Photo Tips Las Vegas – Motifs on Las Vegas Boulevard

The Strip is a kind of total work of art with a new highlight to see and record every few meters. The intersections of The Strip and Tropicana Avenue, The Strip and Flamingo Road, and The Strip and Stardust Road are among the main attractions in terms of the intensity of their lighting.

Unfortunately, grids cover all four pedestrian bridges between Excalibur, New York, MGM Grand, and Tropicana (the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue), making photography difficult. In addition to these, there are four glassed-in crossings between Bellagio, Caesar’s Palace and Bally’s (corner of the Strip and Flamingo Road). From here, you can shoot the ever-flowing traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard well with creative-long exposure time, making the lights of the cars run into long stripes (at least 1 s exposure time; better much longer with a gray filter).

The iconic „Welcome to Las Vegas Sign“ is located on the median strip at the south end of Las Vegas Boulevard, just a short distance beyond Mandalay Bay. You can find a much smaller version to the north, around the Riviera Hotel.

All the hotel complexes boast opulent facades and lavish casinos. The following are particularly noteworthy:

The Luxor, with its fountains and gargoyles, is almost more charming inside than out. Outside, the large sphinx at the elevated train stop for Mandalay Bay and Excalibur is fascinating. In the evening, it makes a nice combination with the strong laser beam of the hotel just above it and the Avenue of Sphinxes further down the Strip.

The Excalibur is designed as a fairy tale medieval knight’s castle. The roofs, shaped like colorful sugar loaf hats, particularly captivate the eye. You can group them into beautiful arrangements from the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street, using a short telephoto focal length. Twice daily, an equestrian spectacle is performed inside, modeled after a medieval jousting tournament.

At the New York-New York, the facade along the short replica of the Brooklyn Bridge is captivating. From the Tropicana diagonally across the street, you can take in the whole ensemble of skyscrapers or isolate the domes of the Empire State and Chrysler Building with a telephoto focal length of around 200 mm. Inside, there is a replica mini-Manhattan from the 1930s.

The most interesting thing about The Paris is its pompously decorated exterior facade. Together with the Arc de Triomphe and the large fountain, it makes a nice ensemble. The ride up the 50-story Eiffel Tower replica is hardly worth it, as the platform is barred. – The Stratosphere Tower is taller and offers an unbeatable and unobstructed view of the entire length of the strip.

You can work out the Bellagio and the Ballys well alternately from various vantage points on the Strip and from the pedestrian crosswalk.

The Bellagio, with the fountains of its water organ reaching across the entire lake, is justifiably as strong a magnet as the pirate show at Treasure Island. In the summer (April to September), the shows take place every 15 minutes after the hour and last about 5 minutes. In the other months, there is a 30 min break. It is definitely worth spending some time here to see two or three performances, because after each one, the good seats along the walkway are quickly vacated. From the height of the entrance pylon on the south side of the lake, the dancing fountains and the glittering facade of the Paris fit together in the picture. It is a prime spot for the Magic Hour before sunset! But the Bellagio’s interior is also captivating, with its tasteful ambience, a wonderful hand-blown glass ceiling over the lobby, and a distinctive conservatory.

The entrance to The Bally’s just across the street is also a prime subject, with its color-changing lighting and stark, graphic shapes of neon lettering. The glassed-in pedestrian bridge over the Strip is a fantastic location to explore the numerous possibilities of the large neon letters from various angles in portrait and landscape format with medium telephoto focal lengths. In the other direction, you also have a very good, elevated view with more foreground on the water fountains in front of the Bellagio.

Caesar’s Palace captivates with its beautifully lit white facade and the reflecting ponds in front of it. The tall Cypress trees are good foreground objects. In addition, it offers the Forum Shops, which are worth seeing in the competition between the hotels. In the ancient Roman surroundings, one can find a variety of luxurious items to purchase and picturesque details to capture on camera. Particularly, the intricately lit artificial sky creates a striking backdrop behind the numerous fountains. Here, as inside most other hotel complexes, the following exposure guidelines apply: 100 ASA, f/3.5, 1/15 to 1/30 sec. The replica of the Trevi Fountain is a particularly rewarding motif.

Diagonally across the street, you’ll find the world-famous neon sign of the Flamingo Hilton.

Directly to the north is The LINQ hotel, which is not very attractive on its own. However, the Las Vegas High Roller, the second largest Ferris wheel in the world, has been located on the resort complex since 2014. It has a diameter of around 160 m (525 ft) and from the gondolas attached to the outside, you have a completely unobstructed view of the city at all times during the half-hour ride. You can access it from the LINQ through a pedestrian-only side street. The small stores, restaurants and palm trees are quite photogenic. As you are walking directly towards the High Roller, you are also in a good position to take pictures. However, if security considers your equipment to be too professional, they may want to prohibit you from taking photos. Taking pictures with your cell phone is OK. You can avoid such trouble by approaching from the other side via Winnick Avenue. Then the wheel is perfectly positioned in front of the dramatically colored sky in the evening. From the gondolas, you only have 15 minutes in a good shooting position during the 30-minute ride. Fingerprints cover the windows (cleaning them with a cloth is a good idea), and the numerous lights create reflections everywhere. So get the camera as close to the glass as possible to avoid these unwanted effects. The whole thing vibrates quite a bit while driving, so you should keep the exposure time very short: 1/60 sec in relation to 50 mm focal length is OK. Tripods are prohibited but are useless anyway. Lenses with image stabilization are of course a good idea here. The best time to photograph the Ferris wheel, the city, and the Strip while on a ride is just before sunset.

The mighty, luminous The Sphere has been illuminating the area just behind the Venetian and directly south of the green oasis of the Wynn Golf Club since September 2023. Basically, it is an event hall. What makes it so special is that its outer skin is effectively an oversized LED screen. It can display every imaginable image and lighting effect. If The Sphere simply shines white, it looks like the moon has fallen to earth. You can’t miss it or take your eyes off it. The sphere has a diameter of 157 m (515 ft), and 2/3 of the 81,000 m² (96.875 yd²) outer surface is fitted with 57.6 million LEDs. Together, they add up to 1.2 million pixels, making it the largest LED wall in the world. The interior offers seating for 18,600 and standing room for 5,000. The interior wall above the stage is also covered with LEDs – the world’s first 16K LED display! You can take good photos very close up from the parking lot on Manhattan Street. If you are looking for an elevated position, the top floor of the parking garage at 3763 Howard Hughes Parkway is a good choice. To put the spherical building in context with its surroundings, you’ll need to move away a little. Here’s the 7th floor of the Encore parking garage at the northeast corner of the Wynn Golf Course (accessed from East Desert Inn Road via the Encore Resort Boulevard driveway). Just after sunset is the best time to photograph The Sphere.

The entrance area at The Wynn Las Vegas is a must-see. It regularly undergoes redesigns featuring vibrant and lively flower and plant arrangements.

The Mirage wows with the gas-fed eruption of a „volcano“ right on the Strip. This lasts only a few minutes but takes place every quarter of an hour between sunset and midnight, provided there is no strong wind. – There is enough opportunity to wait for one or two eruptions and get good pictures from different positions along the sidewalk.

The Venetian, with its wonderfully illuminated front, is sure to captivate many photographers, but its size makes it difficult to capture in a single picture. Instead, focus on the details of the magnificent facade or try reflections of it in the water in front. Inside, you can let a gondolier paddle you along a mini canal through the Italian-inspired world of the Grand Canal Shops. Here, however, they are particularly keen to scare away presumably professional photographers.

The pirate show in front of The Treasure Island takes place between April and September at the following times: 16:00, 17:30, 19:00, 20:30, 22:00, 23:30. In the other, less busy months, the pirate show occurs every 90 minutes after 16:00. The pedestrian traffic on the boardwalk then regularly comes to a standstill, so you are well advised to secure a good position a while before the start. The best view to follow the action is where the passage to the casino crosses the boardwalk. By the time the British score the decisive goal, most of the pyrotechnic action is on the buccaneers‘ side. A fast zoom in the 24-80mm range is appropriate to capture both overviews and details. Work with at least 400 ASA and a monopod; there’s no room for a full-sized tripod in the crowds anyway. Don’t carry such a support; you can also prop the camera on the imitation wood along the waterline. In case you are too late, the opposite side of the street still offers an acceptable view of the action.

If you’ve ever wanted to take photos inside the circus, the Circus-Circus Hotel is the place to be. The dome hosts a series of mini-performances, allowing you to explore and experiment until you capture the perfect shots.

The highest point of the city is the Stratosphere Tower, with 350 m (1,148 ft) even the highest free-standing tower building in the USA (how could this go off without such a superlative?!). It marks the north end of the Strip. From the height of the observation deck, of course, you have the most spectacular view of the city. However, the rising hot air masses can sometimes blur the distant view, and strong gusts on the platform can also negatively impact sharp pictures. A UV filter can help mitigate the effects of the former, and a stable tripod can mitigate the effects of the latter.

About 1.5 mi further north, at No 888 W Bonneville Avenue, you can photograph one of Frank Gehry’s famously intricate buildings (Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health).

Once you’ve explored all these themes, a helicopter tour will undoubtedly offer a fresh perspective and offer unobstructed views of the vast hotel complexes. Since you are free to choose the time of day, you should start in the late afternoon, as the low sun and strong sidelight or backlight best emphasize the contours. Essentially, you should aim for a straight horizon line or none at all! The color cast of a possibly tinted window can be corrected in analog with a KR-3 filter. Digital photographers filter it out during RAW conversion. Remove a door or side window if possible to enhance the image quality. Then a polarizing filter can also be used for color saturation, which otherwise causes spectral stripes with a plastic pane. Since there is no division into foreground and background from above, a corresponding image design also falls flat. Instead, you have to resort to strong shadows or contrasts to dramatize the images and give them definition. However, the absence of a classic foreground and background eliminates the need for focus, as everything remains in the infinity range, and the depth of field becomes irrelevant. Therefore, you should always choose the exposure time as short as possible, ensuring it is not less than 1/250 sec. In terms of film, fine-grained material with high contrast and a tendency towards warm colors is recommended to compensate for the haze that is often present. Fuji Velvia, pushed up a notch to 100 ASA, meets all these requirements.

Fremont Street Motifs

Downtown, centered around Fremont Street, is the older core of the city, still showing the building pattern of the original railroad town. Due to the modern canopy (the Fremont Street Experience) on Fremont Street, it is no longer possible to capture the classic promotional photo of Union Plaza with Vegas Vic and Vegas Vicky, the world-famous cowboy figures at the Pioneer Club, and the Plaza Hotel in the background. The many drooping lights also disrupt wide-angle overviews. However, with medium telephoto focal lengths, one can discern numerous intriguing details from the influx of impressions. They installed a good 2 million light bulbs on the underside of the canopy for the Fremont Street Experience, capable of producing more than 60,000 shades of color. A good 50 million LEDs replaced them in 2019. They are used to create spectacular multimedia shows every hour on the hour between 18:00 and 23:00. A tripod is helpful to capture sharp individual sequences from these displays.

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