Leica adventure: Chapter 1 New Orleans (Day 1)

I've been in an airplane for a total of 20 hours now, that's how long the journey is for me to reach America. This time its New Orleans. I could not get my eyes to open, i slept the whole time on my way to New Orleans from Seattle. I remember waking up and this lady looking out of the window, looking at all these white icy lands. I believe that is Colorado Springs. It was beautiful but i was sitting at the aisle, i didn't get a really good look of it but i was too sleepy as well to stay awake. Probably jet lag kicking in. I brought my Leica M8 that i acquired late last year for this trip. This is the start of my Leica adventure.

Upon landing New Orleans, it was already dark and it was cold about 7 degrees celsius, probably warm for some but me coming from an all day summer country, this is totally different. I forgot to bring my jacket which is annoying and only have a flannel shirt which is pretty much thin. I can see my breathe.

I've checked in at Loews hotel and i avoid myself going to sleep, it was just 7pm, i dont want to get jet lag, so i've decided to go to the nearest mall, the Riverwalk Outlet Mall. It was damn quiet. It was like nobody were there. As i explore the mall, there it was, the legendary Cafe Du Monde. Sweet! Its here in the mall. I thought i had to walk down to French Quarter which is 15 min walk from my hotel. Of course i had to get and try the famous Beignet.

And my first bite of the Beignet, i'm a believer. It was just out of the deep fryer , it's super hot and the butter melts inside. Combines with the powder icing sugar, it was amazing. Its best paired with coffee. At this moment i have yet taken out my Leica M8.

It was not until i reached Bourbon Street that i decided to get my M8 out of the bag and have a go. Bourbon street was similar to Vegas but less grander. Neon lights, long straight street, just like Downtown Vegas.

 M8 works well in black and white they say

 I think colors are fine too

 The 15mm is wide, i had to crop some pictures and still the M8 with its 10Mp is more than enough

 The M8 paired with the 15mm Voigtlander is sharp.

 I love taking pictures of alleys

 Huge Ass Beers!

 Another alley shot

Canal Street, edges of french quarter 

 There are lots of these guys, a dollar a block

Hop in a bar and enjoy some music

I think the M8 fared well in low light, most of the shots were in either 1/15s or 1/20s, the slowest i'd go was at 1/8s and i used max auto iso at iso 640. most of the pictures are pushed at an extra stop. Noisy sure as hell if you pixel peep but at normal view, it didn't really make the pictures unwatchable? Is that the word? Well what i'm trying to say is its fine. Print these at 4R 5R should come good. And these are at f4.5. A faster lens should perform well but then if you shoot wide open you had to deal with depth of field, which in my case, i did not have to worry as f4.5 is sharp by 1meter onwards. I used my M8 just like a point and shoot, i have to guess the composition as i dont have the external viewfinder, mostly shot at f4.5 and auto shutter.

Bourbon street is noisy and a tourist place, so people dont really mind me shooting away although i refrain myself from shooting a candid portrait as i dont want to cause a stir. This place is also full of hobos, they might not be comfortable of me taking their photos or at least they wanted me to tip them. Remember i said about New Orleans being dangerous and stuffs, forget what i said, this is just like any normal city, there will be trouble if you're looking for it otherwise you are safe. although a local did tell me not to stroll the city at night alone.