Vegas and daytrips, part 2
· Tuesday January 20, 2009
Day 3
On the morning of our third day, we did a bit of shopping at a(n excessively) large outlet mall. Both my mom and I bought a pair of shoes, and at quite a reasonable price. I do wish I’d walked past the first hundred stores or so to see the Sketchers outlet first, though. Alas, my shopping inexperience in a big-city outlet mall showed through here.
Afterward, we drove to Red Rock State Park which is just a short trip into the hills west of Las Vegas. The light was quite variable, and I didn’t feel like I got many ‘keepers’. It was a nice drive, though (fashioned as a one-way loop through the park), and we got out to walk a few miles of their trails.
This was one instance where my 35mm macro didn’t quite feel right for the situation. Walking along the path, I didn’t see many compositions that were quite right for the focal length; 35mm was too long to capture the expansiveness of the landscape, but it was too short to pick out interesting details in the distance. Shooting near dusk was also not ideal, given that I wasn’t carrying my
I’m sure more time in the park would have exposed a much larger set of potential images (no pun intended), but the scenery was just not immediately astounding in the way that entering a national park makes your jaw drop. That was to come the next day.
Day 4
I have had the great fortune to visit a variety of national parks in the states. At the top of my list is still Yellowstone National Park. Its sulfurous features and landscape comprise one of the most incredible sights I have ever seen. The other parks I’ve seen each have their oooh- and aaah- views, too: Acadia in Maine, Badlands in South Dakota, Redwood, Yosemite and Death Valley in California, and now Zion in Utah!!
The following picture was taken on the highway between Las Vegas and Zion:
Hidden Valley
I think it’s interesting not just because of the slightly ironic nature of the location name, but also the various degrees of motion blur as noted by my friend Niamh. Due to the moderately wide field of view (covering a range of distances from the camera, itself within a car speeding along at 70 mph), the motion blur looks almost hyperbolic.
Visiting Zion only a couple days after Death Valley was incredible because of the stark contrast between the two. Death Valley is, as the name suggests, a truly extreme environment and well below sea level. Zion is set high in the mountains, within noble forests and majestic sandstone canyons. For me, photographically, Death Valley was dominated by the shapes and textures of its features; on the other hand, Zion was dominated by its beautiful colours.
Zion
Driving through Zion in only a day was extremely frustrating for me. I know I passed three definite places that would have made awesome pictures had we had the time/space to stop— and this was just along the scenic drive!! I know I will return to this park someday, to more fully explore its beauty.
Zion Lodge
Day 5
Our last full day in Vegas was spent at the Valley of Fire State park, about an hour’s drive northeast of LV. Unfortunately, the light was very overcast that day, so the interesting stone formations lost some of their texture and definition in photos. Though I didn’t have any pics I was overly excited about showing, I would definitely give this park two thumbs up for interest, especially as a daytrip from Vegas :-)
Thus marked the end of our vacation in Vegas. I had a great time, but really it was just a taster session and could have spent easily a week in either DV or Zion. I hope all of you dear readers have the opportunity to visit these locations someday!!
— Emery Ku
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