Sugar coated

Somebody had fun with the eating treats!

My brother Hank and his wife Cathy were in New Orleans Saturday. So after we picked them up from the airport we headed to our favorite place -- Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter for....... you guessed it, beignets. My sister, Sue, and husband, Bob, joined us along with our niece, Svara, who is pictured here. You can see the evidence that she enjoyed the powdered sugar coated treats.

Anyway it's Theme Day on City Daily Photos and always more that 140 different blogs have been participating. The theme for June 1 is "our local shop" -- this is mine. It's not a picture of the shop, just kind of capture of how much fun it is to go there.

-- steve buser

Take a look around at these other City Daily Photo blogs participating in Theme Day for June 1

Adelaide, Australia by Gordon, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey by afyonblog, Albuquerque (NM), USA by Helen, American Fork (UT), USA by Annie, Anderson (SC), USA by Lessie, Ararat, Australia by Digger, Arradon, France by Alice, Ashton under Lyne, UK by Pennine, Aspen (CO), USA by IamMBB, Athens, Greece by Debbie, Auckland, New Zealand by Lachezar, Austin (TX), USA by LB, Avignon, France by Nathalie, Barrow-in-Furness, UK by Enitharmon, Barton (VT), USA by Andree, Belgrade, Serbia by Bibi, Belgrade, Serbia by BgdPic, Bellefonte (PA), USA by Barb-n-PA, Bicheno, Australia by Greg, Bogor, Indonesia by Gagah, Boston (MA), USA by Sarah, Whit, & Leyre, Brookville (OH), USA by Abraham, Bucharest, Romania by Malpraxis, Budapest, Hungary by Zannnie and Zsolt, Budapest, Hungary by agrajag, Buenos Aires, Argentina by Karine, Canterbury, UK by Rose, Cape Town, South Africa by Kerry-Anne, Cavite, Philippines by Steven Que, Chandler (AZ), USA by Melindaduff, Château-Gontier, France by Laurent, Chateaubriant, France by Bergson, Cheltenham, UK by Marley, Chennai, India by Shantaram, Chennai, India by Ram N, Chicago (IL), USA by U R us, Cleveland (OH), USA by iBlowfish, Coral Gables (FL), USA by Jnstropic, Corsicana (TX), USA by Lake Lady, Durban, South Africa by CrazyCow, Edinburgh, UK by Dido, Evry, France by Olivier, Folkestone, UK by Clare Unsworth, Forks (WA), USA by Corinne, Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA by Gigi, Gainesville (FL), USA by Leah, Geneva (IL), USA by Kelly, Glasgow, Scotland by Jackie, Greenville (SC), USA by Denton, Gun Barrel City (TX), USA by Lake Lady, Hamilton, New Zealand by Sakiwi, Hangzhou, China by Chanin, Haninge, Sweden by Steffe, Helsinki, Finland by Kaa, Hobart, Australia by Greg, Hyde, UK by Old Hyde, Hyde, UK by Gerald, Jackson (MS), USA by Halcyon, Jefferson City (MO), USA by Chinamom2005, Jogjakarta, Indonesia by Jogja Portrait, Katonah (NY), USA by Inkster1, Knoxville (TN), USA by Knoxville Girl, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by Edwin, Kyoto, Japan by Tadamine, Larchmont (NY), USA by Marie-Noyale, Las Vegas (NV), USA by Mo, Le Guilvinec, France by ds2944, Lisbon, Portugal by Maria João, Lisbon, Portugal by Sailor Girl, Lodz, Poland by ritalounge, London, UK by Ham, London, UK by Mo, Los Angeles (CA), USA by Martha Perez, Mainz, Germany by JB, Manila, Philippines by Heyokity, Melbourne, Australia by John, Memphis (TN), USA by SouthernHeart, Menton, France by Jilly, Mexico City, Mexico by Poly, Mexico City, Mexico by Carraol, Minneapolis (MN), USA by Greg, Minneapolis (MN), USA by Mitch, Misawa, Japan by misawa mama, Monroe (GA), USA by Tanya, Monte Carlo, Monaco by Jilly, Montego Bay, Jamaica by Ann, Monterrey, Mexico by rafa, Moscow, Russia by Irina, Mumbai, India by MumbaiiteAnu, Mumbai, India by Magiceye, Nancy, France by yoshi, Nashville (TN), USA by Chris, Nelson, New Zealand by Meg and Ben, New Delhi, India by Delhi Photo Diary, New Orleans (LA), USA by steve buser, New York City (NY), USA by Ming the Merciless, New York City (NY), USA by • Eliane •, Norwich, UK by Goddess888, Oklahoma City (OK), USA by ananda.tashie, Orlando (FL), USA by OrlFla, Oslo, Norway by Lothiane, Owasso (OK), USA by Jennifer, Paderborn, Germany by Soemchen, Paris, France by Eric, Pasadena (CA), USA by Can8ianben, Pasadena (CA), USA by Petrea, Perth, Australia by Elevation7, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia by Murphy_jay, Petoskey (MI), USA by Christie, Pilisvörösvár, Hungary by Elise, Port Angeles (WA), USA by Jelvistar, Port Elizabeth, South Africa by Sam, Port Townsend (WA), USA by raf, Portland (ME), USA by Corey, Posadas, Argentina by Lega, Prague, Czech Republic by Honza03, Rabaul, Papua New Guinea by Jules, Ramsey, Isle of Man by babooshka, Reykjavik, Iceland by Vírgíll, Riga, Latvia by Fotos. Riga Photos, Rotterdam, Netherlands by Ineke, Rouen, France by Bbsato, Saarbrücken, Germany by LadyDemeter, Saigon, Vietnam by Simon, Saint Louis (MO), USA by Strangetastes, Saint Paul (MN), USA by Kate, Salt Lake City (UT), USA by Eric, San Antonio (TX), USA by Kramer, San Diego (CA), USA by Zentmrs, San Francisco (CA), USA by PFranson, San Francisco (CA), USA by Louis la Vache, Seattle (WA), USA by Kim, Seattle (WA), USA by Chuck, Selma (AL), USA by RamblingRound, Seoul, South Korea by Phil, Sequim (WA), USA by Norma, Sesimbra, Portugal by Aldeia, Setúbal, Portugal by Maria Elisa, Singapore, Singapore by Keropok, Sofia, Bulgaria by Antonia, Springfield (IL), USA by Aubrey, Stavanger, Norway by Tanty, Stayton (OR), USA by Celine, Stockholm, Sweden by Stromsjo, Stouffville, Canada by Ken, Subang Jaya, Malaysia by JC, Sunshine Coast, Australia by bitingmidge, Sydney, Australia by Ann, Sydney, Australia by Julie, Sydney, Australia by Sally, Székesfehérvár, Hungary by Teomo, Tacloban City, Philippines by agnesdv, Tel-Aviv, Israel by Olga, Terrell (TX), USA by Jim K, Terrell (TX), USA by Bstexas, The Hague, Netherlands by Lezard, Tokyo, Japan by Tadamine, Torino, Italy by Fabrizio, Torun, Poland by Torun Observer, Torun, Poland by Glenn, Toulouse, France by Julia, Turin, Italy by Livio, Twin Cities (MN), USA by Slinger, Urayasu, Japan by Zono, Victoria, Canada by Benjamin Madison, Vienna, Austria by G_mirage2, Wailea (HI), USA by Kuanyin, Wassenaar, Netherlands by Rich, Wellington, New Zealand by Jeremyb, West Paris (ME), USA by crittoria, West Sacramento (CA), USA by Barbara, Weston (FL), USA by WestonDailyPhoto, Willits (CA), USA by Elaine, Yardley (PA), USA by Mrlynn,

Short of shore

The tide has made getting to the dock a little harder. A couple of sea gulls reconnoiter the situation. Perhaps, the shallow water between the pier and the land gives them a good feeding ground. The scene is a couple months back in St. Bernard Parish at Bayou Bienvenue -- just down river from New Orleans.

I had a little digital darkroom fun with this one (again, click on the image to enlarge it to get the full effect) --first I auto white balanced the shot which made it brighter. I then used the auto color enhance in Gimp to give the colors more zip.

Lastly I ran it through the Cartoon2 filter I downloaded into Gimp's Script-Fu/photo effects scripts. The Cartoon2 filter gives you two sliders -- smoothness ( I toned this way down to a 2) and colors (I bumped this way up to 24).

Before I did all that I cropped the original image way down to get it to the focus of the shot. Here's the original image:

-- steve buser

Dusk darkens downtown

Night beckons over downtown New Orleans viewed from Bayou Bienvenue and a little fun on the in the digital darkroom.

--steve buser

But what do they call it Spain?

Spanish Moss, it's not a moss. It's a flowering (you've probably never seen them, the flowers are tiny) plant with aerial roots -- gets its water and nutrients from the air. Around New Orleans it loves the Live Oak tree -- according to Wikipedia it "shows a preference of growth on southern live oak and bald cypress because of these trees high rate of foliar mineral leaching (Ca, Mg, K, and P) providing an abundant supply of nutrients to the plant. Interesting, eh?

--steve buser

Swim up, eat up

A pair of Koi fish swim up to fight for a fish food pellet I tossed into the pond. The pond is at our friends Sam and Theresa's house in Baton Rouge where we were for Memorial Day. The luscious, shady pond with water fall and water lilies is a real repose. Of course the shade presented a problem with capturing a shot of moving fish in darkened waters. I useda polarizing filter to cut the glare on the water, however that further reduced my shutter speed. The key was shooting a lot of shots -- every once in a while the fish were at a stopping spot and my hand shake was at a minimum.

--steve buser

Bright and shining day

It's a bright day. Sun is shining, no clouds in the sky. It will be hot. But a perfect day for a barbeque. The fish are jumping and well, the cotton may not be high just yet, but it's getting that way.

--steve buser

Bird crossing

What looks like a Little Blue Heron takes a leisurely stroll across the path at the Barataria Preserve of the the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park. A couple of visitors try to keep as still as they can while they capture the shot. The bird quickly caught notice of them and us and strutted quickly into the bushes.

--steve buser

Ageless music

This is the a slice of the art work that takes up the end of one of the Central parabola Arch at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. The mural by artist Richard Cornelius titled Louis Armstrong and His Heavenly All-Star Band pays tribute to many of the Crescent Cities famous artist.

On the top, Mahalia Jackson sings along to a bluesy ensemble of (left to right Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Edmond Hall. Below, a larger view of the mural shows the many legendary artist that gave New Orleans its musical heritage including Charmaine Neville, Brandford Marseillas, Pete Fountain, Harry Connick, Jr., Duke Ellington, and Roy "Professor Longhair" Wells. The full list is here

-- steve buser

Eye watering beauty

Delicate beauty in the middle of the swamp. This is I believe a water hyacinth -- a real problem for swamps -- clogging water ways, blocking sunlight from other plants. The flower, however, is delicate and beautiful. I guess I should make some comment here about a wolf in sheeps clothing, but I will refrain, thank you.

-- stee buser

Swamp life

Swamp: bog, fen, mire, morass, quagmire. Mottled and unkempt, it has a place in our mind that conjures up evil, disease, and danger. But on our tour of the Barataria Preserve (Marrero) of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, we found a lot of beauty and alot of things you just wanted to know more about. Cypress trees were plentiful here, but a few hundred yards down the walkway, marsh grasses became dominant. This was one of my favorite spots -- a clearing in the leaf-covered shade-darkened water. Surprise, the water was as clear as you have ever seen.

There is order, and a natural cleansing here. Nature gets her way here.

-- steve

Hidden deep in a briar patch, a group of mushrooms thrives at the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve below New Orleans.

-- steve buser

River outlook

It was a rainy, gloomy day.

Still, the view from the Westin Hotel lobby was powerful. The window wall looks out over the Mississippi River where it makes a sharp turn after flowing past downtown New Orleans. The river is flowing from South to North at this point. It slides around Algiers Point on the opposite bank and starts its push to the Southeast and Gulf of Mexico.

The Westin's lobby is on the 11th floor of Canal Place at the foot of Canal Street and the edge of the French Quarter. That high vantage makes the panoramic view all that more spectacular.

--steve buser

Name that flower

What kind of flower is this. I don't know. Maybe someone can leave a comment to help us all. The flower was at the -- the Barataria Preserve of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve that we visited this past weekend. The preserve is south of New Orleans.

-- steve buser

A green anole lizard shows his signature display on our trip this week to the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve's Barataria Preseve. The green anole shows its throat fan -- called a dewlap. Green anoles have a throat fan called a dewlap to attract females (has to let them know he's their kind of man) or to make territorial displays.

The Preserve is one of six sites of the Jean Lafitte Park and is south of New Orleans in the swamps and marshes.

--steve buser



Today on Pixel Eyed-- You've bounced past all those other water drops. You're at the top. You've won. Now it's time to look down. Find your destiny. Don't hit the ground in vain.

Gator wader

Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve's Barataria Preseve was the location for this shot today. It was cool for a May day, and not one mosquito. The walk was a real pleasure -- leisurely with plenty to stop you along the way, including more than a dozen gators sunning in the bayou -- actually it is a canal not a bayou, cut for access back in early days and later used by loggers to float logs to the mill.

It was interesting to think that somewhere in these swamps and marshes, Jean Lafitte, the pirate turned patriot turned patriot, hid with his men and smuggled goods into the young country of the USA.

The gators were having fun soaking up the sun and waiting for food to wander by. One of them laid perfectly still and suddenly lurched forward and snapped what looked like a small snake. It makes you take a step back to see that kind of motion in the bayou that nearby.

This shot is of a alligator about 5 feet long. The largest we saw was probably 7 to 8 feet. There were quite a few baby ones, including a little guy about a foot and a half long in the shallow shady water.

The Jean Lafitte Historical Park has six sites, this Preserve is on the West Bank, South of New Orleans.

-- steve buser

"It's rain in my heart.."

It's rain again today. A big front blew through before daylight, but it looks like it will stay around. So maybe May feels like April didn't do it's job ("April showers bring May flowers") or maybe this is just a jealousy thing -- "Anything you can do, I can do better." I wish they would settle their differences and quit dumping on us.

C'est la vie.

--steve buser

Sign of the times

I didn't see it when I took this picture, but the phone on the ear of this street performer strikes me as a sign of the time. Is he going to take a call while his performing? Maybe he is waiting on his agent to call. We seem to have become ruled by our tools. (by the way, he did a very good job of entertaining -- this was outside the Cafe' du Monde in the French Quarter of New Orleans.


--steve buser

Tucked Duck

Another scratchy duck. Apparently ducks spend a lot of time grooming and going after crawling critters they have picked up. I thought the ripples added a nice effect to this picture.

--steve buser

Scratching the itch

Ever had that itch you just couldn't find a way to scratch? Maybe you just need a longer neck. This gal found a way to get to the itch, but it's tough to get between the feathers.

-- steve buser

Happy Mothers' Day, Linda!

Happy Mothers' Day to my bride and soul mate of 32 years, Linda. We had a different kind of Mothers' Day -- driving home from having visited our children and grandchildren. We were mostly sleeping from exhaustion but had a lot of time to spend together and share memories on the drive.

Happy Mothers' day wishes are also in order for my mother-in-law, and my sisters (Sue, Karen and Judy) and sisters-in-law (Cindy, MaryAnne, Karen, Cathy, Robin, and Cindy), And of course, for my own mother, who is waiting for me in heaven.

--steve buser

Drink up

The rain leaves behind a few extra drops for its friends to drink.
-- steve buser

Taking cover

On the way to see our grandchildren the other day, the sun was sliding behind what ever it could find.

--steve buser

Dousing the flames

Busy week, so I am featuring some sundown shots. This shot was crossing the Causeway one night -- a 23-mile-long bridge across Lake Pontchartrain. The sun was taking its time slipping below the horizon. It was like making sure the fire is out before you go to sleep.

-- steve buser

Concert comfort

How about a balcony seat for the concert. This was at the recent French Quarter festival, where this music afficianado (or is that afficionada?) was enjoying the concert across the street with all the comforts of home.

-- steve buser

Fiery sundown

I've got a busy schedule this week, so I am pulling out a few sundown shots to feature. This was just as I was driving up to park at home one night. The sky seemed on fire.

-- steve buser

Ship shape

There it goes, a load of containers heading out of the Port of New Orleans on the Mississippi River to some foreign port. The containers are loaded with goods for other countries. If we had a few hundred more ships like this sailing from our ports each day, it would help our balance of trade.

-- steve buser

The sting of luck

Even on the best days things sometimes just don't go right. The sun is shining, the breeze is gentle and cool out over Lake Pontchartrain. The water is clear and inviting. Suddenly you've got a tug on your line and you smile with expectation. You're expecting a huge redfish, a succulent trout.... Yeah it's going to be a good fish fry tonight... and then.....

Listen to the anger of the falling rain

The rain blew through New Orleans this morning with a swish and smash -- the skies were arguing and the trees trying to dance to keep them happy. Then as fast as it had come, it moved on. Now just a drizzle every few minutes. In about an hour we will probably see sunshine sneaking through.


-- steve buser

In the groove?

Okay, the question of the day is, "is it okay to say someone is 'in the groove?'" I mean, there are no grooves in music any more. The days of records and albums and diamond-tipped needles is long gone (unless you are one of them -- the audiophiles.) Would it be more correct to say "he's into bumps on the thin metal substrate between polycarbonate layers?"

Just thinking.

Anyway, thanks to the bass player for the Bob French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band for being our subject of the day. The photo is from the recent French Quarter Festival.

-- steve buser

April showers bring May passion

You know the old saying. April showers bring May flowers. We if the April showers were particular virulent, violent then surely the flower they bring are full of fashion. Voila -- a Passion Flower bursts forth in New Orleans.

--steve buser