"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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?
"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.
"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.
"The Girl" by Wes Aldridge
Green Hills Mall. The shot. Nothing else.
"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.
"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.
"Crying Out For Help" by Wes Aldridge
Meet Alexandra Deus. She was standing by Legislative Plaza on the corner of Union Street and 6th Avenue in downtown Nashville with the signs pictured above. She said her son, Stephen Gorday, was a student at Nashville Tech... and that he had been "tortured" there and has now disappeared. She said she hasn't seen him for three months.
She said Gorday was a United States citizen and that she went to all the "available organizations for help, and no one cared." She said she has exercised all her options to help him, so now, she was "just going to stand here" with her signs in protest. "Its all I can do... to take it to the streets," she said.
I am not sure of all the story behind her son, Stephen, but it seems like it might be worth at least looking into by some public media outlet. I wish I had more resources and time to investigate, but I don't. Hopefully someone else will.
"Shoulder to Shoulder" by Wes Aldridge
I went out to the veteran cemetary in Madison today for a memorial service. I felt like an intruder, so I couldn't get in close enough for the shots with true grit that I wanted to get. This is about the best one I could come up with and not feel like I was being intrusive on someone's sacred time.
Still tired from my long shoot last week. Too much to think about today. Just want some rest now and maybe everything will be better when I wake in the morning. Then again, maybe it will just get more intense. I guess Karma does come back around, for better or for worse.
"Fiery Steeple" by Wes Aldridge
Today was a new adventure. I went to a church service in Nashville for the first time in the six years that I have lived here. Fellowship Bible Church -- I had never been to a chruch like that. To tell you the truth, it was pretty interesting. The music sounded really good being performed by some professional Christian artist. And there were so many people to watch. I wanted my camera in there, but it just wouldn't have been right. It was strange because I felt oddly at ease there. Who knows.
To keep with the church theme, I shot the steeple of Belmont Heights Baptist Church with the sunset. The sky was too amazing not to share it tonight. It seems that my latest obsession is sunset shots.
"Anxious to Fly" by Wes Aldridge
Today was the voyage home.
I think I spent about 6 hours on planes today. One layover was in the Kansas City Airport, where I got this shot. A little girl had wandered off from her mother. She walked up to the window in the terminal with her hands out to the side making a vrrrooooom sound like an airplane. This was my shot because it was what my day was all about. People, travel and the like.
Now its time for me to go out and rock it a bit. Night all.
"Cold Water Lake" by Wes Aldridge
Whew, 'tis finished. After a helluva crazy day, another IMAGES Magazine has all photography assignments complete. Now, here are the tales of the day.
It started off with a portrait of an athletic director of a local college. I met him at the college baseball diamond as a tournament was being played. We decided to shoot him in the foreground from the third base line stands with the diamond behind him. As I poised to take my first shot, a line drive foul ball came screaming at me. I dropped the camera from my eye quick enough to watch it slam into my right thigh, dead center. Yes, there is a nice baseball sized bruise there.
Later in the day, I did the 50-mile voyage to Mt. St. Helens to do a photo essay for the magazine. The shot for the day is from a place called Cold Water Lake with the mountain in the background. I was searching high and low for shots for the photo essay and decided to take a three-mile hike around the lake to find a vantage point with a great reflection. I like this one, and the blog is up once again.
Finally, I drove from Cowlitz County to Vancouver, Washington, to be closer to the Portland, Oregon, airport for my morning flight. I sat down at the desk in my executive suite in the Holiday Inn Express to download my photos for the day. Then, my spirit dropped. After calling back to the hotel I stayed at in Cowlitz for the past week, I confirmed that I left my memory card reader, camera battery charger and cell charger in the room. I jumped in the convertible and popped in my Telefon Tel Aviv CD and back to Cowlitz I went, 1 hour and 15 minutes roundtrip.
It was just another day full of adventures. Some people might look at these events as unfortunate, but screw that. I believe what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, and we all know I should have been dead many, many times ago and it has all made me pretty strong. So, if I can keep the adventure going, I promise I will keep it exciting, or at least keep myself entertained. That's what's important anyway, right?
"Washington to Oregon" by Wes Aldridge
I set out looking for a sunset shot tonight, and guess I found one. I was driving through the industrial park of Longview, WA, and saw this big mama bridge. I tried searching all up and down the Washington coast and couldn't get a good solid angle close enough to the water's edge. All the property along the river there is occupied by timber manufacturers with “no trespassing” signs posted everywhere. I needed to get to the other side of the river.
It was time to go to Oregon, and the mighty bridge in the shot, got me there. I was able to go up to the waterfront with no problem. To get the angle I wanted, I climbed down the rocks leading down to the water and got my shot there. It was a pretty steep bank and I imagined how terrible it would be to slip and fall down the ledge, crack my head on the rocks and lose my camera in the river… and maybe myself.
Its probably strange for me to think about hurting myself getting a shot I want, but it doesn't really matter. What is supposed to happen will happen, and there isn't much anyone can do about it. A little something I call Fate, and I guess today just wasn't my day to fall.
Anyway, isn't this sky simply amazing? That is dead on how it looked, no Photoshop screwing around on this shot's colors. It ranks up there as one of the most dramatically painted skies I have ever seen. Real power in the sky, real power.
"On the Dock" by Wes Aldridge
After my weather-screwed trip to Mt. St. Helens on Sunday afternoon, it was time to head back out there today to grab a few shots for the magazine. As you can see, it was a clear day. This is a lake along the 54 mile, 1 hour and 45-minute drive to Mt. St. Helens from Castle Rock, Washington. I even think I grabbed a few options for the magazine cover while I was out there.
Now, for the shot. I watched the guy in the white T-shirt hang the small boat on the dock and I waited for him to walk back to the mainland. I just thought he would add another cool reflective element to the shot. Seems like I have been shooting quite a few reflective surfaces up here in the Pacific Northwest. Go figure, lots of calm, still water and plenty of beauty surrounding it.
Today was extremely long. I didn’t finish shooting at a little league game until 9:45 p.m. and I have a portrait time set with a local DJ at 7 a.m., grrrrrr… I am pretty worn down and the sunburn I’ve collected from cruising with the roof down in the Sebring has drained me too. I love it up here in this part of the country, but I think I am about ready to get back home to Nashville and rest for a little while. I am definitely looking forward to the Memorial Day holiday on Monday.
"The Reflected" by Wes Aldridge
Can I just say? Yes, I am exhausted. It seems like the sun just won't go down in this part of the country. I finally got last light around 9:30 p.m. It gives much time to shoot, but little time to rest for the next day.
Anyway, I was driving along the Columbia River and I see this place. It was filled with yellow flowers growing from the water, dead trees and lily pads. It was amazing and I just had to shoot it. It was pretty tough to get the exposure to work out right because of the high shadow and light contrast. It was simply too cool to not take a shot.
