final stretch was blocked off. And I learned a valuable lesson: Sometimes the shot just isn't worth the danger you put yourself in. But, forget that... where is the adventure without a little danger?

Another assignment in the books.

On Assignment: Franklin, North Carolina-Day Three

"Down On The Corner" by Wes Aldridge

This is a sight that makes me happy. In Nashville, you can look on the corner of 21st Avenue and Wedgewood when any political event is occurring and see masses of protesters. When I drove by the Macon County Courthouse in the small town of Franklin, N.C., I saw John Womack and his wife JoAnn, from left, Trish Severin and Doug Woodward exercising their First Amendment rights, standing shoulder to shoulder visually sounding their "Voices of Peace."

John said some people can't understand or get confused about his involvement with "Voices of Peace." He said his protest is not really one of anti-war, he is "more interested in working for peace." He said he doesn't understand why more people aren't trained in peace, like soldiers are trained for war. He said imagine what might happen if the money pumped into the war in Iraq was used to train soldiers in peace instead. John's point is an interesting one to listen to.

Sometimes in the smaller communities that I shoot magazines in, I wonder if these people know another world exists outside their city's limits. Today, as motorists drove by honking their horns and giving the four demonstrators the occassional "thumbs up" sign, the awareness and political interest of a sleepy little town was evident. I love to see people exercising their rights as a free-speaking citizen of this country.

SIDENOTE: Arthur Miller, a great writer who penned such amazing classics as "Death of a Salesman" and "The Crucible," has died today. Review his works, pass on his ideals and let his legacy continue.

On Assignment: Franklin, North Carolina-Day Two

"Old Glass" by Wes Aldridge

This shot was taken in the historic Methodist church in downtown Franklin, NC. The stained glass has been in the church since it was built, sometime over 100 years ago. It survived through a renovation and addition of a new sanctuary. In the new part, the stained glass seemed to be crafted in a similar manner as to mimic the original, old glass.

It was another shot that I couldn't pass up. I was walking through the building admiring the craftmanship and beauty of the glass when a little old lady walked up to me. She asked the usual question: "Who are you taking pictures for?" We spoke candidly for a few minutes and then she told me about the old glass in the old sanctuary and the new glass in the building addition. I'm glad she stopped and talked or I would have skipped over the old glass and thought it none different from the newer. I felt like it was my duty to shoot the old glass because nature had allowed it to stay beautiful for all of these years.

The settings that I used were for a backlit situation: ISO 100 handheld at 1/80th of a second at f/2.8. The sun was beaming brilliantly into the window, as if it were asking me to take the shot and share a piece of its history. It gave me a feeling of satisfaction to snap this frame, and I hope it gives you some satisfaction to share it with me.

On Assignment: Franklin, North Carolina-Day One

"Cornerstone" by Wes Aldridge

The assignment this week is in North Carolina, very close to Cherokee National Forest. It is beautiful here... minus the totally engulfing dreary weather. It will be great when the sun finally shines here. I have my eye on some sunrise/sunsets from high vantage points looking into mountain valleys.

This shot was from Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Franklin. I was making this shot about 9 p.m. in the rain. Headlights came from behind the building and who was it? None other than the pastor of the congregation. He stopped for a brief inquiry. He said he really would like to see the shots I was doing. I started to feel uncomfortable, kinda glad he left after a few minutes. Not sure if he could have appreciated the artistic nature behind this depiction of the cross.

Anyway, this shot was fun. I tried several different ways of shooting it, zooming in and out, panning, shifting, many different ways. This particular shot was possible because of my Canon L series 70-200mm f/2.8. It has a tripod collar that allows the lens to spin 360-degrees in a circular pattern. This exposure was shot at f/32 for 20 seconds at ISO 100. I focused on the center of the cross and let the exposure go for about 8 seconds (to make the cross appear solid at the beginning of the exposure) before I started spinning the lens ever so slowly, but evenly and fluidly. The gray cornerstone at the bottom made the gray semi-circle across the left side of the frame. The cross at the top of the frame was on the church's steeple. It almost looks like it flew out of the cornerstone.

Well, I think this one is neat. Pretty hard to find something to shoot after dark in a tiny town, especially one I've never been to before now. I just saw this cross beaming light from the side of the highway and had to go find it. Glad I did.

Shallow dreaming

"Woman, promise please..." by Wes Aldridge

Well, infer what you will... but, none the less: "Woman, promise please..." Take it for what you will. I think there is some strong hidden message buried deep inside the outer facade of these simple little magnets with words on them.

If you look closely, read the rest of the words in the shot on the little magnetic pieces. A story is there, a timeless tale of the ages. The tale is ironic and crude, and it may frighten you. Just trust it and read on. It will teach you things that you never knew existed.

Anyway, enough of the mystic garbage. I shot this in the office. A chic, I mean, fellow co-worker, was putting together poetry lines on this magnetic board. I grabbed the 16-35mm ultra wide lens and opened up to f/2.8. I saw the words: "woman, promise, please." It seemed too perfect not to take a shot. So, there you go. Nothing special, just a moment in the life of an office worker having a good time. Thanks for the shot, Autumn.

Must Be Nashville

"Boot Country" by Wes Aldridge

I went out searching for my shot tonight and realized I was somewhat forced to make the best use out of the rain. I knew neons were the ticket and I had to find some I haven't shot before, for variety's sake. I found one.

Boot Country is a store on Broadway downtown with this obnoxious neon above the door. I thought this one was just as good as any, and besides, the level of cyan in stirrup really sets off the color tones of all the magenta in the shot. So I busted out the Canon and slapped on the love of my life, my 50mm lens, and got to work.

This was shot at ISO 400 with f/1.8 aperture, hand held at 1/20th of a second. No, you aren't dyslexic, the lettering is a little screwy in the shot. This is where the rain comes in to play. A water puddle had gathered about 12 feet from the storefront and I got on my knees and saw this interesting reflection in it. The background to the shot is formed by a brick section of sidewalk the puddle stood on.

And in all honesty, I almost said to hell with the blog tonight. I am dead tired from the move, with more stuff to move in from the Jeep and unpack in my room. I leave to shoot a magazine close to Cherokee, North Carolina, on Wednesday and I have plenty of work to do before I leave. But, regardless, I started this thing and I am going to finish it. You couldn't possibly imagine the strain this 365-day photo project is putting on me. I guess if nothing else, it is teaching me the art of perseverance. I wanted to do this thing to challenge myself... and I think it is working quite well. I just keep reminding myself there is some greater value in it, even if I have no clue what it is. Something inside of me just says to keep on shooting and posting.

A groan of tedium escapes me.

God, I dread it. Its only been about one month and a week since I started it. Can I actually keep doing this? Will I be successful, or will it turn into failure.

Gamblin'

"The Elusive Mister Carter" by Wes Aldridge

Due to the recent SuperBowl sadness, our regularly scheduling posting will come from the archives tonight. Mr. McNabb didn't pull through for us and Mr. Brady walked away with another win, boring, I know. Thanks Eagles.

Anyway, I ran into the elusive Mister Carter tonight during the StooperBowl viewing. It reminded me of this shot from the studio at EMI Publishing. The boys from Thaxton Ward were cutting new tracks that night. Andres was laying down a drum track and the others had a little game of Texas Hold'em going on.

Here Carter is dropped out of focus at f/2.8. I think the shot is killer. I used a 16mm and got that great distortion where the poker chip is bigger than he is. Its solid. Enjoy.

The Day Has Begun

"Self BR" by Wes Aldridge

Normally, I am not so vain to put shots of my self up on this photoblog. Today is different though. It is moving day and I wanted a little memento of the times spent at 3054 Franklin Road. So I give you this Pulitzer Prize-winning self portrait of me in my bathroom in my boxer briefs and T-shirt. Marvelous, eh?

I really wanted to showcase the angles of the mirrors and how they worked with a fisheye lens. The field of view is about 180-degrees, somewhere around 14 or 15mm I think, which means that when shooting that lens, it is pretty easy to get your feet in the shot if you aren't careful. More times than not, the lens isn't practical for usage in daily applications. The effect of bending lines and angles is somewhat less than desired in most cases of commercial photography. Shooting with a fisheye is almost like having sushi: its a great idea every once in a while, but if you have it too much, it really starts to suck.

I'm not getting into all the shot settings. Technique-wise, there is nothing spectacular going on, just a shutter speed fast enough to hand hold the camera and avoid shake. Light is natural from the tungsten overhead.

I know, I know, not terribly exciting. Time to get back to packing.

The Night Has Ended

"Catch Light" by Wes Aldridge

For the conclusion of a great night, you need a great photograph. Luckily, when surrounded by good company, a photographer is able to get a good photo.

Take a look. This shot was taken on a tripod at ISO 400 at 1/10th of a second at f/4.0. It was shot with a telephoto lens as close as it would allow to focus. Notice the eyes are tack sharp and the ear on the left side of the face drops out of focus pretty drastically. A catch light in the lower part of the iris tells a lot about the light source used. If it were rectangular, then it would mean a soft box was used... if a star shape, then an umbrella was used. This was a simple cigarette lighter held relatively close to the face by the subject. The hard shadow falling over one eye tells the angle was extreme to the focal plane of the face.

Anyway, who cares about all that stuff. I had a good night, thanks for letting me shoot the shot of you.

Lamps, Grass and Concrete

"Landing Lights" by Wes Aldridge

For not much more than some lamps, grass and concrete, I think this shot is interesting. One of the strongest tools in a photographers repertoire is the ability to distinguish important and visually appealing patterns. Another tool, of course, is the Rule of Thirds.

In this shot, the line of lamps lead your eyes off into the distance where some lights shine in the night sky. The circular patterns of light and shadow seem to blend the cold harshness of concrete with the warmth and life of the grass beside it. When I saw this scene, it seemed to invite me to walk down the pathway, so I wanted to capture it because it spoke to me.

The location of the shot was at the park and riverside landing by the Coliseum across the Cumberland River in downtown Nashville. ISO was set to 100 with a 1/5th of a second shutter speed with aperture at f/3.0 at a focal length of 28mm, on a tripod of course.

NO COMMENT

"State of the Union" by Wes Aldridge

Well, another year and another Bush address. You know, I have nothing to say about anything he said. I just don't care about it. I have simply no opinion. If you believe that for three seconds then you probably don't know me very well. Infer what you will from the shot here.

It was shot through a glass in front of my Sony WEGA television (wish it would have been HD)at f/2.8 with 1/50th of a second shutter speed. I wanted to get one of his classic faces in the shot and really draw attention to it. Guess making his head look like an alien pretty much did the trick. Let me know if you like it, and if you don't, well, you are probably a Republican... God bless Texas!

A Dance with the Spins

"Bent and Twisted" by Wes Aldridge

This shot is from Demonbreun St. hotspot and Nashville-favorite bar, The Tin Roof. I was bone dry sober when I snapped this one, just watching (or as someone I know calls it "stalking") the mindlessly ripped and belligerent plastered 20-somethings have a grand ol' time drinking the night away. I saw this girl swaying back and forth, spilling her glass of beer with every movement and thought, "hmmm, wonder what is going through her brain right now?"

Multi-colored Christmas lights hung above her head on the bar's namesake tin roof. I saw her looking up at them as she did her silly, unbalanced back-and-forth stagger as the band played a cover of "Brown Eyed Girl." This was the moment, this was the ticket.

I set a slow 1/40th of a second shutter speed and wide 1.8 aperture with my cheap 50mm lens and panned in an arc motion during the long exposure. The streaking lights must have been the dreadfully tortured sight her eyes beheld. Anyway, it was just fun imagining a second of someone else's life.

Heat Things Up

"Fire Flowers" by Wes Aldridge

Before anyone puts anytime into analyzing this shot... It has no religious, political, racial or otherwise insightful meaning. It was merely a test shot. The items used to make this shot had caught my eye by chance while I walked through Michael's craft store at 100 Oaks Mall. I started envisioning a reflective surface with roses and a cross on top and then spicing it up with some fire.

I hope no one is offended. In no way did I intend any animosity to be felt over this photograph, but I can see how someone might infer the wrong ideals.Take it at face value only... no statements were in my intentions to be made from the content and composition of the shot. It was just a new challenge to play with changing lighting variables.

Closing the Polls

"Step Toward Freedom" by Wes Aldridge

I wanted to cover some of the monumental Iraqi Government voting at the Tennessee Fair Grounds. My name wasn’t on the credentials list and security was tight at the designated voting location, one of five spread across the United States. I wasn’t able to gain access to the actual polling place, but I felt like I needed to be part of the media coverage for this milestone event. So, I did what every die hard journalist would do… I got creative and got a story.

I waited by the concrete-barriered exit gate, being watched closely by four armed and body armored metro Nashville police officers. I flagged down Adnan Abdulkader and his wife, Hozan Omar, as they drove from the fair grounds in their white Toyota Corolla. I held up my camera and motioned for him to drive over to me so I could talk to him. I asked him if I would do a small interview and let take a photo of him. He was more than happy to speak to me.

Abdulkader, 27, is a Kurdish-Iraqi-American that has lived in Nashville for over 14 years. He was one of the last to cast his vote at the fair grounds as polls for the Iraqi vote closed at 5 p.m. on Sunday, January 30.

“I am over excited and over joyful for me not just to cast my vote, but for being a part of this greatest moment,” he said. “It used to be the choice of one, Saddam. Now you have the choice of 111 [electorate nominees] without Saddam. It feels great.”

Abdulkader wasn’t sure what effect the voting for elected government officials would have in Iraq, but he is looking past the immediate effects and thought things would get better “maybe in the long run.”

“I have high hopes for the future [in Iraq],” he said. “No matter what my sacrifice was, I was going to come and vote today. Iraqis, especially Kurds, have suffered so much and they were persecuted over and over.”

For now, Abdulkader will stay in Nashville, where he said he owns his own home and business, a barbershop called Klean Kuts. But he hopes to return to Iraq someday when the threat of suicide bombers and militant chaos has subsided because he wants his children to “grow up in that culture and way of life.”

“Maybe I will go back if it is safer, if it has peace and harmony,” he said. “That’s where my heart is.”

As he started to leave, he held up his right index finger and showed me where his finger was inked to cast his vote… and I took the shot.

On Assignment: Fulton County, New York-Day Five

"Town Square" by Wes Aldridge

After 5 long, cold and hard days, my assignment in Fulton County, New York has come to an end. I learned several things on this trip, the most dominate being buy some insulated underwear. A close second is shooting in the snow is a tricking thing to get a solid exposure and that close 2 f-stops rule really doesn't hold water when you are shooting color.

When I was heading out of town, I had to stop and grab this shot. In Johnstown, NY, inside Fulton County, the cityscape is heavily influenced with Colonialism, i.e., architecture. Stocks were used in colonial times as a form of public punishment. Believe it or not, there is still a set of stocks in the pubilc square downtown across from the old courthouse.

I thought this was pretty interesting and gave it a shot at night. The Canon 10D holds up pretty well in long exposures in the dark. The stocks were lit by a street lamp a good 30-feet overhead (see the position of the shadow for subject to light source angle). The shot was at ISO 100, f/22 (max aperture on my 24-70 mm L series lens)with a 30 second exposure. All of this is evident in the star formation in the lamp post in the background. Notice the shadow under the stocks. Not much digital distortion in the black shadow on white snow. If the 10D rocks this solid, I would love to see what either of the Mark II's can do. Anyone have an extra $4000 they want to give me to grab the new shooter with?

On Assignment: Fulton County, New York-Day Four

"Little Skier" by Wes Aldridge

After wasting away one-and-a-half hours of my life snow shoeing deep into a thick forest to find cross country skiers and freezing my self nearly to death, here is my shot. I went back to the ski resort I was photographing and sat by the heater with the other bitter cold battered winter wonderland adventurers. I was exhausted, because snow shoeing is tedious work, and laid out on a couch with my head tilted back. I looked up and saw this tiny plastic skier hanging from a mobile in the lodge. I opened to f/2.8 and knocked the shutter down to 1/15th of a second and click. there is the shot.

On Assignment: Fulton County, New York-Day Three

"Painfully Cold" by Wes Aldridge

Today was ruff. I am beyond exhausted and my body hurts. This photograph isn't on the blog for its quality as a shot. It is here because it accurately captures my life today. This was sunrise (that never had any color) wrapped in gray sky. I think it was somewhere around 7 a.m.

It was a fierce 30 minute drive across country highway to get to this location. Hard drive in the dark with roads that hadn't been plowed by the time my 6 a.m. drive began. This isn't a field... it is a lake that had frozen 18-inches on the surface, lying on the edge of the Adirondacks.

It was 21 degrees below zero. -21 DEGREES. The coldest temperature I have ever witnessed. I got up intensely early, drove on terrible country roads and froze until my body stung for this pathetic sunrise. At least I tried. I am paying for it now with fever, wind-burned face, bloodshot eyes, aching joints and the darkest bags under my eyes I have ever had.

The sun actually rose above the clouds in about an hour and the sky cleared up beautifully. I was able to get a majority of my exterior shots done. Now, I am ready to crawl into bed and crash until the next sunrise.

My body has had enough for one day.

On Assignment: Fulton County, New York-Day Two

"Sticks" by Wes Aldridge

Another day wrapped up in 8-degree weather. Nothing like having my hand stick and freeze to my metal tripod while I attempt, sadly attempt, to shoot an exterior of a colonial theater in pitch black covered in 2 feet of snow. Ah... the joys of New York weather. Lovin' it! Seriously. Now, on to the shot.

I stopped into this little side country store and saw this little pieces of wood in the circular shape seen here. The light was right. The leading lines are perfect. The depth of field is cut lovely at f/2.8. Simple, but I think it is pretty interesting. Some very earthy color tones highlighted by the natural lighting.

I know, I know. I am on assignment in the Adriondacks and I haven't posted a single landscape or otherwise outdoors shot. Well, when I get a little bit of sunlight to break through this thick gray cloud cover, I'll get one up, promise.

On Assignment: Fulton County, New York-Day One

"Barney's Place" by Wes Aldridge

Tonight I shot the most interesting assignment I have ever had. In the "Gateway to the Adirondacks," an artist by the name of Barney Bellinger lives with his wife Susan and their 14-year old daughter, Erin. He is a beautiful painter, amazing natural woods craftsman and a genuine person.

My appointment began at 7 p.m. and I didn't leave his home studio until 10:30 p.m. (normally my photo appointments last between 30-45 minutes). Barney showed me photographs of some amazing places he travels to to fish for trout, and conduct his artist business. We talked for quite some time, but I never got bored with it. I listened to him talk about how he started from less than nothing and worked through adversity of all sorts. And now, he seems to live life to its fullest. Did I mention he hand picks and carves pieces of wood into beautifully intricate works of functional art furniture. He showed me photographs of one tall elaborate cabinet that he said sold for $100,000.

Barney showed me several projects he was working on, each one elaborately detailed. As we walked around his wood shop, I stared in awe. The materials he gathered were simply amazing.

Barney looked around for a few minutes as I gawked about. He turned to me with a beautiful piece of wood in his hand. He told me it was from Yellowstone National Forest. He said he bought it from some Native Americans, because they were the only ones allowed to take the wood from the forest. He wrote his name on it with the date. I was honored to accept his gift.

The photograph was a mural on a wall in his home. I thought it was great, so I took a quick shot. Freezing Day One, complete.

Warm Sky, Cold Weather

"January's Full Moon" by Wes Aldridge

First, I apologize to all of you that are sick of seeing my Nashville skyline shots, but I think this one is worth it. I was paying an electric bill at Nashville Electric Service and when I came out, this is what I saw in the sky. Notice the tones on the buildings. That means the reflections are of the sunset in front of them. So, that big ball of light in the sky is January's full moon. I couldn't pass it up. I only had minutes to frantically search for a vantage point that I have never shot from before I lost last light and the shot would have lost all warm and vibrant tone... I found it.

The colors were amazingly warm.

Warm is a key word right now. I decided I needed this shot to remind me how warm it is in this city. I leave for New York on assignment tomorrow and the highs are in the mid teens with lows down to a whopping -10, not including wind chill factor. The weekend blizzard left about 2 feet of snow I have to deal with, with even deeper drifts, but I am excited because I have looked forward to a challenge like this. I even get the chance for one of the features in the magazine to be a photo essay of Colonial architecture that I will be shooting. Time to see what I can do.

This Moment

"In Flight" by Wes Aldridge

This simple photograph shows the value of a split-second. One second before or one second after and it would not have the same impact as the shot shown does.

The line to the right is a power line that is motion blurred from tracking the pigeons with a slow shutter speed to catch their flight action. It plays into the shot with the Rule of Thirds, a basic photography technique that draws the eye to a focal point in the plane of the shot. The line in this shot seems to me like a threshold of some sort. It draws you to the future action of the flock of birds. Through the motion in the frame you know that the birds are about to fly by the powerline. It is a simple story of nature and the motion of birds in flight.

Moonlight Dancing

"Roundabout" by Wes Aldridge

This is the $1.1 million statue, "Musica," that sits on the Music Row roundabout, just out from downtown. I remember when it was unveiled and all the controversy that surrounded a "naked" statue and how it offended some people since it was in public view. I find that hysterical. For someone to even think of art as "naked" or "non-naked," wow, pretty low level thinking going on there.

Well, this shoot was the first time that I have ever taken the time to stop and look at "Musica" for what it was worth. All the media hype just turned me away from even wanting to look at it. So, today I went and took a look at it at dusk... and there you have it.

On Demonbruen

"Tiger and Frankenstein" by Wes Aldridge

This is a simple shot. Just two interesting flyers plastered to some poles down on Demonbruen. Depth of field is killer with this cheap 50mm lens I have, it opens to f/1.8. Those poles were less than 5 feet from each other. The white balance is a wonderful tungsten and rich.

A little something I found interesting and simply came across it. The shot was right, and there it is.

Bottle Caps On The Rocks

"Good Call" by Wes Aldridge

This is a shot taken at the Demonbreun bar On The Rocks. The hallway leading into the restroom is dimly lit and covered with beer bottle caps that have been industrial stapled to the wall in various designs. If you take a side view of the wall, all you see is an endless sea of caps.

This shot was handheld at 400 ISO and shot with a shutter speed of 1/15th of a second at an aperture of f/1.8, which is extremely wide open for maximum light with an extremely shallow depth of field. This is how the one inch focal plane was achieved with everything else in the frame falling drastically out of focus to the point of unrecognizable blur.

The interesting thing about this photo is what you cannot see. Former Tennessee Titan Eddie George was standing directly beside me as I took this shot. Normally, you would expect a celebrity football star to get mobbed in a jam-packed bar on a Thursday night. Not so with Eddie. It seems that his defection to the Dallas Cowboys has left the city of Nashville with a bitter taste in her mouth. For the record, he is a huge guy, but his head is really as small and unporportional to his body as it looks on television. And no, I didn't play papparazi and fire off a bunch of shots of him.

Reflections on the Parthenon

"Grecian Midnight" by Wes Aldridge

I have been to the Parthenon many times to do photographs, but never at midnight. Most of the time I end up shooting children feeding ducks and geese or old men fishing in the pool, but this time I rode the cliche and actually shot the building itself.

It was another interesting time with cops. It seems like everytime I want to shoot a Nashville landmark of some sort, that a cop comes and hassles me about the park being closed, where ever I happen to be.

I assume this harrassment has something to do with the heightened level of terrorist fears floating around the city. I don't want to cause any chaos at these places... I just want to take a photograph or two.

Anyway, here is the Parthenon at midnight. Look hard and long at this shot, because you know, you probably won't get to see it in person without being harrassed by some cops trying to run you out of the closed park.

Four More Years, sigh...

"G'Day G.W." by Wes Aldridge

With the presidential inauguration approaching on Thursday, I thought I would get into the spirit of political speech and share this shot with everyone. This was from a protest when Bush II made a campaign stop in Republican Hell, or Nashville as some call it, for a fundraiser on Tyne Avenue. I thought it was a very telling shot and figured, what the heck, what better time to showcase it than right before an inauguration?

As I guess you can tell, these people weren't in support of Mr. Bush's money making efforts in Music City. They lined one side of the road as W. supports lined the other side.

The look on the lady's face in the foreground tells her story pretty well. Add the message of the sign and the person in the background giving a peace sign, and then you are pretty much dropped into the scenario with a pretty good feel for it.

Four more years, sigh...

On Assignment: Pall Mall, Tennessee-Day Trip

"Pall Mall" by Wes Aldridge

Today was spent up north on Highway 127, off Interstate 40, between Cookville and Crossville. The quaint little town of Pall Mall, population 2500 our story subject Jim Buck told us, is about a 2 and a half hour drive from Nashville. The assignment was slated for print in our Farm Bureau magazine, Tennessee Home and Farm, is slated for print in next year's winter issue.

In years past, Pall Mall was made famous as the home of World War One hero Sgt. Alvin C. York. York defeated a 150+ man German machine gun unit in the Argonne Forest in France and received the Medal of Honor for his actions. Then, he returned home to live a simple life in cozy little Pall Mall.

In more recent times, Pall Mall's claim to fame comes in the form on an annaul tournament of the card game "Pig" that originated there. I don't know the rules of the game, but one day I hope I find my way back down to the general store there where the tournament is held and play a hand or two at the mercy of the locals.

THE SHOT: This is an outhouse that sits on the land next to one of the cabins of a bed-and-breakfast we are doing a story on. I think it pretty much sums up the community it stands in. Things are still pretty isolated there. It is almost like going back in time a few decades, and for some reason, even in all my high-tech-electronic-gadet-glory, I really felt at home there.

True Nashville

"TN Tone Boys" by Wes Aldridge

Every Wednesday and Sunday night, Harry Fontana and the Tennessee Tone Boys gig at Robert's Western World on Broadway, and tonight was a great night to be there. These guys are what great Nashville music is all about. Their style is Rockabilly Boogie and their show is truly exciting. With blazing fast guitar licks, extremely dry onstage humor and a singer from Helsinki, Finland, what is there not to love about Harry Fontana?

This shot was taken with the flip screen of a camcorder in the foreground, handheld at 1/25 of a second at f/4.5, giving the background a nice blur while still being able to make out it is a man and a guitar.

At first I thought the light balance of the foreground and background was a little bit off and I wish I would have had the opportunity to bounce a little fill flash from an umbrella. But the more I thought about it, I came to my senses and realized the dramatic effect the sharp lighting contrast gave the shot. It really sums up the atmosphere of that moment in time. It was truly Nashville.