"Old Gate" by Wes Aldridge
I was driving back to my house in the late evening sun. On 8th Ave. sits an antique store that I have passed by a thousand times since I have been in Nashville. The sunlight was crisp and golden and shadows were very long at hard angles. An old antique gate was leaning against the building and it caught my eye. The rust was beautiful, a warm auburn color from the rays of light. I thought, something that I have seen so many times and thought nothing of... it would make a perfect shot.
"Father and Daughter" by Wes Aldridge
Meet smiley, beautiful baby Baylea. Such a happy child, with grins and laughs, and now she has something to be truly happy about. So does her father, 1st Lt. David Mark Darby. He has been spending some time in Iraq, near a city called Tuz, but is home for a while. Not nearly long enough, I am certain he feels, but certainly long enough to meet his daughter. Days ago was the first time he held Baylea in his arms.
"Fist of Power" by Wes Aldridge
I was expecting to post a shot of either Seether, Crossfade or Dark New Day tonight after I shot them at Dancin' In The District. Well, I guess that is kind of hard when you get to the WILL CALL tent and they only have your name on Crossfade's guest list, and there is no photo pass anywhere to be found.
Can I just say I was pretty friggin' pissed off at that garbage? I was. I had looked forward to shooting this show all day long. Screw it, such is life I guess.
So now I give you a shot of a statue of legendary boxer Joe Louis that hangs in downtown Detroit. Some say it symbolizes black power, some say its just a piece of artwork in honor of the man's boxing accomplishments. I say, I don't care to analyze it that far. I am pissed right now and wish I could just "go-Joe-Louis" on something for not being able to shoot a great rock show tonight. This shot totally expresses my mood.
"The Fat Mo Super Deluxe Burger" by Wes Aldridge
I was looking through CitySearch to try and find a restaurant to grab some food at. Under cheap American eats in Nashville is listed Fat Mo's Burgers. Interesting.
I had heard fabled tales of a disgustingly massive meat sandwich that the establishment makes. After a brief consultation, and taunting, from my roommate, I decided it was time to get one of the 27-ounce monster burgers and blog it. I knew it was beyond humanly possible to eat the entire thing, but it sounded like a good, fun and punishing time.
Loaded with 3 meat patties, BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese, lettuce, onions, tomato, pickles, ketchup, etc., it was a beautiful creation. Here, for your eager eyes, The Fat Mo Super Deluxe Burger. Chomp.
I got through about 1/3 of the creature and thought I was going to die. I surrendered to the monster, but what I had was pretty damn good!
"Film Ain't Dead" by Wes Aldridge
This is a shot of one of my film cameras, my Canon Elan 7. Its a great camera that isn't terribly expensive and has areally good shots flowing from it. I mean, the 1 Series cameras are clearly better, but who gives a shit about film anymore, right? Haha, just trying to piss someone off.
In reality, I shoot two rolls of Velvia 50 slide film each month just to keep on my toes. So, I love this little camera. Whatever. Throw a little blue light on it with a gel on my 550EX and this is the shot. Notice, I was a bad boy and exposed the mirror removing the body cap for the shot.
Gobble, gobble.
"Down Low" by Wes Aldridge
A row of lights to see by
Will darkness overcome?
Or can you flip a switch
and wash sun down on you?
Day blends to night
and is eaten by the way.
But you control the switch
so flip it and slip away.
"Building" by Wes Aldridge
Snap, click, boom. Another shot in the books. Hell yes, the show goes on.
The crane building a new and better Belmont University, my alma mater. Gotta love the element of progress.
Back in Nashville. Let the good times roll!
"The Machine" by Wes Aldridge
Today, the trip ended. This is the mouth of the beast that we rode to the end of the road. After 8 hours, it was home. I like home, but I am actually in Atlanta for the night. Old friends, good times, things to come I'm sure.
"The Beach Fence" by Wes Aldridge
Ok, my photo hosting site, flickr, has been screwed up for the past few days. I had to figure out another place to host the last few days' photos and do some work-arounds on my posting. This is why the image quality looks like garbage, i.e., crappy colors and grain, etc. You wouldn't believe how much of a pain in the ass it has been. But here is another shot from the beach. Hopefully flickr will get its head out of its ass soon so the game isn't so painful to complete.
"Pier Walker" by Wes Aldridge
Hell or high water, its up.
"Done Fishing" by Wes Aldridge
Can one man's garbage become another man's art?
Sure. Let the party continue.
"Round 'n' Round" by Wes Aldridge
Vacation took a fun turn last night. I wish I could tell you the adventure with "Dan the Man." He must have been arguably one of the most annoying human beings that I have ever had the misfortune of hanging out with... oh, but the stories we have to tell about him. I have honestly never seen a 55-year-old man falling face first into the crashing waves as the sun was rising on the ocean front. We all had great laughs of this freak show. Thank you for the hilarious, and idiotic memories, Dan. And Deanna, thanks for bringing the wine bottle. Who would have thought an empty bottle could have been so entertaining with that fool!
Anyway, this shot is from The Pavillion amusement park in Myrtle Beach. Just a cool shot of the Ferris wheel. It was neat trying to figure out the lighting patterns of the spinning contraption and the designs it would make at different exposure times. I have always wanted to shoot one, and tonight I finally got my chance. Kind of artsy, but all fun.
Note to self: Always make certain you have a digital film card in your camera when you go out for a shoot. Nuff said.
"Sky Goes Boom" by Wes Aldridge
Yeah, blah, blah, blah, its the 4th of July. I took a few shots of a fireworks display off a pier. What did you expect, anything else?
I look somewhat similar to Neopolitan ice cream, you know, brown, pink and white. Ocean sunshine is a ruthless beast. I hurt, and it isn't getting any better by the minute. I need some Aloe. Gods of the Beach, I call forth upon you to pour down Aloe from the sky. That would be great. Now, back to Miller Lite on the Beach time.
Happy B-day America, you old bastard!
"BYOF" by Wes Aldridge
Bring your own fireworks. Don't forget the beer. Get a little crazy and let chaos take over.
Have you ever tried taking night shots of crazy drunk rednecks from ten feet away as they light fireworks on the beach? I did tonight, and yes it was a blast. I was jumping and dodging the fireworks as they screamed past my head to light the sky. This shot shows that chaos I think.
It is a beautiful thing to be a 24-year-old American on the beach right at the 4th. So many adventures to be had, so little time to have them all.
"Beach Cig" by Wes Aldridge
Today begins the first day of my official summer beach vacation. Thank God for beer and family, in no particular order of course. The four of us, mom, dad and bro, piled in the Grand Cherokee and headed for Myrtle Beach, S.C., for a week of relaxation.
Anyway, the gangster-pimp looking fellow above is my brother, Whit. After messing around with sparklers and fireworks at night on the beach, I decided to go with this shot of him lighting a cigarette. So, now the blog is finished for the night and the fun shall continue.
"TV Man" by Wes Aldridge
Bigger fish to fry. Wisconsin good. TV good. Talk to ya later, G.
"Dells Diver" by Wes Aldridge
Today I visited a place called Dells of the Eau Claire. It was a rock-filled section of the Eau Claire River, just outside of Wausau, Wisconsin. It was very, very interesting. I was able to walk all across the river on these rock formations, and that was pretty awesome.
Anyway, meet Ryan. He is the gentleman diving into the swirling waters of the Eau Claire. What a brave fellow. I wish that could have been me, but alas, I was pushing the shutter button. And, the fine young lady standing above him is Minttu. Yes, that is Minttu. She is from Finland. I would love to go to Finland. Oh well, maybe that is where my photographic expeditions will take me some day.
My general synopsis is this: Wausau is a good place. Things to see and places to go. And above all, it welcomed me here. I felt at home. It has been good.
"Cars, Cars, Cars" by Wes Aldridge
The farewell to Detroit Rock City. I leave you with the General Motors building. Pretty, right? Sure thing.
"Spirit of Detroit" by Wes Aldridge
What an absolutely miserable day for seasonal photography. No sunlight and gray skies. To a photographer on a seasonal assignment, a day without sunshine is like a day without... you can make it through, but man, it ain't pretty. Needless to say I didn't capture a Pulitzer Prize winning photograph today.
Anyway, I did get this image tonight... and I like it! It was raining and windy and many homeless people begged me for money (I felt kinda bad because all I had was a credit card). I was in downtown--you guessed it--Detroit trying to get a shot of the suspended Joe Louis boxing fist sculpture. It didn't exactly work out due to the fist being completely black and not lit with flood lighting at night (sorry Coach, didn't mean to let you down). I walked the streets for a little while and came across this beauty. It is a statue titled "Spirit of Detroit" and it was wearing a Pistons jersey. I saw it on television during the NBA Finals and it was pretty memorable, unlike the Finals itself. It was purely by luck that I saw it tonight. Glad I did.
I think I got this exposure dead on the money. I have the shadows natural in the frame with the tungsten tint from the flood lamp illuminating the statue. But I also metered in a little fill flash that brought the image to life. ISO was set to 200 to get the proper f/stop and shutter speed combination, all shot on a tripod of course.
"Perfect Alley" by Wes Aldridge
Oddly enough, this is the 3rd time that Carter has appeared as a subject on the blog. I must admit, this is one of my favorite places to shoot portraits in Nashville. This alleyway is amazing. Lights hang directly above the alley and make shafts of light that come down. The mood of the light there is incredible. I foresee many shots of bands, singers, musicians, etc., being shot in this alley.
Want to know where this little piece of heaven is?
I'll never tell...
