I think the old saying “I’m not paranoid, I know they are watching me” comes into play with today’s post.  As mentioned before, there’s a bit of catching up to do and this clearly qualifies since it comes from our Vegas trip back in .. wait for it…  November 2012.  Turns out that Vegas is a great hub for getting to awesome photography sites such as Zion and Red Rock Canyon.  The latter of which will be featured in some upcoming posts.  At least once a year we like to pack up all the camera equipment and head to Sin City.  While out there on November, we decided to take a walk around the strip and opted to bring the mini-Beast (the 70-200) out with us – definitely more manageable than the Beast in the crowds and doesn’t get in the way of gambling (hehehe).   Admittedly, we have been to Vegas A LOT and always looking for something different to explore.  Fortunately, Vegas is a target rich environment when it comes to photography – when you have exhausted the view at street level, you can always look up and see a whole new perspective.

This is when the zoom comes in handy because when I refer to looking up I mean looking waaaaay up.  Those Vegas architects like things big and tall.  It also appears they like to embellish their products with all kinds of interesting sculptures and decorations.  Take for instance the statue above of a soldier standing on a hmmmm … a dogreptafish.  Yeah, I’m not really sure what it is either but interesting none the less.  It has been awhile now, but think this was taken outside of Caesars or possibly the Venetian based on the arches in the background.

Moving from the strange to the downright horrifying, here is the top of Harrah’s Casino.

In case you are having problems making the association, in my book all jesters are clowns in tights – the horror, the horror.  This is one of those things I’d rather remain oblivious to – I’ll take the blue pill please.  For now on every time I walk past that casino I’m going to get the chills.  Don’t be fooled, those are not horns, but rather blow guns to shoot darts into unsuspecting visitors, swoop in and take them back to their lair where they proceed to skin them alive for the pure enjoyment of it all (you think I’m kidding!?!)

Speaking of dart guns – here’s another one I captured.

Clearly not as creepy as those clowns were.  I can’t tell if the saucer shape was part of the sculpture or not – possibly a halo but then again it might be a certified UFO monitoring us from above – let’s hope it isn’t aliens making assumptions about humans by watching people in VEGAS .. eesh.

Hit the jump to view a few more shots of the Vegas high life

The following statue is definitely from the Venetian and it needed every inch of reach from the mini-Beast.

I am partial to this particular statue because it reminds me of my high school days where my mascot was a Griffin.  Well, technically a Griffin and a Cyclone – a school so cool it needed two icons.  Oh, in case you didn’t notice, that is a mythical Griffin at the base of the picture.  This whole structure  is actually sitting on top of a large column.  Something about the statue has always intrigued me – thanks to the zoom I can finally answer a nagging question

Wait.. still can’t tell…

Here we go

Okay, it doesn’t appear to be flipping me off – that is a relief. but now I’m curious as to where the other wing is?  Uhhh what is that above her head!!!  There’s already a halo in the statue so that can’t be the excuse – same shape and location as the previous sighting – WE ARE BEING WATCHED (if not by aliens, then definitely the NSA!

As far as sky decorations go, the Venetian has the largest collection I could find.  They have statue after statue mounted on their terraces as well as an obelisk.  Not sure of the connection to Italy on the latter – if you walk down to the end of the strip you will see plenty of those decorating the Luxor which is more appropriately based on the Egyptian theme.

Did I mention they have a ton of these status?

They would definitely make for some cool chess pieces.

I liked the composition of the following shot – the one above was ruined by the bad angle to the side of the building, but I was able to work that out of the picture with a slight walk back down the street.

I also really liked the composition of the following shot – the mirrored glass of the Venetian hotel provides a unique canvas for the large hotel across the street and again features the mighty Griffin

Check that, on closer inspection it doesn’t appear to be a Griffin at all.  Wings, check, tail check, lions head ..negatory.  It looks more like a gorilla head than a lion.  I can’t say I’m familiar with that creature from my Classic Civilization days.  Guess it could be a reference to the  scary as hell monkeys in the Wizard of Oz.  Wait, weren’t those monkeys blue as well?

We’ve come to the end of my Vegas statue shoot.  Can’t wait to make the trek out there this year and see if I can hunt down some other interesting “Eyes in the Sky”.  Maybe I’ll get a good shot of an alien (and yes, it did just occur to me that Area 51 is near there).