"Mattie" by WExX
We did a lil' bit o' work in WExX Studio today. Used a ton of lights, took a chunk of time, and I think we like what we got.
Here is Matt, faithful as ever as a test subject. What a guy.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Check out the newly acquired retro couch. Found all 9 feet of her at Salvation Army. Rock.
"Hands" by WExX
This is a shot I did in the studio today. I needed some kind of art to illustrate a story about business and schools in a partnership for learning. Well, a child's hand shaking the hand of a businessman is what I came up with.
Its really more complicated of a photo than it looks to be. It took four lights to get this one like this. The background was originally black, so I put a purple gel on it and shot it at an angle to make a color gradient. I really like how the pattern worked in it. Then, I shot a light onto the back of the hands to make a slight halo effect on them. Lastly, I positioned two silver-lined umbrellas at 45-degree angles to the subject for main lights.
Anyway, I think it looks alright.
"Burn Gov't." by WExX
Went through D.C. today. Nothing worth a fuck. Changed some color temp and here is my version of the Washington Monument.
"Ghost Rider" by WExX
What? You want Evil? You got it...
My weather on this assignment has sucked. Rain, clouds, overcast, etc. I thought I would jack with the color temp in my camera and do something different.
This one was shot on tripod at 30 sec. I set my color to 16000K to turn the sky red. To bring out the statues detail in the dark and to help bring the copper horseman back to his proper color with the warm temp adjustment, I popped a flash (about 12 times) zoomed at 105mm, 1/4 power with a deep blue gel on it. The sky had a few dark clouds that were moving that made the black streaks in the sky.
This thing looks like the ghost rider breaking out of Hell. I like it. Somehow, I don't think this one will make the pages of the community magazine for C-ville.
"Ready to Ride" by WExX
I just felt like posting a recent shot and saying Happy Holidays to everyone.
This shot is actually from a farm in my hometown, Tunnel Hill, Georgia.
"Climb" by Wexx
We shot this Olympic white water training facility. My favorite shot came from this guy ascending the climbing wall.
"Slither" by Wexx
I am in Greensboro, N.C., still on assignment. I left Nashville a couple of weeks ago and haven't seen her since. On the tail end of shooting my third magazine. At least B-Money is here to play as well.
This shot came from a natural history museum in Greensboro. I think it is one of my most sinister shots to date... and I am completely in love with it. I have seen stuff like this in National Geographic before, hopefully it is a sign of the future.
"Simply Business" by Wexx
This is one that I did in Chattanooga while I've been shooting the Southeast Resource magazine. Its really no big whoop, but I was pretty thrilled about it. It sure beats the normal ol' standard kinda business headshots that we normally shoot. I'm just glad to see I still have some will to step outide the box with my photo ideas and still make a nice shot.
Besides, I showed this one to her after I shot it and she raved about it. She was trying to buy it off of me right away. Now that really makes going the extra mile worth it.
"The Light" by Wexx
Well, this one is from a show I shot this weekend at Exit/In in Nashville. This is Richard Patrick (former singer for the band "Filter", singer for the band "Army of Anyone." Patrick has teamed up with the DeLeo brothers, formerly of Stone Temple Pilots and a pretty rockin' new drummer.
Here is a moment from the show. The lighting in Exit/In isn't great for standard concert photography. I was shooting at 800 ISO (little grainy) to get alright exposures. So this shot is actually at 1/15th of a second at f/2.8. For those of you that don't understand film and shutter speed and light and all that jazz, it translates into, "Damn, I'm lucky this shot isn't blurry."
Anyway, I really like it. Music photography is my passion.
"The Bolt" by Wexx
I think someone mentioned something about my old Nashville skyline shots. Well, here is my most famous one...
The bolt of lightning seems to hit the Bellsouth (aka Batman) Building. Believe it or not, I captured this shot back in college when I had little more than a Fuji FunPix point-and-shoot. It is absurd to think that normal people could catch a shot like this one with a lil' ol' piece of crap digicam. But, hey, I got lucky. And after catching this shot, I became rather addicted. Now, here I am.
"The View" by Wexx
I was going through some of my archives tonight and found a little jewel that I shot a while back, but never posted it. Its a simple dusk shot of Canada seen from the American side of Niagara Falls.
I don't think the colors will reproduce as vividly on the Web as I see them on my monitor. Oh well, it is a nice one, though.
"Docked" by Wexx
It is a great tragedy, of course I mean this trip. Marquette, Michigan, such a wonderful place. I can envision the scenic photography that my light capturing box should be recording, but alas, suck-ass weather keeps it snuggly-tucked away in its carrying case. Why, why must you do this to me, I ask? The torture of my mind seeing beautiful photographs that are impossible to collect upon.
I shot this one anyway. Its simple, a sailboat docked for the winter. But, I didn't let a lack of sunshine kill it out. Screw it, I did the unthinkable... I used PhotoShop to tone the hell out of this one. It came from the camera looking like a mega-turd that Andy Rooney would spat lousy commentary about. But, by God, I tried to make it look like a dream. Be it a dream or not, I did my best. And what else can you ask of a man, other than his absolute greatest devotion to a cause, even if that cause is photography? Nothing, I say, nothing. So be it.
And this might just become the IMAGES of Marquette magazine cover.
Well, this one came straight from one of the two hotel pubs I am staying at. The server was beautiful, and sweet. She invited me to the next joint since the taps close early here tonight. I took the ticket and I would be a fool not to go along for the ride, right? Yessir, think I will join in the fun... Hunter would.
"Eye-talian" by Wexx
Well, I rarely post food shots, but I like this one. I don't think its a master work or anything like that, but it was a breath of fresh air for me.
I went to this restaurant to do the shot at about 8:30 p.m. tonight and worked on it until 10:30 p.m. I shot it all kinds of different ways, but I like this one the best I used two umbrella lights off to the sides of the table and let in massive amounts of ambient light with about a 20-second long exposure. The most fun part of it was light painting with a cheap-ass flashlight and a cylinder of paper wrapped around it to limit light from spilling all over the scene. You really can't tell a big difference with the light painting, but I had an incredibly fun time being super meticulous with it.
I needed to do something like this assignment. I was about to my wits end with photography, to be honest. My creativity and passion is just kinda fading or something. I can't let that happen. Gotta keep on going with it. I think my assignments have just been pretty ruff here lately and really gotten me down. But, I can't let it overcome me. This one was just a normal, monotonous assignment that I said, "fuck it," and made an interesting time for myself.
"Parade" by Wexx
This one is a little late. I meant to post it on Veteran's Day, but I had a soiree and completely forgot to do so. Anyway, its a shot of the 101st Airborne homecoming parade in Cool Springs. I really like this shot and I wanted to share.
"Mikey" by Wexx
A new portrait that I had fun doing.
"Vocalize" by Wexx
So, here is an updated photograph of Thaxton Ward in action.
I like this shot because its natural, not touched. A little over-exposure gives it a glow and the stage lights paint it red. Yeah, rock.
"The Shadow" by Wexx
During one of my assignments in Louisiana, Matt and I picked up this little jewel. It was titled "Black Jesus w/ Cloth Robe." Nothing inside me could have stopped me from making the purchase. You must understand, I am completely intrigued with religious imagery... the more bizarre, the better.
Anyway, Brian and I were here at the illustrious Wexx Studio and he saw the wonderful figurine sitting still neatly boxed. He demanded we take it out. I obliged. Brian grabbed a light and started casting massive shadows from the icon on the wall. He demanded now that I take photographs as he laughed wildly. Honestly, I was uneasy. I had never seen such a disturbed look in his somniferous eyes. He was all sorts of terrifying. He looked right through me, sneezed, and then pelted me with a handful of orange slices.
"Desperate Eyes" by Wexx
Well, something just wasn't right here. I couldn't put my finger on it, but the bride was well short of blushing. She seemed to dance thinly back and forth over the lines of paranoia and terror. She said everything would be OK in the morning. I heard her crying several times to a nameless friend on her cellular about how he tried to tear the ring from her finger as he shoved her high hopes of matrimony to the ground, the tires of his Corvette bleeding off into the distance.
He must have been a real tyrant... or maybe he just grabbed his guts and ran. Either way, she should have opted for my cosmetics diva to fix her makeup. Anyway, she was a good sport and tried to smile. Something kind of unsettling about it all...
"The Ameri-CAN" by Wes Aldridge
Once again, my brother. We watched "Walk The Line" and got all drunk and tear-faced, so naturally, we had to bring things back down from the stratosphere in good ol' Gonzo fashion. This place we are staying in is right out of 1954, a rather incredible sight to behold. Its like time-warping, unintentionally of course, and waking up all "Leave It To Beaver"-style. Anyway, needless to say the Turkey gobbled and the camera snapped. This one has some kind of surreal auora to it, can't exactly explain it. But, it is what it is
"Engagement" by Wes Aldridge
Mindy and Barry needed an engagement portrait, so we did one. Big thanks to Brian McCord for helping me do this one. He did all the grunt work, ha! B Money rocks. But, at least he wasn't terminated while making brisk movements with his mutt. And, oh yes, thanks to Kate-O for her emotional support, the carrying of a light stand, the buying of drinks for the crew, and keeping the horde of young Korean children from ran-sacking the gear.
