Street Photography in New Orleans

Royal Street is the daytime street. Parts of it close to cars during the day, and buskers set up in the road. Bourbon Street is the night street, with neon signs and drinkers holding novelty cups. Walk Royal and Chartres early for empty balconies and soft light on painted walls. Come back to Bourbon after dark and shoot up at the balconies, with people leaning over the rails. Caution: musicians expect a tip if you stop and shoot them, and Bourbon gets rowdy late at night.

Frenchmen Street in the Marigny is where locals go for live music. Bands play in small clubs with the doors open, and the sound and the crowd spill onto the sidewalk. Street bands often play on the corners. Come after 8pm. The light is from club signs and doorways, so shoot a fast 35mm wide open and push the ISO. Stand across the street from an open door and frame the band inside with the sidewalk crowd in front. The night art market nearby adds lit stalls. Caution: tip the band if you shoot them for long.

Painters hang their work on the square's iron fence, and tarot readers set up folding tables. St. Louis Cathedral sits behind it all. Sunrise gives you an empty square with soft light on the cathedral. Midday gives you the characters. Stand back and use the cathedral as a pale backdrop behind a performer, or frame a tarot reading tight across the table. Cafe Du Monde is across Decatur Street for beignet crowds and powdered sugar. Caution: ask before shooting a reader's client close up.

Magazine Street runs for miles through Uptown, lined with small shops and old houses. On a normal day it is a calm neighborhood street with colorful storefronts and porch life. On parade days it changes completely. The Irish Channel St. Patrick's parade in March uses it, and crowds pack the sidewalks. Shoot from the curb as floats and marchers pass, with the crowd reaching up in the foreground. The Garden District is a short walk away for more color. Caution: parade crowds are dense, so keep the camera strapped on.

Canal is the wide main street between the French Quarter and the business district. Red streetcars run down the middle, and bus stops and hotel doors keep people moving. Eric Kim's workshops spend most of their time here. The street is wide, so light floods it in the afternoon. Try framing a rider in a streetcar window, or catch pedestrians crossing in front of the red cars. Carnival parades reach Canal too, so it fills up during the season. Caution: some blocks are rough after dark, so stay near the busy stretch.

Treme is one of the oldest Black neighborhoods in America and a heart of the second line. Social aid and pleasure clubs parade most Sundays for much of the year, with a brass band and hundreds of followers. Members wear matching suits with fans and parasols. Routes are published in advance. Shoot the dancers in the second line, not just the club members. Bruce Sunpie Barnes of the Black Men of Labor puts it simply: get your shot and get out of the way. Caution: never cross the rope lines around the club.