Monday, January 27, 2014

DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS WITH THE FUJIFILM X20

Living in Las Vegas means every day is a photo opportunity for me. I took my new Fujifilm X20 compact downtown with me to see what it would do with the Fremont Street Experience. It's a ritual I perform with all of my new cameras. The temperature was a bone-chilling 62F, but the sun was bright, and I got a number of good shots with not a lot of trouble. Thumbnail versions of a fraction of the shots are included here: be advised that although these "thumbnails" are each 800 X 600, that's 1/25 of the area of the original 4000 X 3000 JPEG images. (Yes, I know how how to shoot RAW; no, I didn't do so today. I'm still exploring the camera. Sod off.)
Here is the Plaza, formerly known as "Jackie Gaughan's Union Plaza." It occupies a prominent spot, on the west side of Main Street at Fremont. When walking the Experience east to west, it is the hotel/casino appearing at the end of the tunnel. At night, when the neon comes out in our part of the world, it actually constitutes the light at the end of the tunnel.
The steakhouse in the dome at the Plaza. The name is politically OK: "Oscar" is a former mayor and is married to one (a mayor, not a "broad," although she is one, technically).
The Golden Gate, also at the corner of Main and Fremont. Note the tippy-top of the Stratosphere in the background. Homeless person included in photo so that you know I'm a serious street photographer and not just a travel snapper.
That's New Vegas for you: the D (formerly "Fitzgerald's") has an outdoor bar, and it accepts Bitcoin.
The Mob Museum, aka the "National Organized Crime and Law Enforcement Museum." My spiritual birthplace.
Another photo that you must accept makes me a serious photographer: some guy playing with his smartphone outside the Golden Nugget (though that ad for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band doesn't help my case for seriosity much).