Valet, please?

"Parking is Tough" by Wes Aldridge

Its not every day that you see a car wrapped around a railroad crossing sign. I did.

Statue in the Sky

"Downtown Hero" by Wes Aldridge

This is a civil war memorial statue in the historic downtown area of Dalton, Georgia, from where I hail. I had seen it a million times, but thought I should shoot it this time. Click, click, snap... captured. The sky helped it out a good bit. I enjoy the silhouette of something against a dramatic sky. Those shots just turn out so strong.

Home on the Farm

"Windmill" by Wes Aldridge

I am spending the weekend in Dalton, Georgia, visiting my family on Father's Day. I needed a shot, and my parents wanted to go along for the hunt. I told them, get in... lets go! We seemed to have searched one side of Whitfield County to the other. I wanted a windmill shot, and by luck I found one tonight.

On Assignment: Dyersburg, Tennessee-Day Three

"Religious Note" by Wes Aldridge

Well, it doesn't get much better than this one. I think this is one of the best of the blog so far. Hope you enjoy.

On Assignment: Sikeston, Missouri-Day Two

"Ringer or a Leaner?" by Wes Aldridge

Now, not everyone will be able to grasp the beauty of what is going on in this shot. If you didn't grow up in a rural area and have family get-togethers that involved Coors Light, badass country cookin' and a game of horseshoes, you really don't have a point of reference for this.

The game of horseshoes involves people "pitching" literal metal horseshoes at metal stakes in the ground from about 20-feet away. The idea is to get the horseshoe to land with the stake in the center of the "U" and make a ringing sound when metal strikes metal... resulting in a "ringer." Another way to score is to throw your horseshoe and it leans against the stake... resulting in a "leaner." That is the general idea of the game. Oh, almost forgot... you also need to toss back a couple of cold ones.

Ah, the memories of childhood. I would watch the adults play horseshoes and have fun at Lake Kathy while Grandma Jean and her army of country cooks made the meal for the evening for at least 30 of us. My brother and cousins and I would play with Star Wars figures in the dirt or skip rocks off the broken old dock when we weren't fishin'. We even played with Micro Machines' cars, or as Aunt Corrine screamed while blood squirted out of my brother's forehead once... "Those little things!" (Sorry the handle broke on that toolbox and it smacked ya in the head bro.)

I loved growing up a poor country kid. I didn't go to Debutante Balls or play cricket or watch while my parents pranced around like yutzees at a cocktail party. My parents worked long, hard hours at jobs where deskwork wasn't a key ingredient... they still do. Then after work, they would always take us to our baseball or football practice, even if we were a couple of minutes late. They were selfless, and gave everything they had to us, even when they were too tired to move. Maybe that's where I get my drive.

We did things like watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation on Christmas Day while mom cooked an amazing country breakfast. Dad's voice always shook a little, because he meant what he was saying, as he got emotional saying the "blessing" before we would eat Thanksgiving dinner. And Whit and I would always get up early with bed-head and morning breath to eat Cap'N Crunch cereal and watch Saturday morning cartoons.

It was important for me to shoot this shot of that redneck old codger playing horseshoes. These memories are some of the reasons why. It has a lot to do with a person being a product of where you came from, and changing, but never forgetting where everything started.

Ah, now that was refreshing.

On Assignment: Sikeston, Missouri-Day One

"City Limits" by Wes Aldridge

What do you find in Sikeston, Missouri? Cornfields, lots and lots of... cornfields. I was running around with my camera hunting seasonal shots and found myself on the outskirts of the city. I turned around and saw this city limits sign and thought it was priceless. It told the story of where I was on assignment, pretty much summed it all up with one photograph.

The city name "SIKESTON" reads proudly across the center, scarred with a dozen or so bullet holes. I think that told the demographics story of the area. The population was at 16,992, but seemed to have changed because it was a sticker stuck on top of another number. In the background you see the cornfields with an irrigation machine there as well. This is Sikeston. These are the things that make this city. I think I kinda love it, well, let's not go that far. It is neat in its own strange little way.

Pizza Run

"Fast Delivery" by Wes Aldridge

I was walking around the Village tonight and thought I would do some motion photography. I thought shooting a pizza delivery person going on a run would look pretty neat. I was in front of Sam's Place and got some great streaking lights in the background while I panned my camera shooting the moving car.

My ISO was set pretty high at 400 and I used a 1/8 of a second exposure at f/3.5 to get a good long exposure to show the movement.

Addicted

"No Hope For Me" by Wes Aldridge

Tonight it got bad. I woke up from a little resting and just had to shoot. I decided to go buy some fruits and vegetables at Krogers and thought, what the hell, I'll get the blog shot in the supermarket.

I wasn't even able to go to the grocery store without shooting some photos. I am addicted. There is no cure for me. It must be a sad sickness cause I don't want to remedy this disease.

I guess I am blessed.

Locked In

"On the Fence" by Wes Aldridge

Ah, locked in and on the fence. Sometimes, don't we all just feel like that? Yes, sometimes we do. We feel like we have reached some momentous place in our existence only to have our present reality really start pressing down on us. Pressure, pressure, pressure.

Do you feel the pull? Do you feel that small tug at your conscience? Are you aware of who you are and where you are at this very point in time? Have you realized your Purpose? Do you have a Purpose? Does your Purpose enhance the Purpose of others? Can others see your Purpose? Have you reached nirvana? Do you want to reach nirvana? Does does the prospect of reaching nirvana scare you? Could you embrace it once it finds you, or would you turn and run away? Do you feel The Power? Does The Power feel you? Is it aware of your existence? Does it make your current reality simply an empty void? Are you content standing in that void? Is the void where you belong and are you content standing in it? Should you try to fill it up and make it whole and new again? Could you stare into the void and jump through it?

Or are you locked in to never reaching that point? I think I am embracing it and learning, maybe even feeling my way through it. I hope you are too.

Watching Me

"Here kitty, kitty" by Wes Aldridge

This shot was taken at Bridlewood Farm. I was trying to shoot a cover for the Shelbyville magazine and I was in this barn. I was walking around frantically because the rain was pouring like hell outside and I knew no sunshine was in my future for the night. I didn't exaclty know what to do, but not getting a shot was not an option.

As I walked around this horse stable, I saw something that was interesting. This black cat was sitting up on a wall where the horses were being groomed. When I went by it, it just stared at me. Well, had to shoot it. Thought it was neat and kinda of menacing and dark. Its eyes were cold and hard. I was terrified.

On Assignment: Shelbyville, Tennessee-Day Four

"Rainin' On The Farm" by Wes Aldridge

Another day of shooting in Shelbyville, and for those of you that don't know, it is the walking horse capital of the world or something like that. So, I was on a farm shooting walking horses, well, sort of. It pretty much just rained ferociously the entire time I was there. I did shoot some of the people working in the stable though while they were looking out to see if a break in the rain was near. A little back lit action for ya.

On Assignment: Shelbyville, Tennessee-Day Three

"A Horse of Course" by Wes Aldridge

I have I ever mentioned that I love horses? Such gentle creatures, or at least the last few I have encountered on my photographic adventures. This horse was a baby, not even a year old. He walked around with his mother in the field and came near me because of curiousity. I sat on the ground and let him come to me. He sniffed all over me and tried chewing my camera strap. He was a funny little fella.

On Assignment: Shelbyville, Tennessee-Day Two

"Perfect Eyes" by Wes Aldridge

I was shooting at a recording studio today and wanted a test subject to help me set the perfect lighting before my main subject came for his portrait. A girl from a band that sings this song about that thing on that label... you get the idea, I didin't even grab her name because it was just a junk shot to get the light metered right.

But then, I noticed her eyes. Magical. Perfectly blue. I snapped off a few frames and got the light rig set the way I wanted it and the entire time I couldn't stop looking at her eyes. They captured me, and in return, I captured them to share.

On Assignment: Shelbyville, Tennessee-Day One

"Just Fishin' " by Wes Aldridge

Fishin'. So many old memories. So many parallels with this old man and me. A great story I wanted to tell you, but things got in the way of the process. I failed at that tonight.

Something needs to change. It all needs to go back to the river side with a fishing pole in hand. Simple.

Keep the Fans Waiting

"Eager to See" by Wes Aldridge

It is that time again when Nashville is overtaken by country music hungry folk for a few days in June for the annual Fanfare gathering. This event is a series of country music events happening in the city. Other than that much, I really know nothing of what it is all about, what the benefits are and what in the hell the possible joy of the occassion is.

I did find these people interesting. They were eagerly waiting outside one of the bars on Broadway where several tour buses were lined up. I would assume they were waiting to meet the act that was playing in the venue when they made their exit from the stage to the bus. The looks on their tired faces were great and I needed to snap off a frame of them. Yeah, and the reflection of the fans in "their" band's tour bus was pretty cool too.

Just trying to get a shot up and keep this thing alive. It pretty much is harder than hell the last few days, sincerely wearing me out to the point of wanting to quit. But, screw it, it came this far right?

The Bluebird

"Writer's Night" by Wes Aldridge

Tonight a friend and I went to the Bluebird Cafe to catch writer's night. It was both of our first times to be there and I have to say that I enjoyed the music greatly. Too bad life isn't always as good as the music you hear, right? Someone was just playing the wrong song for me tonight.

Gotta love Music City.

The 21st Avenue Bridge

"Over 21st" by Wes Aldridge

This is a shot of car headlight and taillights streaking in a long time exposure as they drove up and down 21st Avenue. I had wanted to shoot this one for a while, and there it is.

Green Hills Time

"The Girl" by Wes Aldridge

Green Hills Mall. The shot. Nothing else.

Burning Bright

"Candle Trio" by Wes Aldridge

Tonight my roommate challenged me to shoot something within the four walls of our television room. I obliged him. Candles, a simple subject. I lit them up and shot them out.

Broadway Neons

"The Stage" by Wes Aldridge

This shot is a reflection of the Broadway neons from the top of a big metal box sitting on the street corner in downtown Nashville.

The blog is up once again and I am ready to crash out. Tedious tonight, tedious.