Postcard from Las Vegas – On Fremont Street

It’s been many years since I visited old Las Vegas, where growth-through-gambling concept originally started…probably the last time was in the late 80‘s when I used to go every year to the annual Comdex show. So I decided to take a quick look to see what was going on. That quick look turned into half-a-day as the original Fremont Street has been turned into a sort of living museum.

By living, I mean there is still a great deal of gambling and other events going on there, but it is now taking place as part of “The Fremont Street Experience,” as the old road has been sealed off from traffic, repaved over with concrete walkways, kiosks, street vendors, and all covered with a towering archway that stretches for four blocks.

This is where Las Vegas got the name “Glitter Gulch.” Gambling was first legalized in Nevada in 1931 and Fremont Street was the site of the first casinos. Today, some of the old landmarks are still here like the giant cowboy over the Pioneer Club (now a gift shop), the giant cowgirl right across the street and other famous landmark cafes and casinos. At night, there is a free light and sound show that begins just after sunset.

Of course, the Las Vegas strip, about two miles down Las Vegas Blvd. gets most of the action these days. While much of The Strip was originally built by organized crime families, the original downtown casinos were mostly legitimate business operations and really came into their own from the mid ‘30 through World War Two, and into the 50’s.

One of the casinos on Fremont Street is Binions, which for many years hosted the World Series of Poker Championships. And although that event has been moved over to the Rio, somebody left behind $1 million dollars in cash…and for free, you can have your photo taken with all that cash. Which of course, explains the third picture as Elisa, Susan and I did just that.

I enjoyed this visit down memory lane and encourage all of you who visit Vegas to tear yourself away from the Strip and spend part of day or night on Fremont Street.

Postcard from Las Vegas – Elisa

Today, I write this in Las Vegas. I am here with my Italian daughter Elisa Bignante, who came to the US for the first time in 10 years to deliver a paper to American Geographer’s Association annual conference. You see, she has a PhD in Geography and a Masters in Economics. This is the same Elisa, some of you may remember, who lived with us for a year in Ephrata as an exchange student in high school.

Needless to say, I am very proud of her and her accomplishments, and unbelievably, she is the same effervescent, exciting and lovable young lady that she was all those years ago. She flew into Tucson last week and after a short stay there, we headed north, first for a day in the Grand Canyon, then on to Las Vegas for the conference. We are having a grand time together, catching up and filling in the holes for the last few years...even though we are both sick with sinus infections that we actually caught separately. Susan will be joining us on Thursday and will take Elisa back with her to Idaho for a few days before she flies back to Italy.

This is a special time to be with her and I was privileged to help her with some of the fine points of her presentation (cleaning up the English language just a little bit). Her subject was the integration of traditional and modern medicines in Tanzania for the Maasi and Mero people. Of course to undertake such a subject, she has to spend some time in Africa. In fact, she flew back to Italy from Africa only a few days before flying here.

I don’t think I have ever written about my children here in this blog, and it is perhaps long overdue as I am proud of them all: Eric, who serves in both the US Border Patrol and is a sergeant in the US Army Reserves (combat medicine); Kristen who works in an investment banking firm in Chicago; Aimee who is married with a 9-month old son and teaches vocal music in Pocatello; and, of course Elisa.

I once read that the most prestigious title that any man can ever lay claim to is “Dad.” I believe that now.

Picture of the Day – Spring Flowers

Spring is beginning to show itself all over these days, and it is most welcome. It is time to end the snow and rain of winter and bring forth sunshine and the flowers. I believe Spring officially begins in only a couple of days.

Here is Tucson, we have a head start on most of you. I photographed these colorful pansies on the University of Arizona campus this weekend while attending the two day Tucson Festival of Books. I also have some photos from that expo that I will be sharing with you soon.

But for now, sit back and enjoy the colors of this beautiful array of Spring flowers. And be aware, they are coming soon to a neighborhood near you!

Postcard from Tucson – Spring Training

Know right up front that I love the game of baseball. I grew up watching, playing, and loving the game. San Francisco was my home as a little boy, long before the Giants moved from New York. I was a fan of the old San Francisco Seals, and hated the rivals across the bay, the Oakland Oaks. Many teams came to town…the Sacramento Solons, the Hollywood Stars, the Portland Beavers, and the Seattle Rainiers.

Then, the Giants came west from New York in 1958…as did the Dodgers who moved to Los Angeles, and instantly became the object my scorn. I saw my first major league game that year when my father took me to see the Giants vs the Pittsburgh Pirates. That day, I saw Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, Bob Friend, Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, and other baseball legends. That day is burned into my memory.

Fast forward to 2009. Since my days watching the Giants in San Francisco, there have been eight labor disputes resulting in work stoppages, a missed season, a cancelled World Series, out-of-control salaries, and of course, steroid scandals. Consequently, I no longer follow the major leagues…they lost me some time ago as a fan. But as I said in my opening sentence, I still love the game. You will often find me watching NCAA baseball at the University of Arizona.

But, Tucson is also the spring home home to the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies. One hundred miles north in the Phoenix metropolis, several other teams, including the Giants, train from late February to the first week of April. And they all play each other in games that don’t count the least bit in the standings. It is a time when younger players get to show their stuff hoping to make the big leagues, while older experienced players get their bodies and minds ready for the long season.

The Rockies play in Hi Corbett Field, about 5 miles from my home. How could I resist not going to a few games when they are so close. And ticket prices are so cheap for these games…far cheaper than the hometown fans will pay this summer. But, more than that, there is an air of fun about these games…old time baseball. Most seats are close to the action and fans from all over travel down here for our weather and to see their teams. You are so close you can hear players and coaches talking and you can go out to the left field line to eat a hot dog right next to the players warming up.

So far, I have seen the Rockies play the White Sox, Dodgers, A’s and of course, the Giants. These men who wear the black and orange of the Giants are a far cry from those boys of summer I saw in 1958. Those days are gone forever. But, there is still some small secret pleasure to see a Giants uniform here in Tucson, so far from my city by the bay. San Francisco never leaves you.

Picture of the Day – Cactus at Saguaro National Park

Am off today and tomorrow for Tucson Festival of Books, a fantastic festival spread all over the University of Arizona campus with over 300 authors, bookstores and other vendors participating. There are lectures galore by authors taking place all over the campus. Sadly, some of the best ones for me conflict in their times, but I will do the best I can. Will have my camera with me, so expect a full report.

But, I didn’t want to leave you without a picture of the day. I took this image a couple of weeks ago on a beautiful day at the Saguaro National Park. There are actually two sites for the park, this one east of Tucson backed up against the Rincon Mountains, and another west of town near where I live. Oddly enough, I have not been to that one yet.

Obviously there are lots of cactus and other desert flora to photograph, but this was a nice location with the red rocks in the background. When you enter the park, it is an 8 mile drive through the desert with lots of stopping points. But the best time to visit the park will be in the next couple of weeks when the spring flowers start to bloom. Count on me being there.

Picture of the Day – Twisted Sunset

Here I am again playing with various filters inside Photoshop to create another twisted image. This was originally a post sunset photo I shot from my trailer site near Leavenworth, WA.

I was aiming up into the sky using the most wide angle lens I had, so the trees were out of skew anyway. But the colors in the sky were so wonderful, that it almost didn’t matter…and the colors you see here are real.

But since everything was a bit out of skew anyway, I decided to take it further with one of my “Flexify” filters. I hope you don’t mind.

Sorry I haven’t written more here lately, but Tucson has kept me very busy in the last couple of weeks. This is an amazing place, at least for me, and I will be sharing more about it in some upcoming blogs.

Picture of the Day - Tumacacori

I almost didn’t publish this picture here as the image of the church is so small and I can't publish large pictures in the blog anyway. But, I went ahead and did it (as you can see) just because I like the picture.

Tumacacori is an old Spanish mission church whose actual name is Mission San José de Tumacácori. It was established in January 1691 by Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kino and is located on 310 acres at the town of Tumacácori, Arizona, about 50 miles south of Tucson (and 18 miles north of the Mexican Border), off of Interstate 19. It is a National Historical Park, run by the National Park Service.

This is an example of using a frame within a frame, a prime technique for photographers. I photographed the church from an outdoor courtyard that leads from the visitor center, thus providing the curved window frame.

In processing the picture, I used a vignette filter to remove any distracting element from the window and in the lower part of the picture. I wanted my viewers to focus completely on the church through the frame.

This was shot late in the afternoon when the light was especially stunning.

Pictures of the Day – Tale of Two Ferns

When I look at a subject with my camera these days, I often think what would be the best way to render this subject as a photograph. Again, when I look at the same image in my computer, I go through the same process again.

Besides color, there is of course black and white, sepia, blue tones, split tones, antique, cyanotype, infrared, and others. But, for now, lets stick to color and black and white.

Take for instance, these two separate ferns that were located not too far from each other in Glacier National Park. I had a choice in each case of making them either color or black and white.

On one, I chose color…and the other, obviously, I choose to go with black and white. Why? Because using color on the first one brought out the intenseness of the green, and it was offset by the red colorings in the wood. Having some sunlight break through the forest when I made the exposure also helped to give the picture some depth. All these factors made it clear to me that color was the best way to go.

As for the other image, I went for black and white as there was mostly green in the entire image and not enough other interesting colors to offset it. Then I used a series of special digital filters (mostly using Adobe Lightroom) to render the fern a lighter tone while leaving the other elements of the picture a bit darker.

In the old days of film cameras, I would have exposed my camera (loaded with B&W film) using a green filter in front of the lens. This would render greens a bit lighter, although I would have probably had to use some dodging in the darkroom to get it to the shade I wanted to see.

It is interesting that photography (and television and movies, for that matter) all started out in black and white. Yet even though we have all the color we could ever want, black and white remains a powerful visual tool. It allows, in some cases, more emotion to come through to the viewer as he or she is not distracted by colors. Some of the most powerful movies ever made were shot in black and white, even though color could have been used. And, in this case, your mind knows what color this fern is. It doesn’t need to be told.

So while a fern may not have a lot of emotion to it, it still packs more impact, in many ways, than the colored fern. I just thank God that digital photography has progressed to the point where I can render any image any way I want.

Picture of the Day – Mummy Cave Ruins

I took this picture in Canyon de Chelly National Monument. Here, you see two caves with a ledge in between them that contain the remains of a large Kayenta Anasazi Indian cliff dwelling. The ruins are located deep within the Canyon del Muerto…and are among the oldest known archaeological sites in the park. Some of the ruins in the caves date from 300-400 A.D. Most date from a building boom between the 12th and 13th centuries.

The well-preserved buildings on the ledge between the two caves are among the last structures that the Anasazi built in the complex. Their construction suggests the influence of the Mesa Verde Anasazi. Some archeologists believe a few Mesa Verdeans may have moved into the area during the 13th century. This would be the last pueblo that the Anasazi would occupy before abandoning the Canyon de Chelly region around 1300 A.D.

In its heyday, this pueblo included eighty to 90 rooms and at least three kivas (circular ceremonial rooms). It also includes a roofless, twenty by thirty foot rectangular room that bears a marked resemblance to the great kiva at the Fire Temple ruin at Mesa Verde.

The ruins derived their name from two mummified bodies, still wrapped in fiber made from the yucca plant, that an archeological expedition found there in 1882.

The picture’s impact is much more sustained by using black and white than color. I am sorry that I can't make my photos any bigger in the blog.

A quick note about yesterday’s beach photo. Thanks to George Vetter who correctly identified the location as Arcadia Beach State Park…and the rock in the picture is called Lion Rock as it resembles a sitting lion. Thanks again, George.

Picture of the Day – An Oregon Beach

It’s going to be in the low 90’s here in Tucson today, and on warm days I sometimes think how wonderful it would be to walk along the ocean and feel a cool breeze in my face.

So, for today, I decided to look at some of my ocean photos and pick out one that reminds me of cooler days and also has some beautiful scenery. I like this one because of its balance light and shadows (shadows help provide a feeling of depth) as well as a nice balance of red, green and blue, the primary colors.

The beach is somewhere in Oregon, just south of Cannon Beach. It is in a State Park there, but cannot tell you which one. So just enjoy the image…and I hope that if you live in the Northern climates, this picture doesn’t make you feel colder.

PS – For those of you who subscribe to this blog via email, you were accidentally sent a blog yesterday that was meant for my other blog, Rants and Raves. My mistake and my apologies.