A Moody View of the French Quarter in New Orleans

Cloudy Mood

When we visited the French Quarter in New Orleans after our 2016 Cruise to Mexico, it was a cloudy, overcast day. And then the rain came, making it even more cloudy and gray. I thought the processing of this photo from the French Quarter captured well the mood of the day. Yes, it did not quite look as ominous as this photo might make it seem, but I really liked how this turned out.

I was trying to get some of the distinctive lamp posts and street signs in a few of my photos, and this one was the one that I liked the best. If you are in a place that has something unique, you might as well highlight that in a photo, right?

Different Party People

As I have mentioned before, we are probably not your normal French Quarter visitors. Our idea of a party is probably not the same as what most visitors there have in mind. So our main goals of visiting the French Quarter were to see some interesting architecture and a little bit of history. We went early in the day, and we accomplished both of those goals. It was fine for us, and we enjoyed our time there. Except maybe for getting soaked by the rain. But we dried off later on, so it was all good.

Different things for different people. That’s what makes the world what it is.

See more from this trip in the 2016 Cruise to Mexico Trip Report.

Bible Verse

I will give You thanks with all my heart; I will sing Your praise before the heavenly beings. - Psalm 138:1

About the photo

As you might guess, the fisheye lens was quite helpful for this photo. That lens was the best way to get the lamp and street signs in the photo along with the actual street. I liked the perspective of looking up at the lamp post from down below. The only problem was finding a suitable lamp post that did not have something else right beside it blocking the view of the streets. This one fit the bill perfectly. So if you were wondering, there is no special significance to this street corner except for the empty space around the lamp post.

For processing, I used one of the Color Efex Pro 4 presets of the Nik Collection plugins for Photoshop that looked interesting. I then modified the color settings slightly to suit my taste. I really liked the look this gave, especially to the clouds above the buildings.

Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips. Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10 Lens: Rokinon 7.5mm f/3.5 Fisheye Lens Date: July 22, 2016 Location: French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana