Las Vegas Photo Suggestions

Hello All.

I will be traveling with my family to Las Vegas next month, and I am looking
for some good photographic suggestions.

Aside from the Vegas strip, Red Rocks is located 13 miles outside of Vegas and
I plan to spend as much time seeing sunsets there as possible. We might take a
day to go to the Grand Canyon, and another day to go to Death Valley. Outside
of that I am not sure what to see or shoot.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I do not see a time that I can
get back out there and I want to make the best of it.

Thanks in advance,

Chris


~Stay in Focus~

I took a long day 8 am to 8 pm to visit Death Valley, and rarely stopped
driving.
I am not sure you can do Grand CAnyon in a day.
Valley of fire is more intersting to me than Red Rock
Why not challenge your self and shoot Vegas. There is nothing like it in
the world. As a photographer who loves to shoot sunsets myself, shooting
cityscapes was an interesting challenge.
JD

"TaoSurfer" wrote in message
...
Hello All.

I will be traveling with my family to Las Vegas next month, and I am
looking
for some good photographic suggestions.

Aside from the Vegas strip, Red Rocks is located 13 miles outside of Vegas
and
I plan to spend as much time seeing sunsets there as possible. We might
take a
day to go to the Grand Canyon, and another day to go to Death Valley.
Outside
of that I am not sure what to see or shoot.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I do not see a time that I
can
get back out there and I want to make the best of it.

Thanks in advance,

Chris


~Stay in Focus~

TaoSurfer wrote:

Hello All.

I will be traveling with my family to Las Vegas next month, and I am looking
for some good photographic suggestions.

Hoover Dam and Valley of Fire.

Don in Tracy, Calif.

(TaoSurfer) wrote in message ...
Hello All.

I will be traveling with my family to Las Vegas next month, and I am looking
for some good photographic suggestions.

Aside from the Vegas strip, Red Rocks is located 13 miles outside of Vegas and
I plan to spend as much time seeing sunsets there as possible. We might take a
day to go to the Grand Canyon, and another day to go to Death Valley. Outside
of that I am not sure what to see or shoot.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I do not see a time that I can
get back out there and I want to make the best of it.

I'd agree with the other poster that Grand Canyon is a little long for
a day. Assuming you want to spend sunset at the Canyon, you won't get
back to Las Vegas until around midnight, and you'll have to do a lot
of that drive on a two-lane road. This is not to say you shouldn't go
to the Grand Canyon, but to suggest you might want to spend one of
your nights close to the Canyon. Then you could shoot both a sunset
and a sunrise.

Similarly for Death Valley, you'd rather shoot in the morning or
evening, because otherwise everything starts looking pretty flat.

Zion national park is closer and most of that drive would be on
divided highway. Either the Kolob Canyons scenic drive or the main
canyon road provide numerous photo opportunities. The color on the
Kolob Canyons section is redder and would light better for a sunset
shoot.

Bryce Canyon is only a little further and also a possiblity.

Hoover Dam goes almost without saying.

When shooting Las Vegas, it will probably make sense to splurge on one
or more of those observation deck locations [Stratosphere Tower and
Eifle Tower]. Also, if you can get to the roof of either the Palms or
the Rio, either would give a good view of the Strip.

TK

"JD" wrote in message
news:4zr6c.15123$Cf3.6374@lakeread01...
I took a long day 8 am to 8 pm to visit Death Valley, and rarely stopped
driving.
I am not sure you can do Grand CAnyon in a day.

There are one day flyin trips from Las Vegas that take you
to the airstrip at grand canyon village and include a coach
tour along the rim

http://www.looktours.com/air1.html

Keith

I agree with the others who suggested Hoover Dam
and Valley of Fire.

And if you go to Hoover, see if they still give dam tours.
They used to go to some behind-the-scenes areas that
were very interesting, although I don't know if they still
do due to security concerns.


I am not sure you can do Grand CAnyon in a day.

It's about a 5 hour drive each way to the south rim, so if
you leave early you can spend the afternoon there and get
back to Vegas before midnight. It's a long day, but it's
worth it to see the Grand Canyon.

If you go, try to stay for sunset as the lighting is much
more dramatic. Better still, spend the night at a nearby
motel and return to take sunrise pictures the next morning.

I'd also suggest taking some pictures on the Bright Angel
Trail, which is a popular trail which goes from the rim to
the bottom. Even if you only spend a few minutes on it,
you'll still get some great photos from below the rim. The
trail begins right in the Grand Canyon Village area where
you'll be anyway, so it's not out of your way. Here are
a few photos someone posted:
http://www.peterweb.dk/galleries/grandcanyon.htm

James


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Remove "NOSPAM" from my address when sending me e-mail.
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In article ,
(TaoSurfer) wrote:

Hello All.

I will be traveling with my family to Las Vegas next month, and I am looking
for some good photographic suggestions.

I have been to Las Vegas many times and I will probably be there again
next month too. One of my favorite places for shooting photos is from the
observation deck of the Stratosphere Tower at sun set. The view of the
city as the sun goes down and the lights along the Strip become
illuminated is spectacular, but you do need a good camera and a tripod
in order to shoot the scenes well at dusk.

I also like shooting photos from the Eifel Tower's observation deck, but
it is nowhere near as good a view as from the Stratosphere Tower.

Aside from the Vegas strip, Red Rocks is located 13 miles outside of Vegas
and I plan to spend as much time seeing sunsets there as possible. We might take
a day to go to the Grand Canyon, and another day to go to Death Valley.
Outside of that I am not sure what to see or shoot.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I do not see a time that I can
get back out there and I want to make the best of it.

Just take your camera and go out walking along the Strip. I guarantee
you will find lots of sights to photograph. If you decide to shoot
photos in any of the casinos, be discreet as many casinos do not allow
photography on the casino floor.

By the way, the real trick is to shoot UNIQUE photos of the popular Las
Vegas sites. Everone and there mother, for example, will shoot some
photos of the Balagio fountains, but shooting a truly unique photo is
what takes real talent as a photographer. I will leave it up to you to
ponder that thought.

By the way, if you have any further questions regarding Las Vegas,
try posting them in the alt.vacation.las-vegas newsgroup. This newsgroup
is very active with various discussions that pertain to visiting Vegas.

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. I don't want to miss the Grand
Canyon, and I will probably do as suggested and stay over night so I can get
the sunset and the next day's sunrise.

I absolutely plan on shooting the city, especially the strip. I'd love to
shoot the interiors of the casinos, but my camera's are too big to be
concealed.

I'll have a tripod with me for the observation decks - and I thank you all for
the suggestions of them.

I know this is not a photography newsgroup, but my plan is to shoot digital
with my D100, slides with my F100 and infrared with my N80 or K1000. I'll be
carrying a heck of a lot, but this is an opportunity and I do not want to miss
anything. Multiple lenses and bodies will be the course of the day, but that
is how I shot London and there was not a single shot I missed with the amount
of gear I carried. Painful, but worth it.

One final question with carrying that much gear around during the day - Do I
have to worry about theft? I'm sure I do not, but also do not want to take any
unnecesary risks.

Thank you all again. I will post the photos on my website upon my return.
Your comments were very appreciated!

Chris

I don't know how much time you'll have, but you certainly wouldn't
regret a side trip to Zion. I think it took us about three hours to
get there from Las Vegas. As another poster recommended, Kolob
Canyons should have good lighting at sunset. I feel that the main
valley is more spectacular. The sunset lighting on the Watchman was
very good. Access to the valley is only by (convenient) shuttle bus
from April through October. It's a six mile distance and there are
many great views along the way. There are a lot of good hikes to
choose from with varrying levels of difficulty.

As for Vegas, I only carried one SLR through the casinos and didn't
have any probems with security. I didn't take any pictures in the
actual gaming areas.

I don't know about crime rates, but I certainly wouldn't take any
chances with my equipment. Maybe I'm overly cautious, but I figure
that it's better safe than sorry.

Sounds like you've got a lot of equipment. How do you carry it?
Gadget bag? Photo backpack? I use a Tamrac MAS belt. It's not
nearly as good as a photo backpack, plus I have to carry my tripod
with a sling, but it's very convenient.