Fire Water

"Hot Ducks" by Wes Aldridge

This was a shot from Centennial Park in the pond right as the sun was setting. I waited for these ducks to swim across the reflection of the sun to get this silhouette. I like it.

Sundown In The City

"Union Station" by Wes Aldridge

Not sure why I haven't shot this one before now. Probably because parking sucks around it and I ended up parking at the Frist Center For The Visual Arts a few blocks up Broadway. Anyway, this one is shot just as the sun was fading off the building. It is Union Station.

Snuffed Out

"Oink" by Wes Aldridge

You think it has anything to do with the old Manson murders? Me too.

Fender Bender

"Crash Action" by Wes Aldridge

He, he, he. A little PJ action for ya.

On Assignment: Greenville, North Carolina-Day Five

"Warming Up" by Wes Aldridge

Tonight I shot the Eastern Carolina Unversity Pirates football game. I have to say, I don't think my idea of fun is shooting football, at least not with a 70-200mm lens. It just wasn't long enough to get any good action shots. I put my teleconverter on it to get some extra range, but that makes me lose 2 f-stops of light. Losing some light isn't good for shooting a night game. I ended up shooting at 800 ISO speed and I knew that meant some big time grain in the shots.

I needed a 400mm f/2.8 lens to get the good action. I got the shots I needed for a feature story with my wide lens from the top of the stadium above the pressbox. I do believe that there won't be too many action shots in the feature, though.

Anyway, I have a 7:45 flight in the morning from Raleigh. The drive to the airport is 1 hour and 30 minutes, if you know exactly where you are going. The rental car return is offsite from the airport. I need to be there about 2 hours before my flight to get the car returned to shuttle to the airport and get checked in and through security. With all that, I pretty much need to leave here at 4 a.m. I do honestly dread this. At least I will be going to the Titans game when I get back, if I can stay awake. Its almost 11 p.m. here and I still need to pack and get my gear situated, so signing off.

On Assignment: Greenville, North Carolina-Day Four

"Slither" by Wes Aldridge

Imagine this: You are walking through the dark woods, alone, searching for a shot of the rare, indigenous North Carolina, speckle-headed woodpecker for one of your assignments. As luck would have it, you see one and start tracking him through the thick forest brush ever so slowly and quietly. You continue this for three hours and finally the bird decides to land on the ground to look for food. You get on your stomach and inch closer and closer, trying to get the most exciting shot possible. There he is, with a freshly snuffed out earthworm in his mouth that he just plucked from the earth. This is the shot. You are looking through the lens, finger on shutter button, ready to snap the shot and then... you feel it... a sharp prick in your right forearm.

You drop the camera violently and the bird you are stalking flys away in distress. You jerk your head around as a burning sensation instantly grows stronger and stronger. You see eyes staring up at you, cold yellow eyes. The eyes of a copperhead snake, one of the most poisonous in North America. After whishing his pink tongue at you a few times, laughing in your face in his own snake way, he turns and slithers slowly away into the underbrush. My present grip of paralysis through shock and fear wears off, and I scream into the empty woods, the dark, cold, empty and all alone woods. No one hears your scream, so you decide to stop, you weakling. Stop screaming you infant. There is an equation of life and death at hand, and screaming without hope while two tiny streams of blood trickle from your arm is not the answer to it.

You gather your wits for five minutes or so, which seems like an eternity, and realize that you must get help immediately. You know without a doubt that you must lift your body from the ground and find your way back from the woods to your rental car. Putting one knee underneath you and then the other, you use the low hanging limbs of a spruce tree sapling to lift yourself to your feet. After becoming vertical, you feel the nausea beginning to take hold. You take three or four steps, numbers mean nothing, and bend over to vomit... and you do, twice. Sweat starts to bead on your forehead and your black polo shirt starts to become tighter and tighter with your breath becoming more erratic and cumbersome.

You must leave this place, on your own freewill. You don't want the help of a coroner just yet. And you stumble forward and the journey has begun. Find your way home, on your own, before you are called that way. What was that? Someone's voice faintly in the distance? What did the voice say? No time for that now, just find the car fast.

After wandering for what seemed like an eternity but was actually only 49 feet, you drop to one knee. You almost forgot about your forearm, until you rub it and feel the knot starting to bulge. And it feels slightly glossy and smooth, as if a thin coat of honey were on it. This is textbook protocol for the repercussions of a venomous snakebite. Jesus, the venom is starting to take hold.

You jerk again and lose what was left of your chicken salad sandwich that was once lunch. Your head spins hard to the left and your body buckles and hits the ground. You want to get up and keep going, but the foliage beneath you is so inviting and warm. The cold, dark forest doesn't matter now and you know that resting for a few minutes in your present state is the best answer you can muster. Your strength is fading and a power nap will do you well, you are certain. But your lips and mouth are drying out. Where is my canteen? Didn't think I would need it this trip. And so it was, the thirst continued.

The Carolina forest looks much different from the view on your back. You can see the silhouettes of the tree leaves above you dance in the wind beneath a blue sky somewhere beyond the treetops. That is where I am, that is where I want to be. It was the only logical thought that ran through my mind as my breathing became more relaxed and shallow.

I wish my neck wasn't itching so badly.

You rub around your Adam's apple and noticed the swelling... all the way up and down your windpipe. You rest easy because you know you are almost back to your car, even though it is four miles from where you lay... in the opposite direction you have been walking.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds and everything was black. "Keep going," I thought and opened them again. Vision seems funny, almost one-dimensional. Your left eye opened along with your right, but its vision just wasn't there.

Time to move along. Tried to get up. Fall. Rest. Rest. Rest. Sleep. You awake in an open field that you have never seen, but know as if you have ran through it a million times before... and I started, running toward the sun.

Thank God this ugly monster was encased in glass and couldn't strike me.

On Assignment: Greenville, North Carolina-Day Three

"Mexican Light" by Wes Aldridge

I went to shoot an assignment in a mexican restaurant today. I got really lucky with it. I walk into this place and most of the color schemes were in bright pastels. I knew I only had about 15 minutes to get this one done, so I looked around a little and found the perfect place to set up a shot.

One side of the building had a greenhouse-style room, glassed over roof, you get the idea. The warm and rich afternoon sun was shining through the glass and the colors were amazing. I knew this one was going to be good, and after I had set up the table, it was on point. I didn't even need to use any artificial lighting. I think this was only the second time I have done a food shot without someking of strobes and umbrellas and softboxes.

This is one of my test shots I did to meter light before the food came out. I just wanted to share it because the setting was so perfect and the light turned out so good. I was happy that something on this trip turned out nice and easy!

On Assignment: Greenville, North Carolina-Day Two

"Take Five" by Wes Aldridge

Tonight was interesting. I was shooting a ballet class, and it blew me away. Those girls could bend and jump and stretch in ways that were amazing. And, they could spin around on one foot without hitting the ground. It was awesome because I know that in a million years, I could never do the same things.

I think the thing that draws me to this shot is not the girl spinning in the foreground, but the girl still and resting on the bar in the background. They stretched and danced and balanced the entire time I was in there. I know it must have been extremely tiring and trying. The concentration they possessed was brilliant, totally focused, almost mechanical as the instructor called out positions and moves for them to follow. Yeah, the girl lounging in the back was totally uncharacteristic of the whole experience. Things were very proper and structured, and this was the total opposite. That's why the resting girl is so important: She showed that she was still human, and even ballerinas must take five.

On Assignment: Greenville, North Carolina-Day One

"The Touch" by Wes Aldridge

Tired.

Symbol of Civility

"Ride On, Rosa" by Wes Aldridge

I wanted to share this shot from my time in Alabama and tonight is the night. The large and beautiful white building in the background of the shot is the Alabama State Capital. In the foreground is the bus Rosa Parks decided to assert her God given rights of equality on. The bus tours the city, rich in civil rights history, during the daytime. I just happened to be standing across the street from the capital building when the bus drove by. I think I was pretty lucky on this one. This one strikes me as being politically strong because the capital being a symbol of the Old South and the bus driving by representing the struggles from oppression that people of color fought against in the days of Rosa.

My time (short though it was) in Montgomery was special and I will be making another visit to this city. I really felt like I connected to it and there was much history that I needed to try and take in there. Something that I observed there struck me as strange. There was a quietness in the city streets. No loud traffic with engines revving and horns blowing. No people talking loudly or rushing about. No, there was only the breeze blowing through the air and the beads of sweat running down my back. I guess the tension in Montgomery in the past was enough noise to last a lifetime.

Garden Delight

"Pinkie" by Wes Aldridge

Blah blah blah pink. Blah blah blah flower. Blah blah blah pretty.

A Brothers' Find

"The Plant" by Wes Aldridge

Tonight was great. After spending time with the family today for my father's birthday, I needed a blog shot.

I asked my brother to go on a search with me. We drove around our county for hours searching for a shot with little luck. I didn't mind because I wanted to hang out with him more than I was even worried with finding a cool shot to post. After driving forever, we found our way back to Tunnel Hill. We went down by the old namesake train tunnels that give the city its name, and my brother said, "That chicken feed plant looks kind of creepy." What the hell, lets give it a look, I thought. After setting up the tripod and taking a couple of shots, I knew he was right because it was looking pretty cool. I think the exposure was something around 30 seconds at f/4.5 at ISO 100.

We ended up screwing around for an hour down there with my off camera flash, popping it on my face to make multiple images of me in the shot. It was really fun and looked kind of evil, but a little too cheezy for me to post. The bottom line was we were having a great time coming up with ideas to mess around with the shot. Its times like this one that make me wish I was in Atlanta hanging out with him everyday. We are two pretty creative guys that definetly don't mind stepping "outside the box," regardless of what others think. And I think his new Mohawk hairstyle is testament enough for that.

On Assignment: Prattville, Alabama-Day Four

"Hank's Grave" by Wes Aldridge

This is a shot I did when I visited Hank's grave in Montgomery. Praise the Lord, he saw the light.

On Assignment: Prattville, Alabama-Day Three

"Four Times Even Light" by Wes Aldridge

If there is one good thing about the current hurrican situation, it must be that the weather makes for an extremely interesting sunset shot.

In this shot, all the light completely evened out. First you have the bright colors of the sunset, pretty much exposed on the money, bright and crisp warm colors. Next, you have the silhouettes of the ground and trees that are completely black. The face of the clock on the clocktower is illuminated at the right exposure, with a little flood lighting projected on the the corner wall. And finally, you can't overlook the menacing purple storm cloud that devours the sky with a patch of blue sky showing through the opening at the top.

I waited around for just the right time to shoot, and I am glad I did. Seconds after this frame, the wind began to pick up rather violently and I felt a few raindrops fall on my nose. And then, the damn bottom fell out of the sky and an insane storm came on strong. I really thought I was about to be in the middle of a tornado. Honestly, this shot doesn't even come close to capturing what was going on in nature right then. But, hell, I tried and rode it out until the nasty storm came... and happy I did. I got so excited about this shot that I called two other photographers to rant about it. I was awe struck over what I had seen, and it reassured me that I am doing what I am supposed to do, and loving it.

I wish you could have been there with me.

On Assignment: Prattville, Alabama-Day Two

"The Whole World Calls Me..." by Wes Aldridge

Tonight, I drove into the neighboring city of Montgomery, of course, the state capital of Alabama. Coach told me about the tie-in of Hank Williams to this city and I knew I had to make a quick visit. Honeycutt had introduced me to Hank when I was in highschool, and the things he showed me I will never forget, even since six years have passed from those days.

This is a statue of Hank that sits in the downtown area of Montgomery. I got there as the sky was fading into darkness. I ended up frantically shooting this with a high ISO of 400 at a slow shutter speed of 1/40th of a second (handheld) with my 50mm lens at f/1.8 to squeeze every little bit of light as possible into the scene before it was lights out. I got beneath the statue and the bronze reflected a little light off Hank's face at just the right angle and brought it to life. I like this one a lot.

I consider Hank one of the greatest American poets that ever lived. I mean, how could you not just connect with lyrics like these:
" Did you ever see a robin weep
When leaves begin to die?
Like me he's lost the will to live
I'm so lonesome I could cry"

Hank and Cash made the country music that I love. It meant a lot to find this memorial to him and get a nice shot to share on the blog.

On Assignment: Prattville, Alabama-Day One

Tonight, the format of my blog entry has obviously changed, and for good reason. I have seen the most bizarre place in my photographic travels to date. I don’t know exactly how to take the experience, but it was honestly the most interesting time I have had a camera in my hand. It was startling to walk through this creation and I couldn’t stop pressing my shutter button.

This is "The Cross Garden" in Prattville, Alabama. I knew nothing of the place until our chief photographer Greg showed me some shots that he had taken there. He was pretty insistent that I see this enigma for myself. I am extremely glad I took the time to stop in.

There was no way that posting only one photo from it would do the experience any kind of justice, so here is more of a photo essay where the shots are best viewed together.

This is the former land and art of a man named W.C. Rice, whom died earlier this year. He collected everything from telephone poles to kitchen stoves and assembled this “garden” in his yard. As you can see, he had somewhat of a fixation with expressing his religious views. People would buy these pieces of art straight from his yard for hundreds of dollars each.

I hate to be judgmental or to insert my opinion on someone that I have never and will never meet, but I feel like chiming in on this one. As some of his red-paint scrawlings say on the objects in his yard, here is my conclusion. Hell may be hot and God may be love, but this must be far, far over the edge. Taken seriously, this is the kind of religious throat stuffing that really turns people off from the whole idea of God or Jesus. I am not sure if this can be taken any other way or not. To take it in a comic sense would surely be blasphemy, right?

Please, brings some comments on this one. I would love to see everyone's opinions on it. I just hope the rest of my shots from Prattville will be this interesting.




"Read" by Wes Aldridge


"Hot, Hot, Hot" by Wes Aldridge


"Rugged Cross" by Wes Aldridge


"You Will Die" by Wes Aldridge


"On The Range" by Wes Aldridge


"72" by Wes Aldridge


"Help Me" by Wes Aldridge


"Sin" by Wes Aldridge


"Postmaster" by Wes Aldridge

Feels Almost Like Home

"True Americana" by Wes Aldridge

This is a shot from west Tennessee. It really hits me good. It is real. It is beautiful. It is Americana and I get a feeling that I am at home when I see it.

Can you imagine how lucky and wonderful of a life I have to be traveling about doing photography and to see a scene like this? Yes, some of us were born lucky. This is scene is the stuff that has stitched America together. These old farm scenes with the peeling paint and old red trucks and purple clouds in the sky, this is America. And I am so glad that I get to visit these small towns and countrysides to see such things. I am a city dweller, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I need my Tennessee Titans football games, my rush hour traffic jams and my 3 a.m. Taco Bell runs with the boys after a hard night of fun on 2nd Avenue. But, I also desperately need those real moments of country that are far removed from Urban Hell.

This was one of those majestic times, and I love it.

Reflections of Nature

"The Wetlands" by Wes Aldridge

This is a shot from a place in western Tennessee called the Sugar Creek Wetlands. It is a government funded wildlife and nature reserve. I drove by it and you better believe I turned around to get a shot. I don't think it needs much more explanation than that.

That Feeling

"Main Street Auction" by Wes Aldridge

I shot a freelance assignment of a marching band competition today in Milan, Tennessee. It was really fun, suprisingly. But after the assignment is when I really started having a good time. I felt it today, in that small town, I felt it.

I decided to go and find my shot for the day while I was still down there. It was time for a little exploration. There must be a downtown area with a traditional old courthouse or something of that nature that would make for a good shot. I followed Main Street and there it was.

The street was filled with boxes overflowing with trinkets, junk and just all-around yardsale items strewn about. People sat in lawnchairs on the street with iced tea in hand. A man was running an auction over a loudspeaker in front of the massive crowd of hundreds. The site was incredible. For a minute I felt like I had wondered into a different kind of place, something tucked away and hidden from societal norms. I felt like it was a National Geographic kind of moment. I can't explain it very well, I just know the feelings that I had.

And there they were, sitting proudly in their chairs. These two little ladies had just bid on an auction for a tea kettle... and won. The lady on the left had done the bidding and the one on the right had to pitch in her five dollars to help in the buy. It was just a perfect moment out of an old American novel to me. I felt it, and I caught it.

Farewell, Friend

"Catch It!" by Wes Aldridge

This shot is how I would like to remember things: Jarvis with a giant smile catching a waterballoon tossed some 30-feet by his partner during a game portion of our United Way picnic lunch today.

Sadly, after a couple of years, Jarvis is moving on from our company as the Photo Department's (and everyone else's) Go-To- Guy. He was such a gigantic helping hand for everything, whether I was out on the road and needed some quick information when I had no access to the Internet, or doing endless color corrections, Jarvis was always there and willing to help.

More than his work ethic and talent with Adobe Photoshop, he was a fun as hell guy to be around. There was rarely a time when he wasn't cracking me up, or saying "Bet" or asking me, "Where your week at, dawg?" The guy was a true gem with a huge heart and a generally happy disposition.

I knew that the last thing I could do for his tenure at Journal Communications was to get a great shot of him, happy as can be, and share it with everyone.

Farewell, friend, and good luck with being an architect. I bet it sure beats rounding up countless submitted photos from elusive story and photo leads! Thanks a million times over... and, "Where your week at?"