Braving Tropical Storms For A Few Photos
I had always wanted to visit New Orleans, but the idea of a hurricane has always scared the living daylight out of me. I was nervous and apprehensive about going to New Orleans and crossing it off my bucket list as I knew August was still officially hurricane season. Since I did go in late August it was towards the end of storm season and somewhat safe. Keeping an eye on weather reports, my friend and I made our way down to one of the most haunted cities in the world. We didn’t see any hurricanes, but there was a tropical storm in full force over New Orleans when we got there. Umbrella-less, we felt like we were drowning and quickly sought shelter.
One of my dreams as a photographer has always been taking pictures at one of these gorgeous cemeteries. I’ve always loved eerie New Orleans cemetery pictures, and I’ve wanted to try my hand at taking some myself. I was hoping for sunny skies, but in retrospect I see that the storm did me a huge favor.
I had been waiting for better weather, but time and daylight was running out so we braved out with a huge umbrella, camera equipment in plastic bags, and rain-ponchos to protect us from the elements. Outside of tourist season and on a Saturday, the few cemeteries still open were close to closing time. We had less than ten minutes at the Cypress Grove Cemetery, and the rain it was down to a light drizzle. Safe enough to pop out my camera for a few minutes. The heavy clouds gave my photos that eerie feeling I was after, though I do wish I’d had more than just a few minutes there and barely enough time to shoot less than 15 frames.
New Orleans goes back on my wish list of places to visit simply because I didn’t have anywhere enough time to play there. There were a lot more places I wanted to visit and photograph. I did however manage to visit a psychic, who was phony by the way, she asked me for my birth date and proceeded to give me a general outline of my zodiac sign. And when I asked specific questions, she had no answers. I think she got a little nervous around me and she knew I’d figured out her game. That was a wasted 20 bucks.
What was fun was the ghost tour we signed up for. It was interesting to walk around the French Quarter and listen to the guide from a historic perspective. And the ghost stories he told didn’t hurt either. Overall one of my more memorable trips but I wished I’d had more time. There’s just never enough time.
