Blue Pixel

Sunday, September 10th, 2006 by Reed Hoffmann

Last week I was in Las Vegas for Photoshop World. I was there to speak on Pro Digital Workflow. As with any trip, though, I wanted to get out and shoot some photos too.

Several times a year I lead hands-on shooting workshops around the country and the world. So far this year I’ve taken people to Africa, Kansas and Sweden. The first week of November I’m taking a small group to the southwest – Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Havasu Falls and Seligman, finishing with an evening in Las Vegas.

One of the keys to leading a trip like this is to know what kinds of pictures you’re going to be able to make. If I haven’t been there before, I always do my research ahead of time by going to the library to look at books and doing web searches with tools like Google.

In the case of Las Vegas, I’ve been there a number of times in the last few years, but the city’s always changing. After a long day of travel, the last thing I want to do is sit in a hotel room. So the first night there I spent a couple of hours walking the strip.

There are a few things I was looking for. With all the lights on the strip, you want to find high places to shoot from. There are a few walkways over the strip, but most of them have you shooting through wire or glass. Occasionally you can find an open space at the corner, but this time I liked how the wires added a sense of perspective to the photo. Probably the best high shot of the town is from the top of the Eiffel tower at Paris, which gets you 360-feet up in the air. I’m not opposed to getting lucky too, and this night there was a full moon, which I was able to shoot rising over the hotel.

Another “must see” spot along the strip is in front of the Bellagio, with the dancing waters. Fountains, lights and music put on shows from 3pm to midnight, every half hour until 8pm, and every fifteen minutes after that. When I have time, like I did then, I like to walk the entire perimeter of the scene to see what options I’ve got for photos. The shot of water and hotel is the obvious one, but adding people to the photo – and they’re always there – adds the human element and makes it more interesting.

Lastly, the interiors of the hotels can offer opportunities as well. This time I went into the Venetian to look for the gondolas. They run a little business there taking people on rides on the canal that runs through the shops area. It’s fairly dark, so I was looking for a more static scene where the blur of the gondola moving wouldn’t ruin the photo. In this case I settled for a vertical that uses a gondola tied to the side to anchor the lower part of the photo, and adds a lot of detail to the scene.

It was a great evening of wandering around, getting a little exercise and fresh air and having the chance to make some pictures. And come November, I’ll be better prepared to lead the group around Las Vegas. We still have a few spots open, so if you’re interested in joining us, drop me a note at Reed .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).