Good bye Sahara Las Vegas

Ron NiebruggeLas Vegas, Nevada, Photos, Travel 14 Comments

Inside of the Sahara Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Inside of the Sahara Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Before my quick trip for a conference in Las Vegas this spring, I heard the Sahara Hotel and Casino would be closing down for good – actually this upcoming weekend will be the last for this 60 year old Las Vegas icon  as it closes for good on May 16th.

Back in the day, this was one of the most popular places to “hang outs”  if you were someone famous – or, wanted to see someone famous.  The Sahara often hosted members of the Rat Pack including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.  Famous comedians like Johnny Carson have performed shows here, heck in 1964, even the Beatles stayed here!

So, I figured I better hop on the monorail so that I could get some images of the place before it was too late.  I’m kind of sorry I hadn’t photographed some of the other old hotels before they were imploded.

It is funny, typically you only have a few seconds to get a photo from inside a casino before security moves in and asks you to stop.  I had a feeling that employees about to lose their jobs might be a little more complacent.  Sure enough – I photographed away without problem. Even a security guard walked by without saying anything.

Makes me wonder what the rules are if you stay the last night at a hotel.  Will they even bother cleaning the rooms afterwords?  Can you keep the robes?  Do they bother with a room deposit?  I’m guessing things are probably pretty crazy that last night.  I also wonder what will happen to the mono-rail station.  This is the only stop on the North end of the Strip, it would be too bad to lose this convenient mass transit option – but the stop leads you right through the casino.  I suppose they will come up with some kind of temporary work around.  Anyway, good bye Sahara.

Southwest Time-lapse

Ron NiebruggeTravel 9 Comments

On my last desert trip I shot a lot of 3D video and time-lapses.  I have been busy putting the time-lapses together, and since most of my subscribers here don’t have a way to view my 3D footage, I thought I would throw together some of the time-lapse clips in a 2D version so that they can be seen here.  My next step is to put together the 3D versions – I’m really looking forward to seeing how the clouds in the sky look in 3D!

The footage includes a variety of places mostly in Anza-Borrego and Tonto National Forest in Arizona, along with a clip from Las Vegas.  The last three scenes are my first attempts of filming from day to night – the results are pretty neat and I look forward to doing more.

V-22 Osprey

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel 5 Comments

V-22-Osprey, Ocotillo Wells, California.

V-22-Osprey, Ocotillo Wells, California.

I have heard plenty about this unique aircraft in the news over the years, but had never seen one in action.  This winter, as we were driving to a location to photograph the burrowing Owls, we were surprised to see one of these planes fly in and land at a remote dirt airstrip near Ocotillo Wells.  It was fascinating to see an airplane take off straight up into the air!  Then, as you can see in this photo, the engines slowly began to rotate forward until they were eventually facing straight ahead like a typical aircraft, and it flew off into the distance.  It was definitely one of those unexpected events I had to stop to photograph.

Mountain Snow

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 6 Comments

Mt. Alice, Chugach National Forest, Seward, Alaska.

Mt. Alice, Chugach National Forest, Seward, Alaska.

I captured this from the house last night with a short telephoto lens at around 10:00 p.m.  I love how the mountains look this time of year – a winters worth of snow accumulation gives them a lot of character.

Ocotillo

Ron NiebruggeAnza-Borrego, California, Photos, Travel 10 Comments

An Ocotillo at sunrise in Borrego Palm Canyon, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

An Ocotillo at sunrise in Borrego Palm Canyon, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California.

In the almost 5 years I have been doing this blog, I must admit, the last couple of weeks have been about as inactive as I have ever been.  It may be that way for a few more weeks until summer hits here in Alaska as I try to get caught up.

Now that I have added some more tools to my bag of tricks, it seems like there is far more work to do when I get home.  Not only do we have to keyword and process photos like we did in the past, but now I’m spending a ton of time compiling time-lapses, muxing 3D clips and overcoming frustrating new challenges like removing flicker!

Our rule of thumb has always been that we don’t take off on another trip until the previous one is completely processed – so that is what I’m working on as hard as I can – but it just doesn’t make very interesting blog fodder.

Fountain Hills Phone Book

Ron NiebruggeArizona, Phoenix, Photos, Shameless Self Promotion, Travel 3 Comments

Tonto National Forest, Arizona.

Tonto National Forest, Arizona.

Here is another cool cover that came in the mail recently – this photo of Tonto National Forest was used on the cover for the Fountain Hills – Rio Verde – Tonto Verde phone book.

As most of you know, we just spent a couple of weeks just outside of Fountain Hills this winter.  Although this area does sell well for us, I think a big reason we talk ourselves into re-visiting the region is for the amazing mountain biking at the McDowell Regional Park.  If I had to pick just one place to ride – I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I would pick McDowell even over Moab, Utah.  Well, along with the mountain biking, the mild winter weather helps too.  🙂

The Chandelier Bar

Ron NiebruggeLas Vegas, Nevada, Photos, Travel 10 Comments

Chandelier Bar in The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Chandelier Bar in The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, Nevada.

The first thing you see when you enter the Cosmopolitan from the Strip at street level, or from the pedestrian over-pass is the Chandelier Bar.  The Chandelier is very popular at night, and the subject of many visitor vacation photos during the day.

The Chandelier is a three story bar covered with a multi-million dollar, 65 foot tall chandelier made from some 2 million beaded crystals.  The top two levels, which you see in the top half of the above photo is completely enclosed in crystals.  Access to the middle level is gained from a small, inconspicuous stairway from either below or above, making it a bit of what the Las Vegas press called a secret room.

The top photo is from ground level looking up, the bottom photo is from the third level looking down.

Chandelier Bar in The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Chandelier Bar in The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas

Ron NiebruggeLas Vegas, Nevada, Photos, Travel 4 Comments

The Cosmopolitan along the Strip, Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Cosmopolitan along the Strip, Las Vegas, Nevada.

The main reason we took a quick detour over to Las Vegas was to photograph The Cosmopolitan.  The Cosmopolitan will be the last of the series of new hotel / casinos to open on the Strip for some time to come.  All of these of course were all started long before the Las Vegas economy tanked.

There are two more brand new towers on the Strip that were completely enclosed before construction was stopped a couple of years ago.  Even if construction was to begin again tommorow, they would be a couple of years out before being completed – and I don’t see construction on either one starting anytime soon.  So for now, they stand as stark reminders of the economic conditions in Las Vegas.

Fortunately I have no trouble avoiding the slots when I go to Vegas – so we are probably some of the few people who make money on our trips to Vegas.  🙂