By Jenn Gidman
Images by Nilo Hodge
Just before the country started shutting down due to the coronavirus outbreak, Nilo Hodge moved with his wife from Pennsylvania to New Orleans, where they’d taken their vows last October. He recalls his wedding as one of the best days of his life, with all of the energy and excitement you’d expect to find in the Big Easy.
The past few months, however, have shown a very different side of this Louisiana hot spot, as shops, restaurants, and nightlife venues shut down, leaving the busiest parts of the city virtually deserted. That’s when Nilo picked up his camera to capture another side of New Orleans. “My wife is a nurse and has been working overnight shifts, so I started walking around, especially at night, to document the city during the early days of the pandemic,” he explains. “It also gave me the chance to learn my way around the city.”
On his mini-excursions, Nilo brought his Tamron SP 70-200 F/2.8 VC G2 and SP 15-30mm F/2.8 VC G2 lenses. “I was turned on to Tamron lenses when I started shooting weddings and family portraits,” he says. “I was on the hunt for an affordable, versatile, high-quality lens, and I was introduced to the 24-70mm. Then Tamron came out with its G2 line. I began using the 70-200, and now I love that lens. It’s been especially handy for me during pandemic times, because its reach allows me to get the shots I want while still social distancing. I’ve recently added the 15-30, and that lens lets me do some cool, wide-angle long exposures, as well as get up close in tight quarters.”