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New Orleans

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If you want to capture the flavour of the US Deep South (especially with your camera) New Orleans, Louisiana is the ideal destination. Known affectionately as 'The Big Easy' it has plenty to see, and photograph.

New Orleans conjures up images of Hot Cajun cooking, Voodoo, the Bayou, Mardis Gras, Dixieland Jazz and Blues, Southern Ladies, and Southern Hospitality. All you need is to do those images justice on film - and that is not difficult, photo opportunities abound.

New Orleans is a fun town. Not like Vegas where Sin is condoned behind locked doors but where, instead, it is celebrated with open doors and lots of noise! The heart of the fun, and the red light district with its Topless and Bottomless bars, is Bourbon St.

Bourbon St is the main night time party area and the famous French Quarters’ main artery. It is a place that throbs with a cacophony of Karaoke bars, blues clubs, and discos. There is a carnival atmosphere year round. The street is awash with revelers and the occasional taxis that thread slowly through them looking for fares.

Most of the buildings on Bourbon St have beautiful cast iron balconies, which is the ideal place to watch the action from whilst taking in a beer!

Paradise Isle corner Bourbon St, French Quarter

Don't be intimidated by the thought of large crowds. Like most large US inner cities New Orleans has crime problems but I felt safe there even with all my expensive photo gear in sight, even at night. And, although the entertainment inside the bars is distinctly adult, it is not unusual to see families with children on the street at night soaking up the atmosphere too.

A walk down Bourbon Street in the day is also a photo must-do. The atmosphere is totally different. You can get some more great shots of the balconied houses, bars and shops that the French Quarter is famous for. The area, unlike other downtown areas in US cities, is lived in.

The architecture of the French Quarter is very familiar and typical Deep South. It has been captured in so many movies. For example do you remember the opening of the James Bond film where Roger Moore gets tangled up in a Jazz Funeral procession along its narrow streets? Indeed, there is even a bar called Jazz Funeral in Bourbon St.

A walk south from any of the cross streets on Bourbon Street will take you to the Mississippi river and another photographic hotspot, Jackson Square, a magnet for tourists and some outrageous locals.

Even the Panhandlers have a sense of humor in New Orleans. You often get approached by people trying to 'give you a ticket' for looking too serious. The street entertainers too are in a class of their own and provide a wealth of photo subjects in Jackson Square. They range from Dixieland jazz musicians who just turn up and jam to Unicycling, escapologist jugglers. Elaborate break dance routines are performed by organized troupes in regular time slots. There is a culture of street entertainment that is so polished it could be described as the Last Vaudeville Show. There are also loads of people who just stand around looking ridiculous for the tourists (like the hippy guitarist who couldn't play) but the better ones (like the Angel) are genuine performance art.

Think of New Orleans and you think of the Mississippi. It is a BIG river. It drains two thirds of the land mass of the United States.

Bourbon Street sign with lamp and red ribbon

New Orleans is one of the busiest ports in the world, with tankers carrying flags from far flung exotic nations queuing at moorings for miles along its banks.

There is only one true Steamboat left on the river, and it plys a trade taking passengers on short trips to Booregard House, the site of the decisive battle to throw the English out of America. This is arguably the singlemost defining point in history for the American character.

The story of that battle is one of a series of disasters that befell the British especially for their commander, one General Hurlingham, who had an extremely bad hair day (he was killed!).

The trouble began when the British, who had been preoccupied beating all the other opposition, decided that Napoleon (who they had also just beaten) had acted illegally when selling Louisiana and they would take it back, thank you very much!

Before the battle of New Orleans the British had previously successfully attacked and burned Washington in the North but found sterner opposition in the South. The American army was little more than a rabble: mostly local merchants, woodsmen, and vagabonds, but they had a brilliant leader - Senator called General Jackson.

The British only fought one particular way - with conventional battlefield strategy of the time. Jackson took advantage of this.

When the British landed Jackson, who swore they would not spend a night on American soil, did a very ungentlemanly thing - he attacked them at night, something they did not know how to defend against.

The British also had inordinate bad luck and suffered a series of blunders. For example, boats with part of the force and weaponry were supposed to be floated up the Mississippi but were caught on swampy ground by the tides.

When the two armies finally faced up the British artillery fired but the recoil pushed the naval style guns (with small, deck wheels) backward to fire into the sky. Many birds were killed!

The Americans were outnumbered but stood and fired at the British. These guys came from where one shot counted - it meant dinner! They also had the bad manners to shoot the British officers who were easily identified by their uniforms and without whom the British Infantry was lost.

When the smoke cleared there were 2,000 British dead or wounded and just 13 Americans - and it all happened in the time that it just took you to read about it! The British and Americans have been allies ever since.

I don't think what's left of the battlefield provides many good photographic subjects but it was a nice day out, I got to know a neat bit of History, and shot some stock images of the steamboat and the river on the way!

The other place to visit of architectural interest in New Orleans is the Garden District. This is also a good area to stay with many hotels along the main street. This area has much charm, even if it does suffer from dirty streets. The buildings are mixed in style.

Be sure to shoot the trolley cars that run along the center of the streets. There is even a café built to look like a trolley car (called the Trolley car of course) in the Garden district and I can recommend it for breakfasts! It is where the locals eat, especially the cops, so you can guarantee a good meal (and a picture of squad cars outside).

I only scratched the surface photographically in the three days I was there. Such a short break is enough to cover the city if you get the weather. But, if I had another couple of days, I would have done an airboat tour of the Bayou and perhaps shot some wildlife (mostly Alligators). Next time!