Las Vegas and I are old friends…having traveled to this city many times over the years…for visits with friends, trade shows or just passing through. That was the case four years ago. We had just driven all day from Yuma to Las Vegas (I was married then) and were staying overnight, on our way to Zion National Park.
We got there late in the afternoon and were leaving early next morning. We stayed at the Flamingo and decided to take a walk just after sunset. I took my camera and snapped some night-time photos, including the one you see here. Remarkably, I never used a tripod that evening…all the shots I took were hand-held. Several did not come out, but quite a few did…thanks to the fantastic anti-shake mechanism built into my Nikon Lens.
What you see is the Mirage Hotel as seen from the front of the Venetian Hotel. You can also see a gondola in the foreground as well as the bridge across the canal. The street in the middle of the photo is Las Vegas Blvd; aka: “The Strip.” Of course the original photo was made better thanks to Photoshop and a couple of favorite plug-ins.
I remember the evening very well as we wandered around the Venetian Hotel, feeling a little superior as we had been to the real Venice several times. I recall one lady somewhere in my past saying that the Venetian Hotel was just as good as Venice, even though she had never been to the real city. Yea, sure!
We did find a wonderful art exhibition inside the hotel. At that time, there was an extension of the Guggenheim Museum on-site. Saw some original Picasso’s and other painters from the early 20th century. Sadly, the museum there has closed. I think there is only one art gallery left in the hotels on the strip now…at the Bellagio. But it was nice to spend part of the evening looking at masterpieces of art rather than gambling in one of the casinos.
Truth-be-told, I am not much of a gambler, although on this evening I did place a bet on the Monday Night Football game. Anyway, after finishing our art tour, we left the fake Venice behind and found a restaurant for dinner, snapping more photos along the way. Eventually we wandered back to the Flamingo, and retired for the evening.
The next morning we were up and at ‘em and left Las Vegas behind. Every once in a while, it is a nice city to visit, but I would not want to live there. Oh, one more thing…before we checked out of the hotel, I did pick up my winnings from the Monday Night game. Sometimes I get lucky.
(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)
To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com.
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