Day 7, Mon Evening, May 5, 2008 Las Vegas

We went back to the strip Monday evening, mostly because I have a penchant for colorful lights. I thought the Las Vegas Boulevard would look amazing at night. The problem was--neither Dean nor I felt like walking even a few steps, much less walking the now much more crowded street.

So--we decided to just shoot the pictures we could from the car. Perhaps not the wisest choice, but definitely the easiest on our poor beleaguered legs.

We started this time at the south end of Las Vegas Boulevard. I wanted to get the flashing McDonald's sign there.



Now, for those of you who've never tried to shoot pictures of lights from a moving vehicle at night, let me just tell you that there are a few issues.

Motion creates more than one problem. First, it's tough to focus. (That can make for some interesting visual effects, though.)



(Maybe you can tell that's the MGM Grand. It's an emerald green at night.)

Second, sometimes it's hard to get the shot you want because it's only in frame for about a second and a half. Shoot too soon, you only get half of what you were after.



Too late and--well, you have to go around the block again or just skip that picture. (We did a little of each.)

Then there's the problem of the car trying to get into the act. It's difficult to keep assorted car parts from being in the picture.



(That's supposed to be the Luxor pyramid. If you're from Memphis, you should know that our Pyramid is significantly bigger. Hah!)

And trying to get some shots through glass at night causes reflections that you don't expect.



(That's the Luxor again. At least you can make out a few more edges this time.)

Finally, trying to get the lighting right is a real art. If you aim at something too bright, or if the flash goes off, it causes the picture to be too dark.



But sometimes, it all works.



(I'm pretty sure this is the garden in front of the Tropicana.)

I got better with each pass. And being stopped at traffic lights helped some, too. So, here are some of the better shots from our night time trips (3 passes, as it turns out) down Las Vegas Boulevard.







Paris



Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Casino, east side of the strip







Venetian



Fashion Show Mall



Pirate Ship in front of Treasure Island













A shot down the east side of the strip. Look at how much traffic there is.











This is a CVS Pharmacy. All the businesses on the strip seem to have multi-colored lighted signs. Well, except for the Travelodge, that is.



It's lit, but there's no glitz about it.











There are two McDonald's on the strip.





Leo's backdrop changes color.

















And last but not least--



Maybe I should put this one at the top of the post, but we got this picture last, so here it is to end the night. I hope you enjoyed our nighttime light seeing trip.

The next posts will have our trip home. It's back to Route 66. See you there.