The way it’s all gone down:
I was born and raised by a family of hardworking, God fearing, Sunday supper having humans in the foothills of the Appalachia Mountains in Northwest Georgia. I spent my time as a youth playing all the sports, riding bikes with the neighbourhood cool-igans, and enjoying all things outdoors. From there I developed a love for creating and the arts. At an early age I learned to make beaded necklaces and stitchpoints with my dope ass grandparents (real men know how to sew double stitch and french braid, which are the same tough men that made times easy for us by fighting the good fight against world tyranny… real american heroes). I continued to fall in line on that path throughout my adolescent development and into adulthood. I eventually followed those dreams to the ends of the earth and back... several times.
In highschool I was drawn to less contact sports and joined up with the choir and drama crew to try my hand at acting a ham. I succeeded to some degree, or at least faked it enough to win some awards, and found my love for performing taking me down a path of capturing performances. I then enrolled into an undergraduate bachelor program of the art of audio engineering. Throughout college I explored many different options in the media industry from working on a nationally syndicated morning radio show to taking film classes and making documentaries.
Post graduation, my career as a sound designer for gaming and motion pictures was coming to an all time high, however, I found it harder to find work in such a niche industry. I linked up and became a collaborator with a group of creatives that used my sound design skillset for their large-scale video mapping projects. I fell head over heels for creating engulfing, large-scale soundscapes that move around an audience.
I was told “we don’t have enough work to maintain a position for a full time sound designer” so I did what any logical human would do to get what I wanted. I created a position for myself and pivoted to spending my time looking into ways of getting more business for our boutique creative firm where I wanted to work. “If there’s not a job for you, create one” was my motto. Once I was in this role I was able to understand all of the moving parts of the agency size creative process from storyboaring to post-production. I was intrigued by the entire process. Unfortunately, that journey was short lived but I realized my dreams were bigger than being a “Sound Designer” and it scared the shit out of me.
During this time, I was working as a producer for an advertising agency as well where I got my hands back on a camera and started shooting all of our short format docuseries videos on DSLR’s. Soon after both of these jobs came to an end, I was presented with the opportunity to work in Antarctica as a support contractor and couldn’t resist the chance to go check out the ends of the earth.
Armed with my trusty Canon 7D and a couple hundred dollars kit of lenses, I ventured out into the land of the Ice and was dead set on learning still photography as well. I thought “It can't be that hard”, and threw it in manual mode and never looked back; and boy was I setting myself up for a rude awakening.
Somewhere between bewilderment of the stark contrast of the icy continent and wanting to smash my camera out of frustration while trying to capture the vast landscape, I was awarded the opportunity to venture out with some scientists which got me in front of my first wildlife encounter. Face to face with a “show-off” Adelie Penguin on the McMurdo sound’s “Sea Ice Shelf”, I was forever changed and with tears of joy swelling up in my eyes I instantly fell in love with photography. Nailed it!
Since then I have travelled the globe and touched down in more than 15 countries and 5 continents. I was recently drawn back to Denali National Park where I work as a seasonal Adventure Tour Agent. From flightseeing around the mountain and glacier landings, to photo tours and more, I specialize in providing visitors to the Denali Borough with many options for exploring the vast area.
In the off seasons, you can cash me outside in the wild (with or without a camera), shredding the gnar on two wheels, and kickin’ it with the homies and my cool ass parents (who I live with from time to time.)... no shame. I also like long walks on the beach, taco tuesday, and funny cat memes… anything else, just ask!
Whitney D. Aldridge
