A week in Las Vegas with nothing to do...

If I rent a car and planned on short day trips, what locations are the most interesting? Subject matter doesn't matter that much, just interesting. I know about the OOver dam, any others within reason? My wife is in a medical conference and I don't drink or gamble these days but will be going to shows and such in the evenings. Not sure of the equipment I'll take yet it depends on what I'll be photographing. I heard some where that there was a Botanical garden in one of the hotels. I like plant photography. Any thoughts welcome.

Curt

The hotel with the elaborate formal garden is the Bellagio, but it's usually too crowded to do much other than snapshots there--no room for a tripod.

There is a cactus garden that I photographed at once, which is an interesting place. It's connected to a candy manufacturer. Maybe Dave Wooten can recall what it is called.

There are lots of interesting places to visit by car. You're close to Red Rock Canyon (NV), and I like the drive north on 95 toward Death Valley and Tonopah, which has all sorts of interesting places to explore. The Grand Canyon isn't too far, if you've got more time.

Its the Ethel M candy factory and cactus garden. I haven't been since elementary school so I cant vouch for its current shape.

Try this link: http://www.igougo.com/planning/jour...29&EntryID=47530&n=Ethel+M+candy+factory+tour

Curt if you are going to hire a car you might enjoy The Valley of Fire, it's about a 60 minute drive from Vegas. I'm sorry that I can't remember how I got there but it is shown on most maps of the area. It's a valley of red rock and some vegitation and as the name suggests it can look as though it's on fire especially as the sun sets.

Depends what you like, of course. Death Valley is about 2 hours away. The neon sign museum is in town.

http://www.neonmuseum.org/

If you like abstract architecture, just walk the streets, 24 hours a day.

See www.huntingtonwitherill.com

then go to >Galleries>Virtual Reality. This is all Las Vegas.

Les McLean said:

Curt if you are going to hire a car you might enjoy The Valley of Fire, it's about a 60 minute drive from Vegas. ...

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Ditto on Valley of Fire!

Also, Mt. Charleston is just northwest of the city, and you'll experience a 20+ degree drop in temps as you go up the mountain, not to mention the change in scenery.

Also, just west of town is the Red Rock Canyon (state park, I think).

And, don't leave Vegas without seeing the Liberace Museum.

Cheers,

David

Get a big tattoo.

If it's a hot summer day, the Mt. Charleston area is particularly nice (presuming there are no brushfires).

ditto what Nikki and Prof Dave G. have mentioned....

also some wonderfully untasteful architecture on the short list to be imploded....the Broadway and the Stardust, and probably the Trop....

BW Kate was just here and did a project on the Surreality of signage, she shot it in Infared....

street and people photography is enjoyable, I have projects on that one, early morning hours....people from Peoria and Decatur Illinois, Hoboken, NJ and Des Moines appear and are transformed, yea even redeemed, this is the place, you are on holy ground....


***One of my favorite things to do is to take a canoe from the bottom of the Dam, down the Colorado river through the Black Canyon, about 16 mile trip to Willow Beach....takes better part of the day....no rapids....the water temp in about 52 to 56 year round....don t stay in the water swimmiing in mid river too long...hypothermia becomes a factor..the water comes off the bottom of the Dam and as the lake is in the vicinity of 1000 ft deep and more, it is nice cool water...you can catch Rainbow Trout in this area....there are also MONSTER catfish (they can pull your canoe upstream-hey I m not making this up) but I am not going to tell you where.....there are warm geo thermal pool springs up the little canyons within 100 yrds of the river, nice in the winter months, and often one will see a naked human or two, bathing, basking and at times cavorting.....

you will be going down a very historic canyon, not well mentioned, early Spanish history and sacred Indian locations..read up on it.....bring your wide lens and your long lens, and your binocs, and water...Great Herons, Big Horn Sheep....most tourists float right by these animals, even when looking for them and unless the animal moves they are never seen...there is lots of ancient art and writing on the canyon walls, unless you are experienced at observing these, they usually go unnoticed..........but the real joy of Nevada is the "Outback", and that is why is is so hard for me to escape.....30 years in this desert and it is still such a wonderous adventure!

Wow, now I'm pumped up, It all sounds so good and with some planning I think I can do most of it. Of course I want to take all my equipment, isn't that the case? I go through it every time. I'll be going to the SW with my new trailer some time in the future so maybe I should leave the 5x7 and 8x10 home and bring a medium format with wide, normal, long lens and a tripod too. flying is so fun isn't it? One carry on and a "camera bag". My camera bag is usually a Lowepro backpack packed to the gills!

Thanks all
Curt

Valey of fire state park is great early in the evening. Also go to the Atomic testing museum right in Las Vegas (755 East Flamingo Rd)

There's also a little "town" called Nelson to the southeast, if you like mining sorts of things. A family runs it as something like a historic park.

Viva Las Vegas

Curt said:

If I rent a car and planned on short day trips, what locations are the most interesting? Subject matter doesn't matter that much, just interesting. I know about the OOver dam, any others within reason? My wife is in a medical conference and I don't drink or gamble these days but will be going to shows and such in the evenings. Not sure of the equipment I'll take yet it depends on what I'll be photographing. I heard some where that there was a Botanical garden in one of the hotels. I like plant photography. Any thoughts welcome.

Curt

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Hello Curt,

Have a great trip. I loved it! I would like to go back but next time I would want to spend at least a day or two tripping around with Mr. Wooten. Where he suggested sounds great. I was on another persons agenda which I didn't mind so the focus was mostly on the Strip and the Neon. I did get my tour of my beloved Neon sign Graveyard called the Boneyard but haven't developed the film yet. I have to pay a substantial location fee if I want to post those images, etc. When I can afford it I will. I didn't even know about Huntington Witherill's cool B&W Vegas stuff. Very cool.

The Bellagio has a very small botanical garden near the lobby and the Dale Chihuly Glass flower ceiling. What's great about the botanical garden is that there are these giant flowers with huge petals made of glass. Really beautiful. Have an awesome time.

BWKate

Hello Kate, I looked just looked at the photographs of Huntington Witherill's and was totally blown away. I rarely see anything new that as a whole really sets me back. I will have to go back to the site and ponder. I was wondering what the location fee is that you have to pay. I am wanting to go to the boneyard also, do they have a fee for photographing the signs? Dale Chihuly used to live next door to my brother in law until he gained fame and moved to Seattle. Now his glass is all over the world and on cruise ships. I haven't been to Victoria in quite a while. I used to take the Princess Margarite in the days when it was fun to be slow.

Regards,
Curt

Curt said:

Hello Kate, I looked just looked at the photographs of Huntington Witherill's and was totally blown away. I rarely see anything new that as a whole really sets me back. I will have to go back to the site and ponder. I was wondering what the location fee is that you have to pay. I am wanting to go to the boneyard also, do they have a fee for photographing the signs? Dale Chihuly used to live next door to my brother in law until he gained fame and moved to Seattle. Now his glass is all over the world and on cruise ships. I haven't been to Victoria in quite a while. I used to take the Princess Margarite in the days when it was fun to be slow.

Regards,
Curt

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Curt,

Yes, you have to pay to photograph the signs in the Boneyard. It's part of the Neon Sign Museum and so it's nonprofit. Any money they collect goes into preservation. The tour fee is $50.00 per hour and we kept it down to an hour. If you want to use the photos for fine art prints or any web use then you have to pay $250.00 per hour location fee. You have to arrange it ahead of time with a lady named Melanie Coffee. She was really nice and you can email her at
info@neonmuseum.org. The Boneyard is easy to find. It's off of Las Vegas Blvd. just down from the whole Fremont St. thing. The office is located at the Reed Whipple Cultural Center. Just turn left at the Cashman Center light. Just email Melanie, she's just great and the boneyard is so cool. I like any kind of ruin be it modern or ancient. I'm glad I didn't see Huntington's photos before I went to Vegas because I think what I got was totally different but I can appreciate what he did. There is so much there that it would be hard to duplicate. I've never seen any B&W of neon strip stuff.
I will try to post some of my new stuff as soon as I can process it. I haven't been feeling well and I'm getting ready for my China trip.

All the Best,
Kate Seymour

Curt,

When are you going to Vegas? I just finally processed my first two rolls of Hie from my Vegas trip!!! I'm so excited. They went through the xray machine twice with absolutely no effect! Everyone was right. Some people on apug said that the xray machine would not harm Infrared and no problem. Am I ever relieved!

Kate

Hey Curt,

See if you can find a place that has that cracked ground effect. Apparently there some dry lake beds near Vegas that will have this effect after a rain. I've always wanted to shoot in that ground environment, but I need some scouting reports!

I've been asking around and all the feedback seems to be around Vegas for this ground effect.

Regards, Art.

It s a dry heat

Art,

The dry lake is just south of Boulder City, you can see it from the road, many commercials and movies have used it as a set. It is within the city limits of Boulder City.....

From Vegas Take 95 south towards Boulder City-just before you get to Boulder City...turn south at the Searchlight exit...you will see it on your right....a popular place for model rocket launches, ultra light and private plane touch and go's, and rec vehicle fun, mid week it is usually vacant......there are quite a few dry lake beds in Nevada with the texture you are looking for...this one has easy access, it does fill with water in the winter and spring at times, and as it dries the mud cracks and curls upward....drive your vehicle right onto the lake bed.....

Hello Kate, Art and Dave, Kate I hope you start getting to feel better before your China trip, it would be ashame to miss it or go while feeling ill. My brother inlaw goes to China and Vietnam often and speaks Chinese. I am going to Las Vegas next month and will be very busy there. Sounds like your negatives will make some fine photographs. Art I like the cracked ground effect too, the Earth means many things to many people. For some the cracked ground is a sign of draught for others it is an artistic work of nature. Dave thanks for all of the directions and information about the surrounding area.

Many Regards,
Curt

Vegas baby

Just returned from Vegas. Should of bought the Leica MP instead. Anyway my favorite sites are the Valley of Fire with Lake Meade thrown in as a side trip, Red Rock Canyon, the Hidden or Lost valley is by the Red Rock Canyon, Hoover Dam, and then there are all the people shots on the strip and downtown. You can go on an Elvis hunt to see how many you can bag- my last trip I caught two. There is the house Elvis at the Imperial Palace. And of course the Liberace museum.


Eric