scenes around the French Quarter

On Friday I had an early morning meeting with a client in the beautiful courtyard of her hotel in the French Quarter. The weather was so warm & the air so inviting, that I decided to do some wandering around the French Market. I bought a handmade hair piece from an artist, then the breeze of the river enticed me for a walk along its levee.

Musicians on the Mississippi River

From there the smells of chicory coffee & the smiles of the giddy tourists guided me to the corner of Cafe du Monde.

Cafe du Monde

I then followed my ears to the beats of Young Fellaz Brass Band playing on Decauter St.. I danced a little, smiled a lot, took some shots (the camera type), tipped of course, and then went on my way to see what other surprises & entertainment awaited me in the French Quarter.

Young Fellaz Brass Band

I stopped at a Community Coffee for a cafe au lait & to spend a couple hours catching up on business.  An oyster po-boy for lunch, with a mocha almond ice cream daiquiri for dessert, mmm…yummy! Then time to walk it off with some window shopping on Royal St., where I found Tanner’s amazing paintings that are now added to my fine art wish list.  Below is a picture I took through the gallery’s window, be sure to check out their website to see some of his work.

New Orleans artist - Tanner

From there I headed to my favorite spot in the Quarter, Jackson Square.  I chatted with a few street artists in the square, particularly Sher Stewart, who greatly enjoyed talking to me about Denver. She doesn’t have a website or email, but was very happy to know that her picture would be shown on my blog on the internet, as she hopes it will bring more people to find & purchase from her in person.

New Orleans street artist in Jackson Square

Spring is a popular time of year for tourists & festivals in New Orleans.   The street artists, musicians, and horse buggy drivers take full advantage of the increase of people in town.  Musicians could be found on every street corner, including the unique sounds of The Jaded Optimists below.

Locals decorate their doors & homes in sometimes some quite unusual & unexpected ways.  And everywhere you turn in the French Quarter music is celebrated.  Below is the monthly line up at Balcony Music Club & one resident’s uniquely decorated doorway.

photography of the French Quarter

Pictures around the French Quarter in New Orleans

I finally headed back to my car, but not before one last detour. I walked past the R Bar & saw that they were hosting a free crawfish boil! So I decided I could hang around for another hour or so to take advantage of that. I took one more cafe break to catch up with some photo editing, then headed to the R Bar for a plate of hot boiled crawfish & an Abita beer. I don’t know if anything could have made this work day in the Quarter any better. Life is good.
To see more pictures of this stroll through the French Quarter, go to Nicole Nichols Photography Facebook Page.
Signed limited edition prints of my New Orleans fine art photography can also be purchased online.

Mardi Gras day on Frenchmen St.

Mardi Gras Costumes in the French Quarter

This is my first Mardi Gras not being home in NOLA, kinda sad, but trying to enjoy the day regardless, & teaching Coloradans the meaning of “laissez les bon temps rouler!”

If you have never been to Mardi Gras, definitely put it on your bucket list!  Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to flash to get beads, are there are many other places to party then just Bourbon St.  My favorite area is always Frenchmen St. where the costumes are true works of art, the musicians are playing everywhere, there’s dancing in the streets, and more to see and do then you know what to do with.  Here’s a taste of some of my favorite pictures of Mardi Gras day in downtown New Orleans.
To order a fine art print of these images or other New Orleans & Mardi Gras favorites check out my New Orleans Prints available for purchase online.

Frenchmen St. costumes

Spirit of the South

Above is the slideshow I made of last year’s Mardi Gras, which was one of the most amazing carnivals ever, following the Saints win of the Superbowl.  You can see many more of my collection of Mardi Gras pictures & even purchase a print to remember the festivities all year.

All New Orleans Fine Art Prints are Buy One Get One Free Now Through September 30

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?
It’s hard to believe that five years ago I was huddled around a radio praying with friends I had evacuated with, waiting to hear if we had a home- or city- to return to. In honor of the fascinating, resilient, uniquely European city, all of my New Orleans fine art prints are buy one, get one free! Purchase one for yourself, and get one free to pass on to the stranger that gave you shelter when you evacuated, to that local that invited you into their home for Mardi Gras, or that college buddy that has never missed a Jazz Fest.   Remind someone, or yourself, of what it means to miss New Orleans.
Second prints must be of the same image. (You will not see special when ordering online but rest assured 2 prints will be delivered, please contact with questions)

Share your love with the Gulf & WIN this print!

The Gulf oil spill is worse then Valdez and will take years if not decades to recover.  It is farewell for a while for Gulf shrimp and sniff…oysters. =(  Growing up in New Orleans, Pensacola Beach, FL, (pictured below) was a favorite annual vacation spot. Along with many other treasured Gulf area beaches, Pensacola has had to deal with oily shorelines, resulting in beach closures, loss of tourist revenue, and dead marine life.   I recently donated a couple pieces of my fine art photography to CHSL to raise funds for this disaster.  Are you a fan of the Gulf Coast? Leave a comment below by Aug 25th answering   “What do YOU love the most about the Gulf?”
My favorite response will win this limited edition signed 8×10 print.
Support Coastal Heritage Society of Louisiana.

The video option on my new camera, the  Nikon D300s, has been exciting to play with.  I couldn’t resist taking it out for Lauren & Seth’s wedding 2nd line parade.  Following their wedding ceremony at Jackson Square, the bride & groom surprised their guests when a local New Orleans band showed up to lead the group into a second line parade around the French Quarter and to their dinner location at Galatoire’s.  I still have so much to learn when it comes to video, and certainly don’t intend for it to at all interfere with my photography, but I’m just excited for this new element of technology that now exists on my D300s.
Oh, and if you are a fan of The Real World New Orleans on MTV, then be sure to look on the wall of their mansion for my fine art photography (found in 2 of the bedrooms…ooh la la).   Limited edition prints from my New Orleans art series can be found online here, or you can find the actual pieces from the set now hanging at First Cup Cafe, located a few blocks away from TRW house in New Orleans.

If you’re in New Orleans you must check out the Burlesque for the Bayou fundraiser this Saturday night July 31st at the Howlin Wolf.  It looks to be a fun night, and what could be better then burlesque for a good cause?!

I, along with a few other artists & friends of CHSL, have donated art & goods to be sold in auction to help raise funds for the Coastal Heritage Society of Louisiana.  Their latest project is to raise enough money to have the rain water tested – which the EPA has so far refused to test even after several requests.  The CHSL is determined to do it themselves through a lab in NY who will test rain water for vocs and chemicals related to the oil spill.  The following fine art photographs will be auctioned off at the fundraiser:

For those of you unable to go to New Orleans to participate I will be hosting an online auction as well.  The image below of Pensacola Beach, FL…which was and still is my favorite beach vacation spot, has had to deal with oily beaches, forcing beach closures and lots of dead sea life.   I will be auctioning this signed limited edition matted 8×10 print off to the highest bidder.  Bidding starts at $20…any takers???  If interested just leave a comment below with your bid & either e-mail or telephone number.

With the Saints Superbowl win, Mardi Gras was even livelier then ever this year!  Carnival time in New Orleans means weeks of parades and days of parties, which all lead up to the big finale of Fat Tuesday.    This is the day I actually drink the least because other then my liver begging for mercy, it’s the best day for pictures and alcohol does not mix well with a heavy expensive camera.  Some people shy away from the crowded French Quarter, but in my opinion this is the place to be!  The costumes are true works of art, the musicians are playing everywhere, there’s dancing in the streets, and more to see and do then you know what to do with.  Here’s a taste of some of my favorite pictures of Mardi Gras day in downtown New Orleans, from Bourbon St. to Frenchmen St.
To order a fine art print of these images or other New Orleans & Mardi Gras favorites check out my New Orleans Online Art Gallery.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

I am so excited to be working with a designer out of  Los Angeles who is redesigning the Omni Hotel in New Orleans.  They are planning on using some of my fine art images of New Orleans to decorate the hotel, but its been a slow process for a few months now as they go back and forth with the owner trying to decide on the right images.  I was hoping my art would be up by Halloween when I photographed a wedding in New Orleans and the couple stayed at the Omni, but that didn’t happen.  I now have another wedding coming up in March where the bride will also be staying at the Omni in the French Quarter.  So hopefully by then the redesigning will be done and I can get some portraits of the bride in front of my huge photographs, wouldn’t that be sweet?!!  So wish me luck that it all works out, below are my newest photographs of New Orleans taken last month, some of which are being considered for the Omni.

To view more of my photographs and purchase limited edition prints of New Orleans Fine Art Photography please go to: http://www.neworleansphotos.photoherald.com/

Art and photography are my passions and when I’m not busy shooting weddings or editing portraits I can often be found scoping art galleries or working on my own fine art images. Sometimes its tricky to get into shows out of state because the gallery owners often require the artists to be there for the opening plus there’s the cost of shipping heavy and fragile framed pieces. But lucky for me I happened to have weddings booked in New Orleans for 2 recent shows. The first one was a “Push Pin” show (no framing – yea!) and I had the pleasure of hanging my abstract nature images below.

Fall Kaleidoscope

Louisiana Swamps

An Aspen View

Push Pin show (Yes those are wigs, No it wasn't Mardi Gras)

Me at the PushPin show (photo by my sister)

For the 2nd show I was back in New Orleans for another wedding and one of my pictures was recently selected for the juried show “Forever Hold Your Peace” also held by the New Orleans Photo Alliance. I still remember the moment I snapped this photo. I was photographing a wedding at the Chateaux in Broomfield, Colorado. The flower girl was very antsy and running around showing off how she could cross her eyes. It was time for photos and it took a bridesmaid and a mother’s persuasion to get this girl to wear her headpiece. You can view more of the images from this show by going to: http://www.neworleansphotoalliance.com/

Uncooperative Flowergirl