Re: [Leica] Leica for Las Vegas Night

["Kim Lau" <kimlau@hotmail.com>]

>
>  I am planning to go to Vegas tomorrow.  It is my first time to be at 
>night
>like Vegas and wonder how I take good pictures of the night life there.  
>Any
>advice will be appreciated.
>
>1. Leica M or R
>2. What range of focal length (wide angle or normal)?
>3. Do I need a flash or is it bright enough to do without it or do I need
>tripod?
>4. Any tip for taking pictures there?
>
>  I have hardly taken pictures at night with lots of lights.  Thank you and
>wish you a Happy New Year!
>
>Best Wishes,
>David
>
Hi David,

I was in Las Vegas last month and I used a Leica R8 with the following 
lenses:  35 Summicron, 24 Elmarit, and 70-180 Vario-Elmarit.  Most of the 
shots were taken with Fuji Provia 100F film.  I would strongly recommend 
taking a tripod to get the night shots if you want to use slow, fine grained 
film.  Metering:  I generally used Matrix metering and bracketed +/- 1/2 
stop.  I used flash with slow speed rear-sych to get the desired effect 
(blurred people, streaked lights from cars) in the foreground.  I don't 
think flash is of much use for the neon signs itself because they are very 
bright.  If you use spot metering, I would take a reading from a medium red 
sign (not bright white unless use add exposure).

Recommended viewspots:

Downtown:  outside Golden Nugget Casino (You can get a shot of Vegas Vic and 
Vicki) I used the 35mm lens here (matrix metering with no compensation was 
the best exposure)  For shots mainly of the neon signs (use Matrix at and up 
to +1 for your bracketing).  The feel of downtown is different from the 
strip.  Visit the Horseshoe Casino.

Strip:
New York New York Casino:  I would recommend going across the street at the 
Tropicana Casino to get this shot (wait until sunset so the sky is dark but 
not completely black.  matrix metering at and - 1/2 was best for me.  
Another great shot here is to use a telephoto (I used 70-180) to get a shot 
of the strip with traffic and the Paris Eiffel Tower in the distance (great 
sunset shot).  I also used a telephoto the get a tight shot of the Statue of 
Liberty.  From the New York New York Casino another interesting shot is a 
juxtaposition of the Brooklyn Bridge and Eiffel Tower.

Bellagio:  great shot using a 24mm (or 21mm) of the Eiffel Tower, Arc de 
Triumph, Paris Casino across the street.  (Use matrix at and -1/2 for night 
shots)  There is a fountain show at Lake Bellagio every half hour that is 
not to be missed.

Paris: Don't miss the fountain at the front of the casino and the Arc de 
Triumph from the entrance of the casino.

Mirage:  There is a great view of the strip from the parking garage.

Caesar's Palace:  Interesting shot of the fountain at the front of the 
casino.

Stratosphere:  Has a great overview of the entire strip.  (go at sunset)

Outside Vegas:  go to Valley of Fire which is north of Las Vegas

If you just want to take 2 lenses I would take a 24mm (or 21mm) and a 35mm 
for 90% of the shots mentioned above.  If you don't want to bring a tripod, 
I think 400 speed film should be okay to get night shots from a distance.  
However, I would bring it and leave it at your hotel during the day until 
you are ready for the night shots.  Happy shooting!

Kim

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