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On The Road
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#3 Venetian Towers ... Impressive
to say the least. The Venetian Hotel and Casino pay tribute
to the sites of Italy both inside and out. I noticed the
jet stream graphics with the colossal architecture, liked
what I saw and made a picture. In most hotels the elevators
are adjacent to the hotel lobby where the registration desk
is, but not in Las Vegas. The elevators are a brisk walk
past the hotel's upper UPPER class shopping district and
through the Casino. I suppose this is to make certain that
patrons become aware of all the amenities of the facility
before raiding the mini bar. Oh yes, the mini bar, ....
Okay, busted, it's very dry in Vegas and so I rummaged though
the fridge for a bottle of water before heading over to
the convention center to make my first presentation. Upon
check out on Sunday my one bottle of water was $225 in total
refreshments on my bill. Excuse me, but I'm just a cowboy
from out of town. Apparently the mini bar has electronic
sensors that records any movement of its contents as consumed
items that will be electronically charged on the bill. I
blamed it on President Bush seeing he was also staying at
the Venetian for a few days. The girl at check out could
not have been more delightful and understanding, thank goodness,
the $225 was reduced to $7.50. Nikon D3, ISO500, 1/200 at
f7.1, Nikon 24-70mm Zoom Lens, WB Auto A3, PC Vivid, Lexar
8G Flash Card. |
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Image #4 Me and Mara ...
Although I didn't see any international celebrities at the
Palazzo. I did get my picture taken next to a famous model.
MaxMara, I'll say, just look at how tall she is! Maybe this
girl should be in charge of wooing the powers that be regarding
Las Vegas's attempts to acquire an NBA franchise team. Nikon
D3, ISO400, 1/200 at f4.5, Nikon 24-70mm Zoom Lens, WB Auto,
PC Standard, Lexar 8G Flash Card. |
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#6 New York, New York ... On
my way to the airport I rolled down the window of my taxi
and made a picture of the scaled down New York structures
in front of the New York, New York Hotel and Casino. What
fun, I love this picture. It's so surreal. The American Flag
blowing in the wind is a great accent element that really
brings home the Americana feeling. As my taxi approached the
NY,NY entrance I noticed that the sky was overcast and with
the white cloud behind my subjects I foresaw that they would
be slightly in silhouette if I were to hold a good exposure
of the clouds. With this in mind I activated the D-Lighting
function in my D3 and took a few pictures as we cruised by.
Love it! The D-Lighting function automatically opened up the
shadow areas by almost 1 stop without increasing the overall
exposure of the white clouds and sky. I had not used this
function before, but, after the success of this picture I
will undoubtedly give it a try in the future. Nikon D3, ISO100,
1/500 at f9, Nikon 24-70mm Zoom Lens, WB Auto, PC Vivid, D-Lighting,
Lexar 8G Flash Card, |
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#7 Storm Over the Strip ...
Farewell to Las Vegas, my job is done. I had a good time visiting
with all the folks at Nikon and those who came to see my presentation.
I felt like one of the Rat Pack working Vegas baby! When I
fly I usually ask for a window seat and try to make some pictures
during the flight. Sometimes the window glass is not very
helpful and is too scratched or dirty to effectively capture
a clean image through, but, in this case the window was in
fine shape. I chose the Picture Control setting of Vivid and
increased the cameras Contrast slider switch to its max. Wow!
There is a lot that can be done in the camera with regards
to tone, hue, contrast etc. I'm still learning the controls
and find the possibilities intriguing. Nikon D3, ISO400, 1/400
at f14, Nikon 24-70mm Zoom Lens, WB Auto A4, Picture Control
Vivid with Contrast Adjustment Maxed Out, Lexar 8G Flash Card. |
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#1 Welcome to Las Vegas ...
The welcome sign was different that most I have seen in
other cities, so I took a picture. I think the "celebrity"
looking design is a good depiction of Las Vegas as a city.
Clear blue background for its clear western sky, twinkling
stars that make one feel like a star too, and Las Vegas
written in fiery red beneath it all. I made my way past
the rows and rows ... and rows and rows ... and rows and
...you get the idea, of slot machines on route to the luggage
carousels and began to realize there was no escape from
the bombardment of the sites and sounds of "FABULOUS
Las Vegas." Nikon D3 ISO400, 1/125 at f5, Nikon 24-70mm
Zoom Lens, WB Auto B3, Picture Control (PC) Vivid, Lexar
8G Flash Card.
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#2 SLOTS ... Lots and lots
of SLOTS. The young woman playing this machine in the
Mirage Casino was kind enough to allow me to make a few
images while the three windows rolled through their rotation
cycle. Sorry, no jackpot for the lady this time. I used
to come to Las Vegas quite often back in the 1980's to
cover boxing events. In those days it was forbidden to
enter a casino with a camera around your neck. My ignorance
of this rule back then allowed me to learn the hard way
one fight night in 1987 as I took a short cut through
the MGM Grand Casino on route to my hotel room and was
instantly confronted and escorted out by Hans and Franz.
I guess with the invention of the cell phone camera today's
casino bouncers have given up enforcement of the old rule.
Nikon D3, ISO1250, 1/40 at f5, Nikon 24-70mm Zoom Lens,
WB Auto A3, PC Vivid, Lexar 8G Flash Card.
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#5 Wynn/Trump Reflection ...
Along the Strip, giant structures made of steel and glass
combined with the brilliant desert sun to make interesting
graphic pictures. This image of the new Trump tower reflected
in the massive glass front of the Wynn Hotel and Casino
is one I really like. I was walking over the sky bridge
near the Wynn and took a few pictures. I couldn't get high
enough to effectively clean up the bottom of the frame from
other structures so I turned on the "Live View"
function of the D3 and held the camera over my head and
above the glass windbreak of the sky bridge. The Live View
allowed me to see and compose the image on the LCD screen
without the clutter at the bottom of the frame. Now the
picture is clean and graphically pleasing. Nikon D3, ISO200,
1.125 at f13, Nikon 24-70mm Zoom Lens, Auto B2, PC Vivid,
Lexar 8G Flash Card.Well, kind of an article. I hope you enjoyed
it.
See you next time On the Road. Adios, Dave
WORKSHOPS and PRESENTATION Schedule
January 11-13, 2009... Imaging USA tradeshow in Phoenix, Presentations at the Nikon Booth www.imagingusa.org April 14-22, 2009 ... Photo Quest Adventures, The Netherlands. www.photoquestadventures.com June 30-July 14, 2009 Photo Quest Adventures, Mongolia. www.photoquestadventures.com |
December,
2008 (click here)
Memory Lane
November,
2008 (click here
Gone Fishing
October,
2008 (click here)
National Geographic Adventure Photography Workshop
September,
2008 (click here)
Olympians, Weather and Workshops
August,
2008 (click here)
Camp Life
July,
2008 (click here)
Lightpainting the Southwest
May,
2008 (click here)
A Southwest Tour
April,
2008 (click here)
The Endless Winter
March,
2008 (click here)
PMA Show in Las Vegas!
February,
2008 (click here)
At the Ballet
January,
2008 (click here)
One Week of Work
December,
2007 (click here)
A Look Back at 2007
November,
2007 (click here)
Traveling
with the New Nikon D3
October,
2007 (click here)
High Country Journey
September,
2007 (click here)
Walking
On The Road
August,
2007 (click here)
Speedway
Thunder from PA
July, 2007
(click here)
"Arlington National
Cemetery"
June, 2007
(click here)
"Kentucky Derby Day"
May, 2007
(click here)
"Mexico Trek"
April,
2007 (click here)
"Egypt Trek"
March,
2007 (click here)
Transit Mix
"Images From the Air"
February,
2007 (click here)
Ice Climbing in Ouray
January,
2007 (click here)
2007 Year in Review
People of Willoq, Peru
Lexington, Kentucky TREK
Training for the Mr USA Title
"The International Golf Tournament"
"Tour of Champions Documentary"
"Northern California, the FBI and Clint Eastwood ..."
"The 2006 Kentucky Derby"
"Off the Road Picture Sales"
Ladies Olympic Figure Skating
Torino Italy and the 2006 Winter Olympic Games
"Hey Dave, are you going to the Winter Olympics in Torino and What Equipment Do You Take?"
The Holiday Tea with Tchaikovsky
presented by Colorado's Classical Youth Ballet
Landscapes at Pebble Beach:
a look back at 2005
Lightpainting Landscapes
NFL Football
3 Day Photography Workshop
Gardner-Webb University, Boiling Springs, North Carolina
Michelle Kwan
International Gymnastics Camp
the Men's US Open Golf Championships
The Kentucky Derby
Nevada Photojournalism Day
John Bolin's "The Thorn"
Indoor Track and Field
UC Irvine's Paul Spittle and
the Sports Shooter Academy
with Nikon's new DX2
Broncos Football:
Denver vs Indianapolis
the US Figure Skating Nationals
Portland, Oregon
College Basketball:
Colorado State vs Air Force
Broncos Football:
Broncos VS. Dolphins
Assignment work:
Wrestling
A look back at 2004
Rich Clarkson's Photography at the Summit Workshop &
Moose Peterson's Digital Landscape Workshop Series
Whitewater Kayaking
Gymnastics and more
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games
Athens, Greece
A look back at some wonderful Olympic moments
USAFA Graduation flyover
US Olympic Training Center - Swimming and Gymnastics
Last Month the Masters, this month The Kentucky Derby......I love my job
Masters at Augusta National
The American Cup Gymnastics
NIKON COLLEGE WORKSHOP
Indoor Track and Field
Women's Freestyle Wresting
Rhythmic Gymnastics Nationals
The Glass Flower Ceiling at the Belagio Hotel in Las Vegas
College Basketball
Women's Waterpolo
Olympic swimmers on their way to Athens
NFL Football
The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Finals
A look back at The Greenbay Professionals
Monday Night Football the Sports Shooter Workshop and Luau in LA
Photography at the Summit workshop
Portraits to workshops to stock image sales
Lightpainting in Banf
The World Gymnastics Championships
International Gymnastics Camp
Thunderbirds
Gymnastics
The Sports Photography Workshop with Rich Clarkson
Velodrome Cycling, More
The 129th running of the Kentucky Derby
White water kayakers
The Champions on Ice tour
PBR Rodeo
Chris Shivers and Little Yellow Jacket ride for $1 Million
Nikon's featured speaker at PMA in Las Vegas
American Cup Gymnastics
USAFA Women's Basketball
USAFA Swimming
USAFA Boxing
NCAA Fencing Championships
USOC's Titan Games
Air Force Basketball
Pro Football Pre-Superball Stock Sales
Swimmers train at the Swim Flume at the USOC
Much more!
Diving at the Air Force Academy
Denver Broncos VS. The Arizona Cardinals
Olympic Hopefuls Lenny Krayzelberg and Tom Molchow practice at the USOC
