Friday My Town Shoot Out` "Dressed For Christmas"

Here are some Christmas photos from my town of Las Vegas, Nevada.  I hope you're prepared because this is a long one.  I love, love, love Christmas and wouldn't you know, my first field trip with my camera club was to the Cactus Garden Christmas Lights at Ethel M. Chocolate factory, so I got just a teeny tiny bit carried away.  I took 194 photos during my field trip and it was hard narrowing it down to fit into the town shoot out because I wanted to share them all.  (it's the first time I've ever had any night time photos turn out, so I'm excited to be showcasing these)  Anyhow, I managed to put my favorites on here so I hope you can endure the tour.  Buckle up!

My first two shots come from inside Arizona Charlie's Casino in the banquet room where my camera club annual award dinner was held.  This was three nights before the field trip.  Remember, if you want to see detail just click on the photo and it will enlarge.

Three angels caroling

Two angels caroling by the Christmas Tree.

Here's a couple of photos taken in my neighborhood.

After looking at Rebecca's blog I grabbed my tripod,

hopped into the car and drove around the block.

These were taken at 11:00 p.m.

I was nervous too.  You know how touchy some people can get.

This is across the street from my house.

Around the corner and down the block.

Same house as above

(Click on phot to see more detail)

Another house around the corner.

Next up I'll take you on a tour of the Ethel M. Chocolate Factory Garden of Lights.

It's quite a tour.  I hope you're in for the long haul.

And remember to click on the photos for more detail.

That's my friend Gayla in the picture. 

Click on the photo to see the weird effect of the lights on her body. 

She looks like she's a ghost walking right through them.

The photo above is my very favorite.  I just love the colors and how the light reflects onto the rocks.

And inside the building,

Pretty brown boxes topped with bows.

Well, that's the end of the road folks.

It was a long drive.

Thanks for not asking, "Are We There Yet?"

Please click here to see more towns dressed for Christmas.

Thanks for seeing through my eyes.

Friday My Town Shoot Out ~ My Town's Premier Attraction

(Please enlarge photo to see a more detailed image)

Believe it or not,

the sign that welcomes visitors to Las Vegas

is one of my town's premier attractions.

The sign was first erected in 1959 and was designed by Betty Willis.

The circles that encompass the letters that spell Welcome,

represent silver dollars because Nevada is nicknamed

The Silver State.

According to Wikipedia,

the design is characteristic of the googie architecture movement.

Over the years, the sign has been moved several times

farther south on Las Vegas Boulevard due to the city's growth.

It is so popular now,

that it has its own parking lot so that visitors can stop

and take pictures of this historical landmark.

Other premier attractions include casinos, shows,

helicopter rides, hiking in Red Rock, Bonnie Springs Ghost Town,

Valley of Fire, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas Raceway, Mt. Charleston,

And

One of my favorite places in the summer time

is boating at Lake Mead.

(CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE)

Lake Mead is one of the largest man made lakes in the world.

It spans over 247 square miles of shoreline.

When the lake is full it can hold over 28 million acre-feet of water

  the equivalent to about 2 years of normal average river flow from the Colorado River.

(that's about 9 trillion gallons)

There is an abundance of fish in Lake Mead

and ducks too.

This is a fisherman's dream.

(Click to enlarge)

There was even one fish who thought he was a duck.

I think in addition to the attractions I have already listed,

one of the most popular reasons people come to Las Vegas

is to get married in the wedding chapels.

We even have drive-thru wedding chapels.

I wanted to get photos of all the chapels

but I just did not get around to it.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed my perspective on my town's premier attraction.

To see more town attractions

please visit here where you will find a list of participants

on the sidebar of the main page.

This week's theme was chosen by Kent in Montana.

Friday Town Shoot Out~ Places of Worship

Let me preface my post by saying that this week's theme, chosen by Rebecca at The Dusty Cellar

was a very good subject.

Unfortunately,

I didn't do her theme justice and my photos are pieces of crap.

I procrastinated and so I wasn't able to capture the type of architecture I wanted in my photos.

I tried playing with the effects to make my pictures pop more,

but I even messed that up and made one of the photos worse.

So, I present to you what I call very ugly places of worship.

Very modern buildings that have no character whatsoever.

Bear with me.

I am embarrassed to post this

but I don't want to miss a shoot so I have no choice

unless I want to be really late in posting.

I'm even more embarrassed to post this one.

I tried to undo my color changes but I couldn't.

I played with it some more and this is what my editing skills created.

I don't like it at all.

Much better, but still not up to my standards of where I want to be

and the architecture is just so blah! 

there's no personality in the building

even though it has more than the previous two.

This is the prettiest building of the four churches I took photos of

but it is still so modern.

Again, I see no personality in the building.

A place of worship of another kind.............

Whenever I need to feel close to God

or feel connected to the universe

I gaze up into the sky

and I breathe in the beauty of the swirling clouds

that remind me of cotton balls and soft pillows.

I outline the shapes and colors with my mind's eye

filing the image away for future comfort.

 I am mesmerized by the sun peeking through,

casting light onto the dark shadows

proving to me that every dark cloud has a silver lining.

When I gaze up into the sky

I see miracles that I was too busy to notice before

I feel God's presence all around me

And I am grateful that I can see beyond the clouds.

To see the beauty in other places of worship please visit

Friday Town Shoot Out main page for a list of participants.

You will see amazing architecture and amazing photography.

You won't be disappointed, I can promise you that.