SOOC Saturday - Underneath the Parasols - Wynn Las Vegas

Really, it's the bottom side of one of the many parasols at the Parasol Up - Parasol Down Lounge at the Wynn in Las Vegas.



The entire ceiling is decorated with beautiful upside down parasols that twirl. It's an amazing space to enjoy a drink.

I found it hard to get a decently composed shot of the parasols - there are so many of them and I didn't have much time to spend finding the perfect spot to shoot them without being bumped by someone with a drink.

While the above capture is SOOC, these next ones are not - I used the Pioneer Woman's Soft and Faded Action.

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Hoover Dam

The scene from my last post was the vast Lake Mead, which feeds into the Hoover Dam and the Colorado River. We had the privilege of visiting last weekend during a trip to Las Vegas. The Hoover Dam is a short 40 minute drive from Vegas, and a detailed visit only takes a half day. Visit in the morning - it's less crowded and cooler.



A bonus - the new O'Callaghan-Tillman bridge, which spans the sides of gorge just downstream of the Dam, is now open to pedestrian traffic. The above picture is actually a stitched panoramic of six photos I took while on the bridge.

And a view of the bridge from the Dam, with the original tour elevators in the foreground:


We took a tour down to the Power plant portion of the Dam, giving us a glimpse of the turbines generating electricity from the water pass through the Dam.


It's an awesome sight to visit, so if you are ever in Vegas, take a half day from the lights and slot machines.

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Cross Post - My First Blurb Book

Cross Posted from my other blog:

I finally started and completed my first Blurb Photo book. I signed up on Blurb several months ago after seeing some of their gorgeous books on the various blogs I peruse. I signed up and downloaded the software. And did nothing.

I think that was a month or two ago.

This past week, I received an email with a 15% discount code. I guess I'm a sucker for a sale, because I finally opened up the software and started creating a book featuring the pictures I took during last month's trip to London. I knew I had to act fast, because the discount code is only valid for a week.

Fortunately, the Blurb BookSmart software is really easy to use, with lots of useful layout templates. You can even modify the standard templates and save them as your own. I created a 40 page, 11"x13" book in about six hours. I uploaded it and ordered.



This may be the solution to getting my daily pictures out of electronic format. I've lost my desire to scrapbook and don't want to get heavy into the Digital Scrapbooking thing (although this may be considered similar). I haven't printed out pictures since last August and well, I've taken several hundred (maybe even a thousand) since then. Blurb has an option to "slurp" my blog entries into a book, so I may check that out next.

This badge will preview the first 15 pages of the book. I'll report back once I receive it!

London Visit M...

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Book Preview

Oh, and for those who may be inclined to try Blurb out, the 15% Promo code is FIFTEENOFF, valid until June 30 at 11:59pm, Pacific Time.

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Wall of Cans

For next week's Arts Night at school, my friend Jill is putting together several displays outlining the use of graphic design and art in marketing materials. One example - designs on a soda can.



Which designs stand out the most? For me, the Classic one - The bright red Coke can.

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