Photo sites around Las Vegas

[David Higgs]

I've got a mid life crisis trip booked for Sept 2010, I live in the UK and 4 of my medical school contemparies are going on a weeks trip to the USA. We have 8 days flying in/out Las Vegas and are hiring Harleys for the trip (I told you it was a mid life crisis trip!).

The route is up for discussion this weekend, I'll be taking my MF rather than LF gear (space issues), any recommendations for must see areas, we'll be doing 150-250 miles a day, so some time but not lots for photography, but its an opportunity...

Any advice from the US guys here?

[Tom Monego]

When in Las Vegas don't miss the Neon Museum aka Neon Graveyard in North Las Vegas. About 50 miles North of Las Vegas is the Valley of Fire, red to white sandstone formations, an easy day trip. Another 150miles North is Zion National Park, the north Kolob section is the least visited and has some nice trails. The main section of the park is north of Springdale Utah and has a bus service to get around, rent some water shoes, in Springdale and hike up to the Subway. The Grand Canyon is just south of Las Vegas 100miles or so, also a not to miss.
Bryce NP, and Cedar Breaks National Monument, another 50-100miles past Zion. Go out another 100mile circle and you get to Page, Arizona, with the Antelope Canyons, Horseshoe Curve in the Colorado River. A drive/ride from Zion to Page really gets you into the American Southwest, and numerous time zones, different for Nevada, Utah, Arizona and the Navaho Nation.
Go south from Las Vegas and you are heading for Los Angeles and southern California.
Remember to have a lot of water with you, it is very hot there, 100 degrees F is normal for the summer, often hotter. especially if you are traveling exposed on the Harleys.

Enjoy,
Tom

[rdenney]

First off, I trust that you have experience highway cruising on a very large motorcycle. That is not for beginners. You'll be in a part of the country where a problem could mean little or no help for hours at least, especially as you get away from Las Vegas (in nearly any direction), and absolutely as you leave the interstate highways, which I hope you will do. It is a desert, after all. Do take seriously your water requirements. Do take seriously the importance of sun control--it will be hot, but not as hot as it will feel if you have second-degree burns on exposed skin. (I worked in Las Vegas designing their traffic signal system 15+ years ago, and I saw a lot of tourists with deep and serious sunburns--bad enough to ruin their vacations at least. The lack of humidity means less in the atmosphere to absorb UV before it fries your skin.)

Secondly, don't underestimate the vibration your equipment will receive. Pack it with lots of very loose padding to damp vibration. I've even had label rings on lenses unscrew themselves.

Thirdly, don't underestimate distances. 150 miles might not get you as far as you think in that part of the country. Get good state maps or study the distances in Google carefully.

There was a thread a couple of weeks ago on this very topic, with lots of suggestions about where to go within striking distance of Las Vegas. Those suggestions included Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire State Park (both of these are close to LV and therefore good one-day shake-down trips), the Virgin River Canyon (along I-15 across the corner of Arizona up into Utah), the western part of the Colorado Plateau, which includes Cedar Breaks National Monument and Zion National Park, and the Grand Canyon. You can't go wrong with any of these, and all of them together to add up to a month without getting far under the surface.

Rick "be safe" Denney

[David Higgs]

Cheers Rick, I'm the only photographer on the trip so it will be a compromise. Spent a bit of time in the Oz outback and cannot imagine it will be worse than that but understand your concerns. I spend most of my life on 2 wheels and have the highest civilian qualification here in the UK, I'm a registered mechanic and also a Doc so have a good skillset for the trip but agree with your points. I'm taking my Fuji Rangefinders which are pretty robust, but plan on having them well padded as you say.
Thanks for the suggestions so far.

[rdenney]

Cheers Rick, I'm the only photographer on the trip so it will be a compromise. Spent a bit of time in the Oz outback and cannot imagine it will be worse than that but understand your concerns. I spend most of my life on 2 wheels and have the highest civilian qualification here in the UK, I'm a registered mechanic and also a Doc so have a good skillset for the trip but agree with your points. I'm taking my Fuji Rangefinders which are pretty robust, but plan on having them well padded as you say.
Thanks for the suggestions so far.

As they would say in the Outback (at least in the movies), good on ya'.

Rick "have fun" Denney

[LF4Fun]

Death Valley is another option, about 2 hours from LV.

[Photojeep]

When in Las Vegas don't miss the Neon Museum aka Neon Graveyard in North Las Vegas. About 50 miles North of Las Vegas is the Valley of Fire, red to white sandstone formations, an easy day trip. Another 150miles North is Zion National Park, the north Kolob section is the least visited and has some nice trails. The main section of the park is north of Springdale Utah and has a bus service to get around, rent some water shoes, in Springdale and hike up to the Subway. The Grand Canyon is just south of Las Vegas 100miles or so, also a not to miss.
Bryce NP, and Cedar Breaks National Monument, another 50-100miles past Zion. Go out another 100mile circle and you get to Page, Arizona, with the Antelope Canyons, Horseshoe Curve in the Colorado River. A drive/ride from Zion to Page really gets you into the American Southwest, and numerous time zones, different for Nevada, Utah, Arizona and the Navaho Nation.
Go south from Las Vegas and you are heading for Los Angeles and southern California.
Remember to have a lot of water with you, it is very hot there, 100 degrees F is normal for the summer, often hotter. especially if you are traveling exposed on the Harleys.

Enjoy,
Tom

As a resident of Las Vegas, I felt a bit of clarification might be in order, I hope you don't mind Tom.

The neon bone yard is actually curently under construction and I don't know when the re-opening will be. It started out as a dumping ground for old casino signage, both neon and tracer lights but people started going there to shoot images and then movies and commercials so they're going to spruce it up. Admission prices seem to vary but expect at least $10 per person.

The Grand Canyon is actuall a little over 4 hours away (even on a harley) to the east. Don't forget Hoover dam. By the time you get here, the new bridge might be finished so you may not automatically go over the dam to go between Nevada and Arizona. I'm told this new bridge will have a pull off area to shoot the dam.

In addition to Tom's very comprehensive list, I would add Red Rock Canyon. It's just west of Las Vegas about 20 minutes. Think the desert southwest in miniature. If you are interested in mountain views, try Mount Charleston just north of Las Vegas. It's much cooler than the valley floor at any time of the year.

Believe Tom when he says to always have water on hand. And drink it often! If you get to the point you are suddenly very thirsty, you could be in trouble. Our heat is very dry and can dry you out before you know it, especially on a motorcycle.

September is usually the beginning of our cooling off period. Which means it shouldn't get above 105F (40.5C) until after 3pm. (It was 110 (43C) here yesterday.) The desert southwest can be a very beautiful place in September so your image making shoud be very rewarding.

Best,
Photojeep

[SW Rick]

Just saw today a new posting on Steve Sieren's blog about Landscape Photography in Las Vegas: http://stevesieren.wordpress.com/

May be just what you're looking for!

[Laura_Campbell]

Death Valley is another option, about 2 hours from LV.

I live in Shoshone, CA, next door to Death Valley on the south eastern border of the park. Death Valley is dangerously hot this time of year and I wouldn't recommend visiting the park unless you're driving an air conditioned car. Temperatures this week reached 120F at Furnace Creek, and 114F in the Amargosa Desert (Shoshone, Death Valley Junction). Temperatures do tend to drop in the early morning hours providing a window between dawn and 7am where temperatures are in the upper 80's and low 90's.

Rhyolite is fun to visit and isn't far from Vegas.

[John Jarosz]

Sounds like a fun trip. If you are traveling with non-photographer motorcyclists, then I'm sure your photography will not the primary objective. That's fine. Depending on your film sensitivity there can be a lot of UV from the big skies that can make your negatives quite harsh. Polarizers help a lot in that part of the country.

If it were my trip, I would ride into California (southwest) and find highway 395. Going north, it follows the eastern slopes of the Sierra nevada mountains. Very beautiful country. Lots of small towns to stop in at night that are not too far apart. (Lone Pine, Bishop, Big Pine, Independence). At Bridgeport you could stop at Bodie, a very picturesque ghost town on the California/Nevada border. You can continue up to South Lake Tahoe, gamble if you like and make that you turn around point. You could retrace your route back or return thru Nevada further east. Nevada will be much hotter and much more barren. Death Valley is beautiful but it would be a challenge on a bike.
8 days is 1200 miles at 150 miles/day. Even going all the way to South Lake Tahoe, you'd be around 1000 miles.

This website has a lot of info on California motorcycle roads;
CA Motorcycle Roads (http://www.pashnit.com/motoroads.htm)

Highway 395 is my favorite road in California.

John

[David Higgs]

thanks everyone certainly lots to think about - good luck to the Yanks on saturday in the football, sorry i mean Soccer :)