Beale Street; barbecue, blues, and bands

Memphis is a city known for the blues and it's barbecue. But it also has a variety of blues bands that pour quality music into the night air. A trip to Memphis is a failure without at least one trip to Beale Street. The food is a culinary treat with a variety that satisfies a wide range of tastes. The atmosphere is captivating, engaging, and it transports you to another time and place. It is a great place to visit afternoon or evening, it is a little sleepy in the morning.

JUST CLICK ON ANY OF THE PHOTOS AND THEY WILL ENLARGE AND YOU CAN VIEW THEM AS A SLIDE STRIP.

The ambiance is great and the buildings have charm of fifty to seventy-five years ago

You can catch a ride in a carriage

Listen to an open air concert in the park

Sometimes there are car shows

People everywhare

Window shop and reflect

Is he mean-mugging my camera

No, it's just curiosity. But when it gets dark, Beale Street comes to life like no other street. It is this way year round, spring, summer, fall and winter.

The atmosphere changes and color and lights take over

The businesses light up awaiting the crowds of tourists and friends

You can visit B.B. Kings for great food and musical fun

At night it is most definitely the place to be

"Down Main-street" Looking up and looking down

Main-street is a great place to visit. I visited on a Monday afternoon and most people were at work. It was quiet and peaceful, a great place to sit and roam.

Main-street and Court

What a beautifully ornate and colorful facade

Love is in the air

Fall colors add to the beauty

Wonderful Architectural Detail

Street Vendors

Looking up

An occasional photographer

Thank you for strolling down Main-street with me. We will return another day.

My final trip of the year to Mud Island River Park with a new toy

I don't know why they shut Mud Island River Park down during the fall, winter and early spring. I wished it were open all year round with the possible exception of occasional ice and snow storms. First off, I love going over there in the afternoon and sitting by the far south concession stand. It seems to me to be one of those power spots that exist all over the globe. It is so restful, and it is also cosmically charged.

Anyway, this final trip allowed me to try out my new sigma 60mm 2.8 Art Lens. I really like it. It is great for portraits but I also like the detail and compression that you get shooting landscapes and street scenes with it. So here are the results of the shoot, oh, by the way, I plan on getting the 30mm 2.8 and the 19mm 2.8 also. They are a set so I have a shot here with my kit lens at 18mm, and another at 31mm just to get an idea of the width of the angle.

This one is with the 60mm 2.8. I really like the compression I am sitting on a bench near the south pavillion and it is about 1/2 mile across part of the river to the buildings and Riverside Drive.

This one is at 18mm with my kit lens to get a feel for what the angle width of the 19mm 2.8 Sigma would be like.

This one is at 31mm on my kit lens to assimilate the 30mm 2.8 Sigma

The reason that I want to get the 19mm and 30mm 2.8 Sigma Art lens is that they are really good glass at a very reasonable price.. They are around $200 US and they have sharp detail all the way to the 5600 width of my 1.5 crop ASP-C in my Sony A3000. The kit lens, I have to resize to no more than 2100 X 1400 to keep the kind of crisp detail that I can live with.

The rest including the above photo is from the 60mm lens. Here I am sitting in my power spot loving the afternoon!

Finally, below is one that shows what fall is doing to the trees. I was sitting on a bench resting reading to make my way to the Jeep. 

Now I am saying goodbye to Mud Island River Park until next April, that is unless someone with pull can get a group of us on the island after dark with our tripods ;)

Fall, Halloween, and Cemeteries; A visit to Elmwood

Of course, this is the time of year that cemeteries become popular. Memphis has one of the best in the nation. It is still in use but very old. This cemetery provides the photographer with great images to share and view. This is a must see stop if you can spend any time in Memphis at all.

It lends itself to monochrome photography

Majestic Angels Loom Over the Grounds as Guardians

Seraphim everywhere

As well as flying cherubim  

Weathered copper and the texture of concrete and stone

Conventional stately tombstones as well

This is a great place to visit in the winter also with the leaves gone from the trees. I'll be sure to make a trip back when the leaves are gone and the sky is grey.

Vito Acconci Sculpture Poplar & Front St

In 2004 The Cannon Center Plaza was graced with a mirrored sculpture by the Vito Acconci Studio. Its title is "Roof Like A Liquid Flung Over The Plaza." It is a weird looking sculpture that sometimes is almost obnoxious and at the same time with other views is incredibly beautiful. Here it is as photographed in the daytime.

This is a view of the entire structure

The reflections make this an ever changing canvas of color, shape, line and form

Each view offers a different look, but all are beautiful abstractions

Color shape and form that is not repeated through out the sculpture

always interesting visual experience

each view changing

until it transforms into the one eyed head of an other worldly monster

Only to revert back to a sculpture at the Cannon Center for the Arts.

Soon we will return at night and catch it as it gets dark and see what the lights of the city and the lights of the sculpture do to it.

An Introductory Look at Meeman Shelby State Forest Park

Just north of I-40 near the river is a large forest, thousands of acres of woodland that is designated as Meeman-Shelby State Forest. Within the Forest is Meeman-Shelby State Park. It has several lakes for fishing, trails for hiking, an air-conditioned pavilion, a disc golf course and tons and tons of peace, quiet and wildlife.

Yes, snowfall is rare in Memphis but yes, it does happen from time to time and I caught it one time in Meeman-Shelby State Park

My wifes family had a reunion in Memphis this last summer and this pavillion is bigger than it looks in this photo. It is a great place to have an outing and really reasonable. We rented it for the day for a little over $200.00

Back to the snow again. This is a winter view of one of the lakes.

This is a summer view of the lake. It is called Poplar Tree Lake

Above is two more views of Popular Tree Lake

From time to time we will take other looks at this beautiful place. I have a photographer friend that has visited here in the fall and does a really nice job. Perhaps I can get her to share some of her images of the park.