The Soft Moon at One Eyed Jacks, New Orleans

This was one of those nights.

One of those evenings in which you wish you could fully pay attention and photograph something important, like a favorite band's performance. But when you're dancing your ass off, holding a lens in one hand and a camera in the other, making pictures becomes messy. 

Add whiskey. Add beer.

I admit that this wasn't my best work but it was a great memory. I hadn't danced that hard in a long time and hadn't seen The Soft Moon perform even longer. It was a perfect performance from beginning to end. Although One Eyed Jacks wasn't crowded, the people who were there erupted into a vibrating dance ritual that is usually reserved for the typical New Orleans jazz/funk fare. 

It was great seeing one of my favorite bands perform in my new city and seeing a lot of people discover music that is really special to me and to a lot of other people. 

Enjoy the photos.

The Last Week

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After a very short work trip and an amazing shoot with Brugal and an hour and a half of sleep, I rushed to St. Louis Cemetery #1 to get what I could today. The temperature sucked and the sky was gray but I was glad to get an extra couple hours to work.

Since I have only have a few days to shoot this project before the cemetery closes for good, I took out my Lensbaby kit to see what kind of inspiration would occur. Well, it worked. It helped me find a mood that would underline my theme of a "haunting portrait of the ruin, mystique and beauty...". 

So here's what I got today. In the photo directly below, I had my shutter open for about 25 seconds and caught this interesting, anomaly undoubtedly caused by something in the lens. Either way, it was a very nice, eerie effect. 

My goal for this project has been to create a unique photographic experience that takes the viewer through an intimate journey into the heart of New Orleans' oldest and one of its most unique cemeteries (Holt Cemetery is probably the other one that comes to mind as far as uniqueness). If you'd like more photos and info, click HERE.

Please feel free to forward any questions to info@carlosdetres.com. 

Thanks for visiting!

Day 2 of the St. Louis Cemetery #1 Project

I returned today to St. Louis Cemetery #1 to photograph as much of it as I can before it closes to the public on March 1, 2015 (you can still go with an Archdiocese approved tour guide). Since this may be my last chance to see it, I'm getting as much of it as I can. This is one of my favorite places to visit in my new home city of New Orleans but unfortunately some sick, twisted vandals and thieves decided to piss all over the city's heritage by kicking head stones, ripping through brick, grave rob, desecrate old tombs, etc. 

My goal with this project is to photograph the beauty of St. Louis Cemetery #1. Much like its host city, it's beautiful, dilapidated and full of character and history. Here are a few of the several hundred shots I did today (I still have at least two more days to fulfill my goal of covering nearly every ground). 

P.S. I wrote more details about the closure of St. Louis Cemetery over HERE. 

PHOTOS ARE COPYRIGHTED 2015. If you'd like to reuse these images, please email info@carlosdetres.com.