New Camera in an Old Place

While the rest of New Orleans was partying it up for Mardi Gras, I was on the other side of the Mississippi working on my photography. For this shoot I was in downtown Gretna, Louisiana; close to the Mississippi River. Most of my shots were taken either on the levee, the old railroad, or the town square. With it being Sunday, and with Mardi Gras going on, the place was completely empty. Aside from a few old couples enjoying the sunset, I was completely alone out there. 

For most of this shoot I felt a little rushed, with it being late in the afternoon and all. It was sort of like a challenge. With the sun setting I only had a little bit of time to shoot. You get better pictures at sunset but at the same time you only have a small window to get those great shots. It's like sacrificing beauty for time. That make sense?

 

Anyway for these blog posts I wanted to start focusing on the things I learned during these shooting projects. That way rookies like me can learn from my experiences and hopefully share things with me. 

I think I learned three things from this trip:

1.) You get good shots at either sunrise or sunset. So learn to wake up early, and watch how late it's getting.
2.) Don't be afraid to shoot in front of people. Most likely they don't even care.
3.) Take your time and wait for the shot. (I found that most of the shots I planned and waited for came out better as opposed to the ones I just snapped away at.)


Oh and make due with what you have. You don't have to have the most expensive camera or gear to take good shots. Just go out with what you got and start learning. Sure having new stuff is nice, but I think you'll become better if you can push what you have to its limits.

  I feel that the picture on the left is one of the best shots I have ever taken. This little dock area was gated off and I was in an area of the ferry terminal that was somewhat restricted. I got this shot by sticking my lens through a chain link gate.








This is one of the couples I was talking about earlier. They just seemed to be enjoying the sunset together. I thought about asking them if I could take a picture but then I thought "hey they're in public, it's ok"
So I took a few when they weren't looking.

These three came out a lot better than expected. I found a little mini levee in the first one which I thought was pretty cool. I was tempted to walk across but I didn't want to risk it. The second one is pretty plain. A family flying their kites nearby made me think of love, so that's what I ended up writing. It was either that or "I farted". Yeah the one I chose came out better.
And the last one, well what can I say. Oh yeah I can say AMERICA F**K YEAH!!!  *:world police song in background:* 

                                         (>'.')>
                                         Look at that!

(\ /)
( . .)            
c('')('')           














I would have liked to have gone to Mardi Gras with my camera but I'm not quite comfortable taking my camera into such large crowds just yet. It was weird knowing that just on the other side of that river; people were experiencing the most wonderful and unique part of New Orleans. And there were women flashing their boobies. lol "HEY! THERE'LL BE NONE OF THAT HERE!" ....................boobies lol    ;)