This is probably the first night-time/tripod shot that I ever took. It was in 2007, on one of the elevated walkways between the New York New York and MGM hotels. I was using my new Canon 350D and a tiny desktop tripod.
On the left is New York New York with the Brooklyn Bridge in the foreground, and on the right Paris with the Eiffel Tower in the foreground.
My last post was a photo of Paris, France. Today we are looking at a very different Paris; the Paris hotel in Las Vegas. This French-themed hotel is complete with a quarter size model of the Eiffel tower that even has an elevator that will take you to the top! It was fun to visit, but nothing like like visiting the real Paris.
Still playing around with the high-contrast black and white conversions, this was taken right the other side of the world in Las Vegas. This was somebody was sleeping on a stone bench somewhere along the strip. No doubt he had nowhere else to sleep. Of course I am grateful to not be in that particular situation.
I would love some feedback on this technique. Does it work, too much, too little? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Vegas never sleeps! You can walk onto the strip any time of day or night, and there are people walking around, street performers and traffic.
This street performer is one of the best acrobats I have ever seen. I can only assume that he used to work for one of the Circ de Soleil shows, because he was astonishing. I could not believe the positions that he put himself into.
The strip at about 10pm on a Sunday night, note the bumper to bumper traffic. I also love the hotel on the top right; it reminds me of the matrix.
This hot air balloon is outside the Paris hotel, one of the Vegas landmarks.
These retro signs are found outside many of the casino’s. It really reminds me of the old James Bond movies.
Finally, the entrance to Bally’s Hotel. The red lighting continuously merges into different colours, so you can probably shoot whatever colour you want if you have patience.
Of all the hotels in Las Vegas, the Venetian is one of the most realistic. You can visit St Mark’s Square, walk over Rialto Bridge, and even stop in a sidewalk café for drink before dinner.
To do something a little different, I am going to post pictures of the real Venice, and the Venetian in Vegas.
Gondola’s in Vegas
Gondola’s in Venice
Just like the real Venice, you can go for a ride on a gondola,and just like in Venice, they are going to charge you for that!
Rialto Brodge, Vegas
There are however a few differences. The Rialto Bridge is a road bridge, and you can ride moving sidewalk up the bridge. And while I can’t confirm it, I suspect that the bridge in Las Vegas is much longer than in Venice.
Rialto Bridge, Venice
The water in Vegas is chlorinated, and it does not stink at low tide (ok, there are no tides in Vegas). And in Vegas St Mark’s Square is indoors, so no getting wet in the pouring rain we experienced last year in Venice.
St Mark’s Square, Vegas. This square is indoors.
St Mark’s Square, Venice
Like most places in Vegas, you probably want to walk through the hotel and perhaps have a drink at one of the café’, and get a break from the chaos and noise of the strip.
Now that we are finally home and (mostly) recovered from our trip, I have managed to get my photos in order, so the next couple of posts are going to be a catch up of the trip. Starting with some of the hotels on the “strip”.
The Strip, or more correctly Las Vegas Boulevard is the main drag in Vegas where everything happens. If you stay in Vegas, you should try to stay on or really close to the strip. Most of the hotels are on the strip, and certainly the big theme hotels are there.
Here are just some of the hotels that I passed on a couple of walks.
Starting with Paris, which contains a scale model of the Eiffel Tower which is approx 1/4 the full height, which is still several stories high. There is a viewing deck on the top level which provides great views of Vegas. Note the traffic at about 10pm on a Sunday night.
Next up is Bally’s, where we stayed. Bally’s is connected to Paris by a short walkway containing a few shops and restaurants. At about $40 per night, Bally’s is one of the cheaper hotels on the strip, but you pay for everything, including $3 per day for the honour of using the hotel safe. But still good value for Vegas.
The Bellagio is across the road from Bally’s, and it contains the famous water fountains, which play in time to music every 1/2 hour or so. The fountains, which shoot higher that the hotel are pretty impressive to watch.
Further down is Caesers palace, which is built to look like ancient Rome, complete with a Colosseum and Pantheon, and “Forum Shops”.
Treasure Island is home to regular evening ship battles as the “Sirens of TI…lure a band of renegade pirates into their cove with powerful and captivating melodies”. The show is a little cheesy, but well it is free.
Last on my list is the Venetian hotel, home to the Blue Man Group, one of my top shows. The entire hotel looks like Venice, complete with St Mark’s Square, the Rialto Bridge, and gondola rides.
Having being in Venice about a year ago, it was remarkable how similar this hotel is to the real thing. Notice how the docking poles are even a little bent, as if they had been in the Grand Canal for a long time.
This is just a selection of the hotels, but you can easily spend day walking around just looking at the hotels.
I spotted this lovely stained glass roof in the shopping corridor between Bally’s and Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. It looks like it belongs in a cathedral in Europe. Lovely.
What to do when in Vegas? Well, basically anything. Here is a small selection of the more unusual distractions; all taken in a shopping mall within about 100m of each other.
Buy a chicken suit
Eat hot chilli sauce
Get tattoos done in a shopping mall
Goto a strip club. Ok, I suppose this one is not that unusual in Vegas, but in a shopping mall?
It is really hot in Vegas at the moment, about 35 degrees or so. So while it might look lazy to use these moving travellators, it simply gets far too hot in the heat of Vegas to walk around everywhere. So you find yourself taking every shortcut possible to remain a little cooler, such as using the covered walkways and taking shortcuts through the hotels.
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…Las vegas. All flights and hotels are booked, passports are up to date and conference booked. So next month we are on our way!
Here is a small teaser from our previous trip.
Looking down the strip. On the left is the “Brooklyn Bridge”, and Paris and the Eiffel Tower on the right. The next shot is from the top of the tower.
Looking down the strip from the top of “the Eiffel Tower”. On the right is New York New York, with Excalubur and the Luxor in the behind it, and Mandalay Bay (the gold building) behind it.
Live music on the strip.
The Strip at night; Madame Tussauds on the left and the Venetian on the right, complete with the Rialto Bridge and St Marks Square.
This post was done in collaboration with Travelstart.
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