Breaux Bridge and environs

The day after my birthday this year, we drove over to Breaux Bridge, stopping in at the Cypress Island Preserve first. We got out and hiked a bit and then walked around Breaux Bridge, which was mostly closed since it was Sunday. I took my camera with me and thought I was being okay with it, but I really overexposed most of these shots because I had the shutter speed way too low. I also opened the first roll before it was all the way rolled up, so I lost about four shots off it. Overall, not the most satisfying camera day, but some of them are all right, and besides, I learned something, right?

Cypress Island Preserve

We wanted to go on a hike for my birthday, but there is a bit of a dearth of hiking around Baton Rouge. We found the Cypress Island Preserve, which seems really cool – though it was closed the day we went and we were only able to walk around some of the boardwalk.

A ruined shot of the algae on the water
A ruined shot of the algae on the water
A ruined shot of a puffball flower thing
A ruined shot of a puffball flower thing
Cypress knees rising out of the water
Cypress knees rising out of the water
Cypress grove
Cypress grove
Graffiti scratched on the railing: 'Dorothy Loves Kan'
Graffiti scratched on the railing: Dorothy Loves Kan
Reflections of cypress, plants in the water
Reflections of cypress, plants in the water
A clear shot of more cypress trees
A clear shot of more cypress trees
A clear shot of the puffball flower thing
A clear shot of the puffball flower thing
A hollow tree
A hollow tree
Cypress knees emerging from green water
Cypress knees emerging from green water
A blurry shot of a walkway blocked with Caution tape
A blurry shot of a walkway blocked with Caution tape
Another blurry shot of the same walkway
Another blurry shot of the same walkway
A gravel road
A gravel road
A log felled across the bayou
A log felled across the bayou
A sideways photo of a live oak
A sideways photo of a live oak
A hummingbird feeder (blurry)
A hummingbird feeder (blurry)
A faraway shot of some kind of electrical box
A faraway shot of some kind of electrical box
A dragonfly, though that's not really the focal point of the photo
A dragonfly, though that’s not really the focal point of the photo
The (closed) museum building of the Cypress Island Preserve
The (closed) museum building of the Cypress Island Preserve
The gate to a trail closed for alligators. Lots of signs are ziptied to the gate saying 'Trail Closed: Warning.'
The gate to a trail closed for alligators. Lots of signs are ziptied to the gate saying Trail Closed: Warning.

En route to Breaux Bridge

We left the preserve and began to drive. It didn’t take long to settle on the destination of Breaux Bridge, a little town near Lafayette that we’d heard was great but hadn’t made it to yet.

A ruined shot of a field driving toward Breaux Bridge
A ruined shot of a field driving toward Breaux Bridge
A fairly clear shot of the field, with a little light damage on the right side
A fairly clear shot of the field, with a little light damage on the right side

Breaux Bridge

Turns out, Breaux Bridge, like most small towns, is closed on Sunday. Or rather, almost all the businesses are closed. We still got to walk around a while looking at all the store fronts and I took a lot of pictures, most of which were overexposed and blurry.

A bright red flower in a white stand and the greenery all around
A bright red flower in a white stand and the greenery all around
American flags waving above a street in Breaux Bridge
American flags waving above a street in Breaux Bridge
A very overexposed, very blurry photo, of what I'm not sure
A very overexposed, very blurry photo, of what I’m not sure
An overexposed, blurry photo of a storefront with a palm tree coming out of it
An overexposed, blurry photo of a storefront with a palm tree coming out of it
A photo of a gas station dumpster, also overexposed and blurry
A photo of a gas station dumpster, also overexposed and blurry
An attempted photo of a hand painted sign on the side of an antique store
An attempted photo of a hand painted sign on the side of an antique store
A blurry photo of a porch
A blurry photo of a porch

We exhausted Breaux Bridge fairly quickly and headed to Lafayette, where we ate dinner at Dat Dog, a really great hot dog restaurant. I tried a brand new dog with blackberry puree, pickles, relish, and mustard on a vegan apple-sage sausage which was amazing. I didn’t take any pictures in Lafayette, though.

Back home

I still had some photos in my roll when we got home, so I headed down the street to try and take some photos for a series idea I have: Hand painted signs of Baton Rouge. There’s a ton of hand-painted signs around here, and my dad was a sign painter when I was growing up, so I’ve always loved hand-painted ones. This beginning wasn’t so auspicious though. I need to try again with better exposure settings and a steadier hand.

What I can only assume is a garden hose, though it boggles me why I'd take a picture of one
What I can only assume is a garden hose, though it boggles me why I’d take a picture of one
Stella looking through the front window at me
Stella looking through the front window at me
Telephone pole, trees, and attempted clouds
Telephone pole, trees, and attempted clouds
Telephone wire and attempted clouds
Telephone wire and attempted clouds
An attempt at the first photo in a series called 'Hand Painted Signs of Baton Rouge'
An attempt at the first photo in a series called ‘Hand Painted Signs of Baton Rouge’
Another attempt at the hand-painted photo
Another attempt at the hand-painted photo
A final attempt from across the street
A final attempt from across the street

One good thing from this experience: I got my photos developed by The Darkroom out of California, and it was really easy and affordable. I got my disappointing photos emailed to me within like, 5 days? It was fast.