Exploring NC

After photographing the beautiful New Orleans wetlands, it was time to head into the French Quarter to experience what some say is the heart of the city.  The French Quarter is basically about 10 blocks or so of old late 1800’s houses and shops that have been turned into a constant place for entertainment.  Some of the worlds best Cajun cuisine, along with street musicians and jazz bands that play the specific style from this area.  The drummers, the singers, even the way people talk carry a rhythm around this area.

This picture is a long exposure of a street performing group that was playing upbeat New Orleans style jazz/funk.

Here is another band performing at night.  They were playing some great bluegrass/folk and the base drum was a suitcase!  It was the Mike Collins Jr. band, a traveling group that perform on the streets to make money.

One of the great things about the French Quarter is that it sits beside the mississippi river, which turns out is beautiful at night!  I made my way down to the river to see if I could get close to the water, and I had to watch out for a few river rats but other than that it was easy to get to.  As I started my panorama, an amateur photographer who I did not know walked into the frame, but I decided to shoot the picture to see how it turned out.  I liked the end result kept him in the picture during the edit. This picture is a 8 image panorama with a 24mm and then an added exposure of the rocks for light and focus, and the moon was shot at 200 mm.

Definitely a part of the city I would love to spend more time in, but it could quickly make any person broke because of the amazing food, great street performers, and music.  A beautiful area and probably my favorite city in the US.