My wife and I spent some time in Vegas last week. I brought no cameras, as I figured the Strip would be a zoo (it was) and otherwise we'd be at the pool or a show (we were). On a whim, we took a tour of Valley of Fire State Park on our last day. Turns out my Droid Turbo 2 has a nice camera.
If there is any place in the world I don't want to visit again, it's Las Vegas. Now the environs in the area are a different matter, as you've shown with your photos, Scott.
Mike, I'd pondered which camera to bring, and almost brought the 70D in case we did a tour like this, but I'm kind of burned out on traveling with photo gear right now. Example: I brought the Konica I to NY last December. Was cloudy and dark so I took the press-on yellow filter in holder off. Haven't seen it since. The Vegas trip wasn't a photo trip, so I really didn't miss the camera.
PF, we had a great time, but we don't gamble or drink to excess. It was definitely weird though, between the open containers and legal prostitution. Not somewhere I'd bring kids, though tons of people had little ones in tow.
I collected some business cards from the street gals just for a laugh. It's something to wake up at 0600, look out the window of your room, and see that the temperature on the big sign across the street says 96 degrees. I was there on union convention business, so I never got the time to get out of town to enjoy the sights. All I had with me at the time was a disposable camera I bought there because I didn't want to pack a camera in my checked luggage.
Our hotel was the Sahara, now long gone to progress. It really was the typical mob run kind of place, with some B class talent for the night shows, and sketchy looking characters hanging around keeping an eye on things.
While I was there, a severe thunderstorm blew up, which was the first rain they'd had in over 120 days. Standing in the hall of the showroom which was lined with two story high windows, I watched this huge cloud of dust just obliterate everything in its path as it worked its way down the Strip, and waiting for the windows to blow in. The micro-burst blew down the brand new sign of the Holiday Inn about a mile south, which at the time was the largest of its kind, and where it landed in the parking lot (missing some cars by one parking space) looked like a plane wreck.
IMG_20170320_121905799 by Scott, on Flickr
IMG_20170320_122746211 by Scott, on Flickr
IMG_20170320_110721519 by Scott, on Flickr
IMG_20170320_122146575 by Scott, on Flickr
