Vegas Baby!

Although I am not of big fan of large cities or big crowds, one of my favorite places to go for a few days is Las Vegas. Yes, I do enjoy the gambling, but there is actually a lot of other great things to do there. My wife and I have been going to Vegas for many years. It was actually very reasonable to fly to Vegas and stay in a luxury hotel . Over the past few years it had gotten much more expensive to not only stay, but show prices and meals are no longer reasonable for my budget. But I still have been going at least once a year in September to attend the National Association of Photoshop Professional's conference held yearly at the Mandalay Bay Casino and Convention Center. (A tough job, but somebody's gotta do it)

As a photographer, you will love Las Vegas for the endless possibilities it provides for you. Since I love the long exposure night scenes and colorful images, welcome to heaven. After you have lost your hard earned money in the casino, grab your camera and tripod and head out for some night shots. It is not difficult to find a suitable composition as the entire length of Las Vegas Blvd. is a circus show on steroids.

You can photograph everything from the entire New York skyline to the Eifel Tower. The worst problem is dealing with crowds if you have a tripod set up and you are trying to shoot long exposures. The streets and sidewalks are still jam packed at 3:00am. A daylight walking trip also provides many great scenes and interesting thing to photograph. Having been to Las Vegas so many times now, I spend far more time trying to make some good images than I do inside a casino.

Here is one of my favorite photos that I have from my trips to Las Vegas. The New York New York Casino is located at the intersection of Las Vegas Blvd. and Tropicana Ave. I took this shot just after the sun went down below the horizion. I love how it brought out the blue twilight color of the sky.

So what do you do on the plane ride home from Vegas after a Photoshop World Convention? Why you take a photo out of your plane window, download it onto your laptop, and then practice the skills you just learned by creating your personal Southwest Airlines poster.