"Cards and Cigs" by Wes Aldridge
This is a little diddy set up using the deck of Harrah's playing cards from the casino in New Orleans that was given to me on my 21st birthday there. Not much going on in this one, but I think it looks neat. Could be a great shot for someone to hang in their playing/gaming room, hint, hint.
"Ole Glory" by Wes Aldridge
Well, it was a pretty day, the weather of course. So I shot this flag. Other things could be more to wish for, such as life's little path in general. Just a rather interesting time that I don't fully understand at the present time. But, I am not a person that cares to question the things that go on day to day. I let them come as they will... and yes, they will.
To sum up life's present situations and current events and happenings, I leave you with this quote from one of my greatest influences in life, my senior AP English teacher in high school.
"The rational mind knows limitations that the heart could never understand."- Henry T. Honeycutt
"RC Jones" by Wes Aldridge
This shot is of RC Jones, guitarist from the Nashville rock band Thaxton Ward. The show pretty much rocked tonight at The End. The crowd was happy and the music was tight.
The lighting in the club was terrible, so I was pretty much forced to shoot at a 3200 film speed. That means ultra grain, but I embraced it and thought of it as a creative factor. It adds a certain roughness to the photos and really enhances the situation.
"Le Turkey" by Wes Aldridge
This one is for Scooter.
The Sherlock's liquor store in Marietta gave us this profound anomoly. I am not sure who Jimmy Russell is, but he sure as hell signed this display for Wild Turkey.
No shot info. It was simply a special moment that should have been recorded for a dear friend.
"Slow and Steady" by Wes Aldridge
What a strange trip today has been.
Money. Greed. Fear. Opportunity. Deception. Realization. Redemption. Fortune. Tragedy. Uneasiness. Destruction. Temptation. Abomination. Frustration. Tranquilization.
Bliss, thank you girl.
Why can’t my life be like that of a turtle, where the only pressing quest is to cross the road without being smashed into oblivion? I guess I am that turtle. I try and cross that road everyday. I will keep the pursuit no matter what steps come in front of me to deter. I will do what is right and valiant, no matter how difficult, and fight the good fight until the sweet ending. My movements toward progress may be slow at times, but I will use my hard shell to guard me and persevere the atrocities before me. With my body tattered and worn, skin old and leathery, I still press on… and I will reach the other side.
Meet me.
"USA Fish" by Wes Aldridge
Yes. This was in downtown Somerset. Did you think I could pass up a post like this? Of course not.
Apparently the town has many of these statues hanging around, several in the Somerset Mall. One of my assignments entails documenting them through photography for a feature story. I didn't know about this one, but I sure saw it standing there tall and proud in all its glory.
The weather was garbage and what little sunlight that was available through the cloud-covered sky was on the other side of the beast. I knew I had to wait and shoot him at dusk, which p.s. allowed for no coloration in the sunset. So, I dropped my shutter speed to 1/13th of a second to let some of the ambient light from the street lights in and set my aperture to f/6.3 to let the right amount of flash and depth of field for this one. I used my 16-35mm lens for that ultra-wide distortion of the fish.
Anyway, what a patriot!
"Sun and Stones" by Wes Aldridge
One of my greatest fears is to sing solo in front of people, even if it is at a small birthday gathering with PlayStation 2 American Idol karaoke. I respect someone who has the ability and desire to stand with their naked voice and sing. Enter Amanda. Today she sang the “Star-Spangled Banner” at a University of Georgia baseball game in front of hundreds of people… a cappella. I wanted to be there to hear her, because if you have never had the opportunity, her voice is intoxicatingly beautiful. It was in high school, and still is weeks before her college graduation.
Earlier in the day I told her to get her best friend to call me and hold her cell phone where I could hear her. I didn’t know if that would actually happen or not, but as I lay on the ground amongst white tombstones in a veterans’ cemetery at sunset, my phone rings. The voice on the other end said, “I think she is going to sing in a couple of minutes, hold on.” I couldn’t believe it. I looked up at the American flag blowing in the sunset and then I heard the sound.
She began the song (on perfect pitch) and something moved inside me. I expected her to sound good, but I wasn’t prepared for the brilliance in her voice, even over a cell phone speaker. I listened to her sweet soprano voice soar higher and higher with “the rockets red glare” and chills blasted across me. She sang on and my jaw hung wide open.
When she brought her voice back down to end the anthem it was in a wonderful whisper with “the home of the brave.” Right then, staring at the flag above me, lying in the grass in the cemetery as the sun faded away, something moved in me. A single tear rolled down my left cheek and I was sonically completed. I let the sun fade away and I just lay there and stared at the sky. I couldn’t move, and it was great. Everything was in its right place and I didn’t actually shoot the deep reds and purples in the sky after the sunset, it seemed better to just lie there and watch it sink away. Today I may have been on assignment in Somerset, Kentucky, but my ears and heart were in Athens, Georgia.
This shot is the scene I saw seconds before I got that phone call. And by the way, Nashville is waiting on that voice girl, bring it on up here and start the long, hard road.
"The Walking Bridge" by Wes Aldridge
This is a nighttime shot of the pedestrian bridge in downtown Nashville. I sat it on a tripod and did a long exposure to get this shot. I love this shot because of the beauty found in simplicity.
"X Commandments" by Wes Aldridge
I saw this and had to shoot it. I remembered the somewhat recent controversy surrounding the forced removal of the Ten Commandments at Montgomery's Federal Courthouse. I thought it was interesting.
The shot isn't technical at all. It is here for all to see. See it?
"Flyin' Brian" by Wes Aldridge
Meet Brian Fowler, or as many people know him, "Mr. Dance Ohio." He won this honor and the Licking County Chamber wanted to feature him in the portfolio section of their magazine. I thought this was an interesting concept from the get go.
My editor gave me his contact information only yesterday. That didn't give me much time to track him down and set an appointment for a portrait before I flew out on Sunday. Time was against me and I just hoped a power stronger than me would give me a hand on this one. And, yeah, that happened. I got in touch with him and sat an appointment for a couple of hours later that day.
I drove through the bitter cold in what seemed like a blizzard to the studio where this guy danced. I sat up a light and started shooting reflections of him Jete, Plie and Pirouette... and it blew my mind. I didn't know guys could make their bodies do the things this aerobatic wonder was doing. I had to get myself reflected in one of the shots. Do you notice his legs are parallel to the ground? Yeah, they are.
For the shot, it was at ISO 100 with a shutter speed of 1/200th of a second at aperture f/4.5 with a White Lightning strobe light bounced through out of an umbrella. I was using my radio slave to trigger the strobe to allow freedom of movement and I positioned the light at 45-degrees to the subject.
The kid asked me, "Can your camera shoot multiple shots right in a row?" I said, "Yeah, but I just shoot one at a time." He said, well, the newspaper guy that shot me had a real problem getting the 'right' shot." I just told him, "I'm not just some newspaper guy..." After I was finished shooting he and his dance instructors were pretty pleased with the action images I captured. Rock.
"Train a Goin' Home" by Wes Aldridge
One of my feature stories required me to shoot an industrial park. As you may or may not know, industrial parks are not the most photogenic stretches of architecture and landscape. So, I did what any goal-driven photographer would do... I shot it at sundown to add a little warmth to the shots and give it a little more of an appeal.
Anyway, I am out in the middle of nowhere, several miles outside of "the city," and the sunset is fading fast. I was speeding, frantically and desperately searching for something to frame a sunset and silhouette with. Just my luck, I see this train sitting off the road in a field. I slammed on the brakes, jerked the Mercury off the road and made a mad dash for the train. I got there just in time. The color shifts are beautiful in this one, really inviting to the eye. I particularly like the chaotic line formations.
The shot is between two boxcars where they are connected together. It just seemed like the right part of the scene to share with everyone. Enjoy.
"Self: On the Mounds" by Wes Aldridge
Here is a little self portrait action for you, via silhouette. Yes, that is me standing on an Indian mound... on a GOLF COURSE. This kind of disturbs me. This course was built in 1910, and it is very beautiful. But, I really don't know if I agree it being where it is. Anyway, it was a beautiful day and I thought it was a neat idea for a shot.
I personally like the arm-on-hip attitude going on. Not sure why. It has sass, and yes, I am a straight man with sass sometimes. Nothing wrong with a little pizzazz!
Enjoy the shot.
"One Big Easter Bunny" by Wes Aldridge
Alright, when I see a seven story Easter basket, you know its going on the blog. This is an official headquarters for a place called Longaberger. This is an office building full of people doing real jobs under real deadlines for real salaries.
I think I would have to huff helium to walk into a place like that each day and "work." Wow, that would totally be like living in a comic strip. I honestly almost ran off the road laughing when I saw that big yellow sucker.
This is a pretty cool shot because of the reflection. No reason to go into the details of the settings. I just metered for the light, and that was that.
"Town Square" by Wes Aldridge
Wow. What a day. Let's recap it.
Started off the morning with a shoot out at a park in Brentwood, Tennessee. Then, came back to the office and edited through about 200 photos from my last shoot a few days ago in Lancaster, Ohio. After the editing, processed out the photos, built a database and wrote cutlines for them. Then chose cover options for the magazine and processed and converted them to CMYK TIFF files. Stored all the shots on the Epro server and it was finished.
Normally, that takes a bit of time to do. I can't believe I got it finished today, that was around 3:30 p.m. I checked the weather for the location of my next shoot coming up this week and it called for sunshine for the next two days. Well, that made decision simple on when I needed to leave on my shoot... and that was tonight. So, I booked a flight at 4:30 p.m., reserved my rental car and arranged my hotel stay at the Hampton Inn. I dashed home threw a couple of clean shirts and boxer shorts in my suitcase and I was out of my house in less than ten minutes. Then, off to the airport in rush hour and the rest is history.
Now, I am finally sitting in my hotel in a little place called Licking County, Ohio.
I was amazed that everything came together like it did. It was virtually impossible and it still happened. ABJ, thanks for everything you did today. You are awesome, and we both know that I needed more help than I could provide for myself. Thanks for sending a few up for me.
"The Bull" by Wes Aldridge
I happened to drive by this location several weeks ago and thought it would make for a perfect blog shot. The sun set directly over the hill in this field where livestock grazed the land. The animals always seemed to walk into perfect silhouettes with the sunlight on the hilltop. I waited until the day was just right to shoot this, and today was the day.
To get the proper exposure and the totally dark silhouettes, I exposed for the light in the sky. ISO 100 at aperture f/4.0 and shutter speed of 1/100th of a second, shot with my 70-200mm telephoto lens with a 1.4x converter on a tripod.
"Hiding 2-by-4" by Wes Aldridge
This shot was taken in front of the Old Spaghetti Factory on 2nd Ave. in downtown Nashville. I was hunting for a shot, and there he stood all alone. He had probably been part of some kind of excitement previously in the night, but now he is all by his lonesome. What if an empty Budweiser 2-by-4 could talk? Oh, I would love to hear his sad story. Now, he stands there, clothed only by a paper sack purchased from a convenience store.
Settings: film speed of ISO 400 shot with 50mm lens at aperture f/1.8 handheld at a shutter speed of 1/13th of a second.
"Just About Home" by Wes Aldridge
Today is now officially over. I spent seven hours driving from Lancaster, Ohio, to Nashville, Tennessee. Then, I spent two and a half more hours driving from Nashville to Tunnel Hill, Ga. It was a grueling day, but I had plenty of RockSTAR energy drinks to keep me going.
This shot is from when I had almost met my breaking point. I was getting close to Tunnel Hill, deliriously tired, and I see the sky starting to change color in my rearview. I wanted to capture the moment but I didn't have time to stop and shoot. So, I did what any safe and upstanding photographer would do... I wrapped the strap to my camera tightly around my wrist and pushed the button to open the sunroof. And yes, I was "that guy" sticking the camera out in heavy traffic to get a little glimpse of the road I had burned down all day long.
There wasn't much to this shot other than luck for composition. I guess-timated the light metering for the sunset and hoped for an alright shot. It was a relief. I guess it made everything a little better having something wonderful to look forward to once I got back home.
"Ohio Jukin' " by Wes Aldridge
This is a test shot that I was working on at a place called Weldon's Ice Cream Shop about 20 minutes north of Lancaster in a town called Millersport. I walk into this olde tyme ice cream parlor and I saw it sitting there in all its glory... an antique Wurlitzer jukebox. I knew this had to be in my shot.
I used this small Ohio State statue to get the light settings right while the delicious dish of ice cream sundae sat in the freezer, keeping chill. I didn't want it to melt while I fine tuned and adjusted to what I thought was the perfect shot. I dressed the foreground with Dum-Dum lollipops and shot a strobe from about two feet away to light the dish and candy with. I let the Wurlitzer in the background drop out of focus and only lit it with ambient light from the neons and the room's light.
I shot at ISO 100 with a shutter speed of 1/10th of a second to let in enough ambient light and shot with an aperture of f/14 to get the proper mix of strobe light for the foreground. My final shot had the beautiful sundae in it instead of the Ohio statue. I was pretty proud of this one and I thought the owner of the ice cream shop was going to have a heart attack. I think he liked it pretty well, too.
Now, it is time to bed. Need to shoot a couple more shots at sunrise then head out of town on my seven hour drive back to NashVegas... then 2.5 more hours on to Tunnel Hill, Ga., to see the Easter Bunny.
"Going Down" by Wes Aldridge
This shot comes from inside St. John's Episcopal Church in downtown Lancaster, Ohio. I went in to shoot an interior of the sanctuary because an exterior just wasn't happening with the day's lack of sunshine. This was the beautiful staircase that I climbed to perch in the choir loft and shoot a marvelous shot of the sanctuary.
This shot was pretty tough to get. It was really dark in this staircase and I didn't want to use any fill flash for the shot because I wanted it totally natural. The shadows and sunlight through the narrow window were just too good to pass up. I ended up shooting at ISO 400 at aperture f/2.8 handheld at 1/10th of a second... no tripod. If you don't shoot much, holding the camera still enough to not get a blurry image at that shutter speed isn't exactly easy. I was jammed up against the wall, arched awkwardly with the camera resting on my right collarbone. I had to be sure to completely exhale before releasing the shutter in case the expansion of my lungs while breathing might cause the camera to shake.
Well, up at 6 a.m. for a non-existent sunrise... last shoot ended at 8:45 p.m. Yes, think it is time to rest a little. First day in Lancaster is officially in the books.
"Despair" by Wes Aldridge
My life has been so wonderful for the past several months that I haven't taken the time to think about the unpleasant things in life... such as death. So, while I was driving around the thriving metropolis of Winchester, Kentucky (population 26 or so, joking), I saw the Winchester Cemetery and decided I should take a drive through. I must have done it to try to ground myself a little, who knows? I can't even begin to explain the feelings of excitement and joy and adventure that have been consuming me. Just between you and me, even seeing this weatherd and decrepit icon of mourning that I shot on a day devoid of sunshine didn't even bring me down one notch. I guess I can say I tried to level off a little. Ha, it didn't work! Life is amazing isn't it? Just seems like things just keep getting better and better and I feel this incredible energy in my soul that I feel I can channel through the lens of my camera. I have simply learned to look at everyday as a special and interesting opportunity to discover something new, even in a rural town that doesn't have much going for it at all.
The shot was taken at 1//400th of a second at f/9.0 with a focal length of 170mm at ISO 100. Nothing interesting going on settings wise. Just a straight up shot without any sunshine.
