"Oblivious" by Wes Aldridge
After work, a few of us went for cocktails. Of course, the Canon was in tow. I saw this guy sitting at the end of the bar by himself. He just had this look about him. I wanted to get a natural scene without the subject noticing me taking the shot. It was incredibly dark in there and I was forced to shoot at ISO 1600, hence the large amount of grain in the frame. I sat the camera on the bar and positioned it toward the lone man. I exposed for 0.6 seconds at f/7.1 to let enough light in with my 50mm lens. I snapped the shot. The man never was the wiser and I had another two happy hour beers. It was fun, expecially just knowing the abilities of my camera and lens system to compose and meter the light in the shot without even looking through the viewfinder. I think I am starting to really feel it inside me.
"The Feed Store" by Wes Aldridge
So tonight, I am still at the office doing a photo database that has to be in by midnight. I took a break and did a wild run to find a shot with the full moon in it. I was having no luck what so ever. I started to fret. Then, I see a sign that says, "Welcome to Nolensville." I had no idea where the hell I was and only hoped for the best.
I was in luck.
I saw this old feed store of some sort, no idea where or what it was. The moon lit it nicely. I threw the camera on the tripod, shot at ISO 400 with a 30 second exposure at f/22. Of course, that is me in the Jesus Christ pose in the shadow in the foreground. Just thought it made it a little more creepy. Right on.
"Moon and Leaves" by Wes Aldridge
Here is a shot similar to the last one. It is the effect you get by simpling adjusting the exposure to capture the ambient light of the tungsten light on the leaves of the trees framed around the moon in all its streaking glory.
"Shooting Moon" by Wes Aldridge
I went out just a little too late to catch the last warm rays of sunshine on this beautiful day. It is ok though. After a few days of fun, fun, fun, I was able to think outside the box and I came up with a good one I think. The center light in the frame is of course the moon. The streaking coming from the center is, believe it or not, tree leaves. IT was completely dark outside, besides the tungsten coming from the street lamps illuminating the leaves. I put the camera on a tripod with my wide angle lens. I set it at f/22 with a 30 second exposure and zoomed the lens in, giving that streaking look. Its pretty cool.
"Autumn Abstract" by Wes Aldridge
Finally a beautiful day and the deed is done, once again.
I can see what I want to see, can you?
"Bridge to Somewhere" by Wes Aldridge
I saw this scene and shot it for a purpose today. Its pretty symbolic of how I am feeling in life right now. I mean, you clearly see the boards right in front of you on the bridge. And you can see what's at the end of the shot, even if where the treeline meets the sky is a long way off. What you can't see is where that bridge goes when it dips down in the center of the frame. You know something is there, just not sure what. Do you just stand on the bridge where you are, because hell, its a pretty rockin' view from where you're at? Or, do you face the risks of the unknown and journey to that place where you can't see?
"Open your eyes..." - Vanilla Sky
"DND Drummer" by Wes Aldridge
The chain of events that lead to the shot.
I did a portrait of a teacher today. She asks if I like Metal. I reply yes. She invites me to go see a band she really likes, her treat. They happen to be opening for Dark New Day, whom I shot last Friday night in Nashville. I walk in with my camera in hand and the girl for DND at the merchandise table says, "hey, I know you." Then the tour manager comes over to me and gives salutation. The rest is merely detail captured with the flicking of a shutter button. After the show, we were invited to come to a private gathering of the bands and tech crews. Pretty nice being able to have cocktails with rockstars.
My birthday turned out to be pretty good, even though I spent it with total strangers. Twenty-five and counting, who knows for how long...
"Another Beautiful Day" by Wes Aldridge
Before anyone comments about this not being my usual delicate touch of nice photography, let me explain.
This shot encapsulates what was my day: dark, dreary and raining. The wet ground and gray skies have been present for two days now. The only thing really missing in this shot is the rain and frustrations of trying to get in touch with all of my assignment contacts. And lets just say that this single frame is the only one I have snapped of any exterior photography. The forecast doesn't look much better for the rest of my time here in Lexington. But, you know, I have Hope. I know I will get all my assignments done one way or another, and I fear not. I shot a magazine in New York in the dead of winter with four-and-a-half feet of snow on the ground and it turned out just fine. A little rain? Ah, no problem.
Let's hit the hay, lots to do tomorrow.
"Where's My Glass?" by Wes Aldridge
Well, after another night of immortal hell of trying to get the blog up, including, but not limited to jumping from hotel to hotel, it is complete. And, what if the shot is a little cheezy, huh? Who cares. Of course it is a self portrait, maybe one of the better ones I have done of self.
I was at this very, very cool vineyard and winery called Childress Vineyards. Childress was once a NASCAR great and upon retiring, he returned to his native home of Lexington to start this grape juiced extravaganza. The grounds and facilities were beautiful and easily the most impressive vineyard I have ever photographed. My self portrait came from doing a light test for a shot I was going to do of the winemaker. I thought the wine barrels made the perfect setting for him, so I set my camera on my tripod and fixed up my 550EX flash on a light stand with an umbrella reflecting toward me set on self timer.
The winemaker was very funny and laid back and a pleasure to photograph. The shot of him is similar to mine, but he is about five inches taller and he has a wine glass in his hand. His attitude was just so good I got perfect facial expressions from him. He enjoyed the time and offered me a chilled bottle of Childress Chardonney at the end, which I gladly accepted and thoroughly enjoyed tonight!
"Bass: Chris Lowery" by Wes Aldridge
Ok, promise, last shot from Dark New Day. I just enjoy sharing my rockstar photos. This is Chris Lowery, bassist. He is one of the most animated performers I have ever seen on stage... pure energy. Anyway, the reason I love this shot is the lighting of course. The deep shadows and brilliant highlights are good enough to convey the mood in this situation.
"Vox: Brett Hestla #2" by Wes Aldridge
I wanted to put up one more shot from Dark New Day. After I posted the last shot, I noticed that the interesting details of the singer were covered by his arm. Notice his hair and tattoo here. Interesting stuff. Completely shaved balled besides his center line of spikes, a la Mohawk and his tattoo of an angel on the back of his head. Just wanted to share those little details.
"Vox: Brett Hestla" by Wes Aldridge
Tonight I shot Dark New Day at Exit/In in Nashville. They completely rocked. I saw them a couple of months ago and this time the show was even better. They totally controlled the crowd and dominated the venue. It was great.
"The Frist" by Wes Aldridge
A night shot of the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville.
"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.
"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.
"Oink" by Wes Aldridge
You think it has anything to do with the old Manson murders? Me too.
"Crash Action" by Wes Aldridge
He, he, he. A little PJ action for ya.
"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.
"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.
"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!
