"Pizza By The Slice - Bourbon Street Style"

"Pizza By The Slice - Bourbon Street Style"
© David A. Ziser

I captured this image last night while walking Bourbon Street one last time. My goal was to shoot with the Canon 8-15mm fisheye lens only and shoot everything in HDR (Art Vivid) mode on my Canon 5 D Mark lll.  I wondered around for about 2 hours walking up and down Bourbon Street looking for the right subject matter of my self imposed late night assignment.

The bright, rich colors and strong contrasts of this location seemed to be perfect for my assignment.  I stepped into the building and grabbed a few shots.  This one was my favorite.  What struck me about this image was the sense of loneliness about it.  Here we are in the middle of one of the rowdiest streets in the country - music blaring, the smell of stale beer and perspiration everywhere, the wild come-ons and colors everywhere, and in spite of this "neon peacock" location, only three people could be found inside.

The emptiness of this location I think echo's some of the emptiness some people wondering these streets might feel in their own souls. The chaos and shear din on Bourbon Street masks that out for these lonely souls.  But Like Dragnet's Joe Friday said so many years ago.  Every city has a story and every person in that city has a story too.  What are the stories to be told in this Bourbon Street neon electric bawdy colored bar/pizza parlor?

Camera specs: Canon 5 D Mark lll fitted with Canon 8-15mm fisheye lens at 15mm, F7.1 @1/400 second, ISO 6400.  Enjoy!  -David

"Dancing In The Streets"

"Dancing In The Streets"
© David A. Ziser

I made this image after our flight was delayed and the airlines put all 135 travelers up in Club Maeva, a favorite for the locals visiting Manzanillo over the weekend. The place was packed with energy, excitement, colors, aromas, people, food, and music. We were in the middle of a Mexican Festival!! The large plaza/outside area was set up to look like a Mexican town square. It was great to be in the middle of their party Saturday night. I found it to be the perfect time for me to try out those high ISO settings on the Nikon 3D I was testing - more on that in tomorrow's post. The energy of the crowd was everywhere and I think it shows in this image. The street band was rockin' and so was the crowd. I thing this image captured it perfectly. Camera specs; Nikon D3 fitted with 4-24mm lens at 14mm, F3.2 @ 1/40 second, ISO 3200. Enjoy! -David