I have a couple questions.

I want to take pictures of neon signs at night. I know, the whole strip, but which sites specificaly have the best glizty, bright, neony, signs? I want to see the cowboy, the buxom cowgirl crossing her legs, and of course a "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. The post card shots.

2. I'm flying in and staying on the Strip, don't care where so I won't ask about hotels. But, I heard the Valley of Fire, and Red Rock state park you don't want to miss. Is there any other way to get to those places, or Hoover Dam, if you're not renting a car? It seems stupid to rent a car when your staying on the Vegas Strip.


Thanks for any help.

These boards are pretty nice now that the trolls are gone.

You have to rent a car to go to Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire. Car rentals are pretty cheap in Vegas.
Hoover Dam might possibly have some kind of tour where you take a bus, look into it.(We always stay on the Strip, it is nice to take a day or 1/2 day and go out into the desert)
The entire Strip is so lit up and glitzy, I think you might just have a problem deciding which you like the best.
Have fun!

This message might get long-winded, so I apologize in advance.

Photography is one of my hobbies, and I have gone out many evenings taking night shots. Usually, I will find one subject and take 1/2 to 1 roll of film per subject trying differnt light and time exposure settings. One thing that I have found is that I continuously underestimate the amount of ambient light. Set the time for the exposure a little less than you think you will need. Also, close your aperture a little more than you think is appropriate. In most cases, the buildings are all floodlit, so this provides more light than you think is available.

Here are a few of my favorite spots:

1) The "Welcome To Las Vegas" sign. It is located on the strip, south of Mandalay Bay. There is a large median on which you can set your tripod up without worrying too much about traffic.

2)The volcano at the Mirage, both erupting and simply floodlit. Try setting up on the south side of it with Treasure Island in the background.

3) The neon sign on the Flamingo hotel as taken from in front of Caesars Palace. Nothing says "Vegas" like pink neon!

4) The strip, looking south, from the moving walkway into Caesars. There are three walkways. Take the one in the middle of the block directly across from the Flamingo. About halfway in to the hotel, the moving walkway comes to an end. You will find yourself on an elevated concrete deck where another walkay begins to complete the journey into the casino. From this deck you should get a pretty good shot looking south to Paris. Construction of the new "Coliseum" sometimes messes this shot up.

5) A view of the entire strip. If you have a good telephoto lens, try driving out near the Red Rock Canyon area via the 215 "beltway". This area of town is largely under construction, and you can easily pull off the road and setup just about anywhere, since it's not largely developed. For a closer view of the strip, try the top level of the airport parking garage. This is a popular spot for locals who watch New Year's fireworks without having to brave the strip. The view from up there is mostly unobstructed.

6) Almost any view from the top of level of a parking garage for that matter. You can get some good shots from the garage at the Rio, Caesars, and if I remember correctly, the Golden Nugget downtown, to name a few.

Sorry if I rambled on too long.

Wow vegas local, thanks!

I made up a list of hotels that should be nice and glittery, I'm going to hit them all methodically walking up the Strip. Bellagio fountain and Treasure Island pirate battle definitely musts.
So is Flamingo.
I read a great place for lights is the intersection of the MGM, Excaliber, New York New York, and the Tropicana.

So, where is the cowgirl crossing her legs and the cowboy with pistols in his hands (? I think). On the Strip or downtown?

Is Fremont St worth a photo op?

Can you trust your camera's light meter for accurate reading for night? I'm not the best at manual everything just yet. I'm also bringing the Kodak pocket photoguide, 28-105mm lens, tripod.

The neon cowboy (Vegas Vic) and cowgirl (Sassy Sally) you are referring to are located on Fremont Street, downtown, under the light canopy. Whether they are notable subjects is a matter of opinion. If you happen to be down there, then I would say definitely go for it.

In my experience, the guides that tell you how to set the camera are not correct. In the case of Las Vegas, there is more light available than under normal circumstances. Try using the settings in the guide, try again following your light meter. Then, take one or two more with aperture settings that are more "closed" and time settings that are shorter than recommended. This way, you are sure to get at least one shot that is exposed correctly. Be aware that you absolutely must use a tripod for these shots. If you don't use a timed exposure, only some of the light bulbs that flash, will be lit.

Bring plenty of film, so that you won't mind taking 5 or 6 shots of each subject. (If you've got a car and need film, there are plenty of Wal Marts in town.)

For film development, I don't trust the pimply faced drug store clerks. If you've got a car, go to the Belz Factory Outlet mall, located about two miles south of Mandalay Bay on Las Vegas Boulevard. (Just keep going past Mandalay Bay - you can't miss it. It's huge.) Inside the northernmost entrance there is a Wolf's Camera. They will handle your film development professionally.

As far as the shot of the fountains at Bellagio, you might want to try this from the sidewalk in front of Paris, or try the backside of the show by setting up near the Bellagio's main lobby entrance. The show is huge, so a wide angle lens would come in really handy here.

The corner of Tropicana and Las Vegas Blvd is where NYNY, MGM, etc. are. It a good place to get shots, but I find the pedestrian bridge gets in my way when taking shots from the ground. On the other hand, you can get some good shots from the bridge if you can poke your camera lens through the chain link fence up there.

Good luck!

Vegaslocal has excellent tips. We just returned from a 4 day weekend. I took 280 pictures and only discarded about 30. My nighttime pictures came out better than those taken during day. I never used flash on the Strip or Fremont Street and so pleased with results. I was afraid I was not getting the volcano eruption at due to slow speed I was using but all 12 or so pics turned out great.

View of strip at night from top of Eiffel Tower another great spot, not to mention Paris itself at night. Didn't realize we didn't have solo night picture of Paris balloon until we got home but plenty of a lit Eiffel Tower and Arc.

The round Riviera Bldg at north end of strip another neon heaven photo op.

Fremont Street is so much fun. Only took 2 shots of the light show since it's constantly moving but even those turned out well.

We walked 11 hours the first day, from MGM to Stardust and back, stopping in most of the hotels. WEAR comfy shoes. Even then you'll be achy next morning.

Unfortunately, the fountains at Bellagio were not going the days we were there. High winds resulted in shutdown of show and on our last morning we tried one last time but they were down for maintenance...grrrr

Couple regrets:
1) Couldn't find the 'fabulous' LV sign. Thanks vegaslocal...we now know for next time where to find it. We saw the 'downtown' one but we were in middle of probably 6 lanes of traffic. 2) Also we decided to take Venetian canal/gondola pictures during day. NOT! Wished we had done them at night instead.

One more thing....if you have the time, check out the Luxor lobby. As beautiful as all the lobbies are on the Strip, this one is AWESOME!!! I went a little shutter crazy there too!