Obama Loves Vegas

President Obama chose Las Vegas for the first trip of his second term, and this time it was my turn to be part of the local pool. This basically meant that me and a reporter were carted around with the national press and rode in their fancy vans in the motorcade to and from the airport. Sadly, Obama did not make any special stops on this trip, just the speech on immigration reform at Del Sol High School. He was on the ground in Vegas for less than two hours. It was still fun though. The best part was having a different view when Obama stepped off Air Force One for the presidential wave. I've always been positioned on a riser directly across from the plane. This time I was on the ground, closer to the plane, and there was a nice cloud overhead that had been blocking the sun intermittently all morning. So I decided to go for a wide shot. It's my favorite one of the day.

Ladies of the Year

When I took the time to sit down and think about it, I realized that all of my most memorable photos from 2012 involved women. Everyone knows that images of women are used to sell Las Vegas, but those sex symbols are not the only kinds of ladies that live here. One of the great things about working for the local news is getting to expose the real people beneath the veneer of this often misunderstood city. This year, I've seen teen moms struggling to make ends meet, women trying to make their Vegas dance dreams come true, pageant princesses, dollar store divas, streetwalkers, proud strippers, prom queens, bingo stars, moms, boozers, athletes and drag queens.

These are my Ladies of the Year.

Even Better Than the Real Thing

I have been waiting for this week for a long time. Though I've lived in Vegas for several years, I've never photographed one of the most quintessential "Vegas" events, the annual Celebrity Impersonator Convention. At least in my mind it's a quintessential Vegas event. It was everything I had dreamed of and more. I cannot wait to go back next year. The best part was that every single impersonator I encountered was a lovely, amazing and gracious person. What a joy it was to hang with these folks and live in their world for a few hours. Check out more photos and Patrick Coolican's insightful Las Vegas Weekly column here.

Animal Attractions

A couple weeks ago, I was given the task of taking photos of all the places you could go to see live animals in the Las Vegas area. There is definitely a variety, from aquariums inside casinos to aquariums inside malls, to lions inside casinos and mermaids swimming in a large tank next to a Bass Pro Shop. You can watch flamingos fight during mating season while eating at a casino cafe. You can also ride a water slide through a shark tank a one local casino pool. Not to mention the little noted Las Vegas Zoo on North Rancho and the Bonnie Springs Petting Zoo out in Blue Diamond. There are definitely plenty of animals to see around here, if you are so inclined.