"Brad Arnold: Vox" by Wes Aldridge
Ok, so last night I posted a shot of the girls in the front row at 3 Doors Down rocking it out. Tonight, is a shot of who they were rocking out to. Ladies (Jess this one of the "hottie" is for you cause I know you love to hear me talk about the hot girls all the time) and gentlemen, I give you Brad Arnold, lead vocals for 3 Doors Down.
I must admit, media passes are pretty fun. Mine allowed me to shoot the first three songs of the band from the little area between the stage and the crowd. I don't think it is possible to get any closer to a band... unless you are a groupie of course! Slap on the telephoto lens and you get some pretty serious close up action.
I shot this one at ISO 400 at f/2.8 with a 1/200th of a second aperture. It seems to make for a nice action shot, clear and crisp, and like I said before, I am sure the girls drool over this guy.
"Ready to Rock" by Wes Aldridge
The blog shot was especially hard to choose tonight. I was still in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, until 5 p.m. tonight. I had several shots from the community today that would have made for excellent shots to share. But, as Fate would have it, bigger and better things happened tonight.
My good friends, Thaxton Ward, performed at Amsouth/Starwood Amphitheatre tonight before headliner 3 Doors Down. I was issued a media pass that allowed me to shoot the shows. I got some excellent shots of 3 Doors Down performing their first 3 songs in their set, I even impressed myself with some of them. But the shot I went with for today happened right before the band even took the stage. I felt like I witnessed a moment and was able to share it with other people.
I was standing between the mosh pit and the stage in a 4-foot wide clearing to do my photos. I turned around to look at the crowd as the band started to take the stage... and I saw pure energy, so I snapped off one frame. I loved it the second I shot it and knew it was pointless to try and shoot the band for the blog tonight.
The mentality behind this shot was this: Why put up a picture of rockstars that are used to being rockstars everyday of their lives? Why not put up a shot of these young kids that want to be that rockstar or just wish for something magic to happen in their lives? Why not show their raw excitement and faces and starry eyes filled with dreams and hopes? And so, here is my shot.
Timing was everything for this one. I had slowed the shutter down to about 1/40th of a second at f/2.8 with a high ISO of 400. The slow shutter allowed the girls on each side of the main subject to get a motion blur and show some electricity. The looks on these kids' faces were pure and unstaged and no one else in the entire venue saw what I did at that second in time, because all eyes were on 3 Doors Down. I wanted to share this so badly, and it is my offering for the night. Maybe we will look at a concert shot of the band performing tomorrow. Then again, something else might pop up and botch that plan too.
"Church and State" by Wes Aldridge
I was on my way to shoot a golf course for one of our publications, North Carolina Golf Guide, and I saw this standing in someone's yard on the side of the road. There was no way I could pass this one up. I wanted to share it with everyone. The afternoon sun was nearing sunset and the shadows that were cast on the cross and flag were great. The color was so rich and moody. Even the tree in the background made for the perfect shot.
This one was a quickie because I had to shoot two golf courses in about a two hour span before I lost last light. I fired off one shot after I halfway metered the light reading and hoped that I hit the exposure somewhere in the neighborhood of "on point." I thought about it until I got back to my hotel so I could download it and check it out. It was money. Throw bracketing a couple of f-stops up and down out the window this time! I guess sometimes one shot is all you really need. I am just thankful I got it.
I shot this up at an angle with my ultra-wide lens to get the run-down house in the background out of the frame. It was at ISO 100 with a really fast shutter speed of 1/2500th of a second at f/2.8. I like this one quite a bit, hope you enjoy as well.
"Highway Diner" by Wes Aldridge
I was driving, trying to catch a good sunset for the night when the clouds rolled in and really messed up any kind of decent shot I was trying to get for a nice silhouette. I must admit, I was pretty hot about not getting a good sunset shot. I was up for sunrise, which graced me with a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call and hoped to grab a sunset as well. It had been a long and tedious day and missing the sunset put me down.
Luckily, I drove by this great sight and everything started looking up for me. The Highway Diner's neons glowed through the night sky and I knew I had my shot. I really have a soft-spot in my soul for some great looking neons at night. Thanks to the great people at the Highway Diner for letting some strange guy with a camera set up a tripod and take some shots of their awesome place.
This shot was taken at an ultra-wide 16mm, ISO 100 with an exposure time of 2.5 seconds with an aperture of f/22.
"Prammanasudh Wins" by Wes Aldridge
After four days of disgusting weather, the sun finally came out and it was time to shoot the LPGA Tour Franklin American Mortgage Championship. I followed the leaders around trying to get the shot I wanted. It was pretty ruff at times, trying to walk through the swarming crowds of people to get to the places I needed to shoot from. But overall, it was a good time and really the first time I have shot a golf assignment. The winner of the tournament was Stacy Prammanasudh, pictured above.
Timing and having a long enough lens were the issues with shooting this event today. I would have given my first born to have had a 500mm f/4.0 like the photogs from The Tennessean were carrying around. I had to settle with my 70-200mm lens with the 1.4x teleconverter snapped on. I still got some cool shots, but my short lens was extremely limiting to the shots I was able to pull off. Oh well, such is life.
Now that this assignment is done, its time to catch a plane in less than two hours to Raleigh, North Carolina, for my shoot this week in Rocky Mount. The life of a traveling photographer... gotta love it.
"Truck Lot" by Wes Aldridge
I decided to get to know my city a little better tonight. I can't tell you where I shot this photo from, I just followed a bunch of roads leading to nowhere and found this great lot full of tractor trailers with some standing water. The reflection is pretty nice in the puddle of water and I especially enjoy how the tractor trailer is lit with the tungsten from the street lamp.
I did this shot at ISO 100 on a tripod with a 30 second exposure at f/22.
"128246" by Wes Aldridge
Well, here it is, my strange mind at work. Welcome to Acklen Station Post Office in Hillsboro Village. I decided to check my P.O. Box after work, knowing bills would be the only likely item found there in. Thankfully, it was empty on this occassion, cause brother ain't got much scratch to be throwin' at bills right now.
Anyway, while I was in there, something inside me simply wanted the camera. I went and got it and snapped a few frames. I thought the shots were beautiful. It was fun trying to turn a wall of P.O. Boxes into art. Notice the empty one in the middle? That one is mine.
"5 & Diner" by Wes Aldridge
Well, I have driven by this place on a daily basis for more than a year and have never popped in for a vanilla shake and burger. Isn't that a tragedy? The building sits behind Cool Springs mall, less than a mile from our company's office building, and I still haven't given it a spin.
The 5 & Diner... not really sure what the deal with this sock-hoppin' restaurant, but one thing is certain: its neons look pretty cool against the setting sun. Nothing terribly special about this one. The virtue of patience was the only skill exercised in the composition of this shot. I had to wait until the ambient light of the sunset matched to the level of light given off by the neons on the building.
"Industrial Sunset" by Wes Aldridge
Tonight was a wonderful night for an adventure. With less than an eighth tank of gas, and the sun setting in less than 20 minutes, I set out ot find the shot. I drove downtown, in and around, and about. Ideas came and they went. Nothing seemed to want to work for me. So, I kept my persistency and searched on.
As darkness started to fall, with the sun below the horizon, I kept on looking. The corner of 3rd and Lindsley, East Nashville, West Nashville... nothing still. The sun was diminishing and everything pointed toward me wasting a good sunset.
I was lost at this point. I had just kept following roads to wherever and had no idea where I was now. I see Fisk University and then Tennessee State Univeristy in front of me. I was getting close, and lost as lost can be all the while. I knew mere minutes lasted until last light, but I wasn't afraid I would miss anything and stayed calm. Just then, I saw a building in an industrial setting just over the horizon. I went for it and there found my shot. I have no idea where I was or what the place I was shooting at was, but it was my shot.
This shot was captured with my 70-200 lens at 100 ISO with an aperture of f/32 and a shutter speed of 13 seconds. These settings allowed the lamp lights to create stars and grab the right exposure for last light. It felt good to make an industrial park look beautiful.
"Green Bud" by Wes Aldridge
So, I am sitting at my desk and 4:30 p.m. is rolling around. After a day full of dreadful storming, the sun started to break free from the blustery clouds over head. I itched to grab my camera and make a mad dash for the door beside my desk. The world had come to life for the first time today and it was beautiful and I wanted to be a part of it.
My boss could tell that one more minute for me in the office would have drove me mad. It was time to play a game, one that I love. He asked, "You want me to give you an assignment for your blog?"
With an over-eager lust permeating from me, I stared at him with excited eyes and said, "yes."
He told me to go outside, no farther than 100-feet from where I am sitting at my desk and find my shot. Without any reply from me, I lifted from my seat with camera in tow and walked quickly through the door to the beauty our day had become. I looked for only seconds and the shot above caught my eye... and it was only about 40-feet from my point of assignment. I snapped about four frames and knew this was my shot and walked back in the office in less than two minutes from when I walked out.
I can't explain to you how exciting it is to be constrained and to be forced to figure out a shot in a cramped situation. It completes my photographic lust for adventure. The pressure motivates me to accell and I feel an amazing high in times like these. Even something as simple as my "assignment" and the shot I found, it makes me feel stellar to pull through with something cool to share from it.
"Goose" by Wes Aldridge
This is a shot taken of one of my dear old friends, the geese, at the Parthenon. I thought the nearly seamless reflection in this shot was pretty nice. I enjoy photographing wildlife and the Parthenon allows me to get my water fowl fix in this mid-sized concrete jungle of a city. If you don't visit the Parthenon at least once a week, you are robbing yourself. Give it a try and take along a camera if you care to. There is always something there to shoot from peace rallies to birds to lovers in the damp grass. It is a field day there.
Blue is for serenity. It makes this one perfect.
"AJ's Pick" by Wes Aldridge
Today turned out to be rather satisfying. Cheekwood was the destination of the shooting for the day. It was pretty today, just wish it would have been about 10-degrees warmer.
Anyway, I told one of my most special friends I was going to scout out photo locations for a portrait in her future album. The idea that she wants to portray goes along the lines of a "secret," with her dressed in white for innocence. I thought that Cheekwood would be the perfect place to accurately give the feeling she is looking for. I see another Cheekwood shoot coming on soon, and I am excited. Does anyone want to be a photo assistant?
If you would like to look at a small gallery of other shots I did today at Cheekwood, feel free to copy and paste this link into a new Web browser window and have a look at the slide show.
https://home.comcast.net/~jessf/CheekwoodGallery/index.htm
"The Statue" by Wes Aldridge
Yes, this is pretty. I like statues, but actually, I am tired and want to go to bed. So here is your shot for the day.
Yes.
"The Ride" by Wes Aldridge
Today I thought a street festival was supposed to be going on in Franklin, so I left work and headed to find a shot. When I got there, not so much of a street festival going on. I was pretty flustered because I was stoked to shoot some people having fun. I decided to keep driving around, because we all know the show must go on... got to get that shot up each day or total failure.
I happened upon a small carnival going on in the back streets of Franklin. I knew this was what I needed to shoot. At times like this, I really wish my camera shot full frame, instead of the multiplication factor that it has because it is digital and the sensor isn't made the same size as 35mm film. I wanted it wider, tisk, tisk.
"On the Bridge" by Wes Aldridge
Tonight was beautiful. It was an adventure. Jess and I were in search of photos, and we found them. We drove to historic downtown Franklin and squeezed off a few frames, then it was a race against the setting sun en route to Leiper's Fork. I just hadn't found the shot I was looking for yet, so off to Natchez Trace Parkway we went.
This shot was taken from the bridge on the Parkway overlooking Highway 96. I didn't have my tripod with me and I wanted to do a long exposure to get streaking headlights that contoured the motion of the cars in the road. So, I found a way to balance my camera on the railing of the bridge to steady it and I made a 30 second exposure at f/22 to get the entire frame in focus. The headlights and taillights made a great design and the motion looks like it goes on forever.
"SunBurst" by Wes Aldridge
I was driving around town tonight, my town, Nashville. I was looking for things that were different because it seems I am never here long enough to notice little changes anymore. I felt like getting back in touch with my city tonight.
I saw this little difference tonight. The SunTrust Bank logo had changed. Such a novel idea to change their logo to some kind of design with a sun in it. It is a great design and I thought it made for a good shot.
"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.
