The Story Behind the Image–Bourbon Street at Night

Bourbon Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

In recognition of Mardi Gras, here are some images I made a few years ago on Bourbon Street.  Certainly not as busy or as much activity as during Mardi Gras, but it gives you an idea of what Bourbon Street looks like.

I was in New Orleans attending a business conference.  I only brought my Nikon D700 and my Nikkor 35mm f/2 AF-D lens.  I thought that combination would be perfect for some Bourbon Street nighttime photography.  This image above was made at 1/400 second @ F/2.8 using ISO 1600.  The image below used the same settings except the shutter speed was 1/200 second.

Interestingly enough, people can openly drink in the street after purchasing beer or other libation in one of the establishments.  I was told this was the only place in New Orleans in which one is allowed to openly drink alcoholic beverages in the street.

"Huge Ass Beers" is the actual
name of the beer!

Another interesting note.  As a group of us walked up and down the street, there were topless dancers dancing on bars with the doors open to public view!  That was unexpected.










I don't think I saw much of anything on Bourbon Street that would be legal anywhere else in the United States.  It is a unique place.

That being said, there were a lot of people just enjoying themselves.  Almost every establishment that served food or drink also had live music.  Most, as you would expect, were jazz and blues bands, but there were also some rock and country bands.  Many of the storefronts opened to the streets and some of the bands were just inside the building next to the street.





I did want to record how downtown New Orleans looked.  Here is an image from my hotel room looking down on Canal Street.  The Mississippi River is in the background.

All in all, New Orleans is a very interesting place to visit.  Finally, a must visit place is the Café Du Monde for a hot cup of chickory or coffee and some Beignet doughnuts.  One piece of advice, don't wear dark clothes as the doughnuts have powdered sugar heaped on them!  But they are a treat.

Here is an image of two of the ladies who serve the customers taking a break.  I was told that a job at Café Du Monde was a good one and once you have it, you tend to want to keep it.

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!

Dennis Mook

Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com.  Please pay it a visit.  I add new images regularly.  Thank you.


All content on this blog is © 2014 Dennis A. Mook.  All Rights Reserved.  Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution.  Permission may be granted for commercial use.  Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.