Las Vegas is known for the many building facades and colorful themes displayed on the famous Las Vegas Boulevard strip. One can imagine standing under the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City or even ancient Egypt with the pyramids by hoovering around the grounds of such displays. My April featured shoot involves gold Isis wings, desert landscapes and a famous Las Vegas casino.
Las Vegas has many publications and magazines. One of my favorites is VegasRunway Fashion Magazine. Full of beautiful photography, fashion and creative artists this is a top notch publication. Submission to this publication was my primary focus for this photo session with Rachelle. The spring lay out ideas for the magazine was “Golden Eros” and the Egyptian theme was the desired look.
There are several casinos with the ancient Roman and Egyptian atmosphere in Las Vegas. The one selected for the backdrop of this photo session is located on the south end of the strip. The pyramids of Giza were constructed around 2600 BC. The casino we all enjoy, famous for the replication of the ancient pyramids, was constructed in 1993. Can you guess which one was chosen?
The day gallivanting on the grounds of this beautiful and well crafted casino was well spent. A four page spread was used in the publication of the spring edition of VegasRunway Fashion Magazine from our efforts. The enjoyment of working out a plan to capture the ancient Egyptian theme was the highlight of the entire project and getting published was just icing on the cake.
The inspiration of architecture as old as ancient Egypt is quite remarkable. Even though our photo shoot was not in a far away land, we could humbly reconstruct the vibe and feel of such a magical time and culture still translatable and appreciated over 4000 years later.
Scouting out locations for future photo shoots is a specialty of mine that I fully enjoy on a regular basis. On one of my many adventures around the Nelson Landing area I came across a wonderful hike along the lake. I spotted several coyotes, one with a limp and many desert creatures such as scorpions, large Chuckwallas and road runners. As the sun was heavy and setting, the limping coyote raced past me and as I looked up towards her direction, the light casted upon an amazing rock formation that instantly reminded me of an ancient Egyptian landscape. It was brilliant with the gold hues on the faces of these giant slabs of sandstone and topography. Perfect for the Golden Eros theme.
Rachelle had the wonderful idea of wearing the golden Isis wings. They stood out radiantly against the rock formations that resembled ancient Egyptian lands. Isis was a powerful Egyptian woman who has transformed over the years as a Goddess in the eyes of many cultures around the world. Isis was the daughter of Geb, god of Earth and the her mother was Nut, goddess of the sky. Isis was known to the ancient Egyptians as the mother and protector of the pharaohs.
Hiking barefooted in this desert was a challenge with the debris of broken glass, sharp pebbles and possible stinging desert creatures but Rachelle managed to hike up to the picture perfect settings. Most ancient Egyptians went barefooted so getting a taste of what their life was about was coming at us in full form. The rich ancient Egyptians would have shoes made of leather and sometimes woven papyrus or palm. I wonder if broken glass was a obstacle for the ancient barefooted Egyptian. The ancient Egyptians were the first to create the complex craft of glass making so this may have been a possibility.
A peace treaty is defined as an agreement between two or more parties to cease hostilities. Something we can always use more of in this world is peace. The first peace treaty on record in the world was found in ancient Egypt. The Egyptians were ingenious in all aspects of the word with their mind boggling architecture, inventive creations of glass and preservation and probably the most important yet overlooked one: the attempt at making peace.
Exploring these rocks and desert landscape of Nelson was adventurous and allowed for our creative ideas to really grow. The sky was a little overcast which gave us a protection from the heat of the sun. Less than an hour drive away from the busy Las Vegas strip and casino was this landscape every bit as wondrous and memorizing as Egypt in Northern Africa.