Where have you been?

My photos are not the best in the world, in fact I have never published a single photo. But they are IMHO pretty good none the less. And I really only follow a few basic rules. 1) Interesting subject, 2) frame the picture nicely with either the subject centered or using the rule of thirds and 3) try to take sharp photos.

When shooting people it's important to not cut off hands, feet or arms and to avoid signs, trees, poles, whatever, from sticking ouf of the subjects head. Sounds pretty simple and I think the picture above represents the rules pretty well.


Unfortunately not every Tom, Dick, or Harry you ask on the street to take your one "Golden Memory" photo is interested in following rules...

Besides spending some quality time walking around with my father the best thing in Vegas for me was the Stratosphere. It's just a large tower with an observation deck and amusement rides at the top but man the view is just fantastic.


It's 350m (1150ft) tall and you can see everything in the Vegas area. We spent about a hour just looking around taking photos. As was recommended to me try to get there before sunset so you can see the city in the light of day, watch what could be a beautiful sunset, and finally see the city in all of its glory - lights blazing brightly.


My girlfriend was amazed at Vegas (although she shared my view that it's a two night stay, maximum). Her thoughts:

"Overwhelming lights everywhere. People everywhere, 24 hours a day. It is a lot nicer at night - during the day you can see all of the dirt and without the lights it is not very impressive. We also took a ride on the top of the highest tower in Las vegas and I was extremely scared!"


Ah, the thrill rides at the top of the Stratosphere are simply divine. We only rode one ride but next time, yes, there will be a next time for the Stratosphere, I will do all three. We rode The Big Shot which is simply a free-fall roller coster. Without warning it shoots you to the top of the Stratosphere where you free-fall for several seconds. Then back down and right back up into free-fall again. After several cycles it finally ends. Absolutely a blast!

We were there for two nights and unless you are the gambling type or like forking out big bucks to see some has-been star perform then two nights in Sin City are more than enough. Hell, the Bellagio fountains go off every ten or fifteen minutes - and how many times can someone really watch watter shooting up into the air? The Venetian shopping area, complete with canals, was sort of cool. The roof had sky painted on it. Caesar's Palace was also pretty neat.

Wow, Vegas. Of all the places in America that I care about Vegas isn't one of them. Okay, Vegas is the home of Master Toddy's and I do have some family there but really now? Could there be a better example of America's excess and general disregard for any respectful coexistence with our environment?


I mean really, there is even a monument to Siegfried and Roy.


But hey, it's a tourist spot and we were tourists so why not.


Plus I hear Vegas is a great place to go if you want a job. No matter how lazy or illegal you are.

Before we headed into Las Vegas we stopped to check out Lake Mead. I've never been there but have heard it's nice but somewhat busy.

Here is a pretty funny and pretty good self-photo my girlfriend took at the dam. A slightly better angle and the bridges would be going into one ear and out the other!



As I said earlier she was crazy about big American cars. She has already decided that we need at least a Yukon/Tahoe if not a Suburban. I like the idea of another truck (like the one here) but so long as its larger than our current car, seen below, I'll be happy.

I don't know the story behind the statue or why it's lucky to rub their feet (there are two of them) but it is. Anyone know?

I have given up on Adobe Photoshop (too expensive) and have taken up the call of open software once again. In addition to Open Office and Media Coder (which has the fantastic universal media player MPUI included) I now use GIMP Shop. It is very similar to Photoshop but is free. I have almosted mastered it as well as I did Photoshop but the controls are somewhat different so it will take a while to work out the bugs.

An example of my GIMP Shop handiwork is this photo above. First my girlfriend took a photo of me and then I took one of her. After a few minutes of play with the GIMP we have a lovely picture with both of us!

Hoover Dam lies on the boarder of Nevada and Arizona. This plaque denotes the boarder so while I was standing in Nevada my girlfriend was standing in Arizona.


Here is one of my sweetie posing infront of one of the turbine intake towers. On the tour we learned that the electricity is only a by-product of the main goal which is the storage of water for future use.


One of my in front of the dam.


And one of my sweetie in front of the dam. If only there were a way to splice these two photos together.

While the loss of the dam's electrical capacity would be a big loss its water collecting function is irreplaceable. As such the construction of an impressive bridge, known as the Hoover Dam Bypass was begun in 2005.


The idea of the bridge is to prevent terrorists from blowing up the dam using a rental truck full of explosives. Traffic is currently allowed across the top of the dam but by 2010 people will be diverted across the new bridge thus circumventing the entire problem.


It will span about two thousand feed and be nine hundred feet above the river below. These construction photos scare me enough just looking at them, I could not imagine driving across such a bridge let alone building it!

Maybe one reason it's so amazing is the natural beauty of the surrounding area.


Even where technology meets nature there is a sort of natural beauty.


Without doubt the best way to view the dam is to fork out the twenty dollars to go on one of the dam tours. After a somewhat boring trip into the depths of the dam there is a wonderful viewing area at the top.

All there is to really say is that the Hoover Dam is very impressive and is something that everyone should see. I can't really say why it is so impressive; it simply is.


Perhaps because it is so massive. Perhaps because it was built in only four years from 1931 to 1935. Perhaps because it supplies the water and electricity for many areas of western America.


Whatever the reason it's difficult to visit and not be amazed.

After a much longer delay than I expected we are back in business here at OC Photography. I will begin posting again and will do my best to avoid large gaps like this in the future. If I remember correctly we left off on our adventure between the River and Vegas, when we drove through he desert (sometimes along Route 66) to the Hoover Dam.