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 ;)