Waiting in the car and killing time taking pictures

Waiting in the car and killing time taking pictures

Signs are every where, mostly I do not take too much notice of them. These go in the theme what I’ve been posting on the blog lately. My trip to Las Vegas and California. I had to add one from the sign capital, Hong Kong. I have never seen so many signs on a street before.








Editing Black and White images is fun, I have a limited amount of photos of public transportation’s but I did find few for CB&W theme this week.
Trams seem to be my favorite public transportation to photograph. So there are trams from Helsinki, San Francisco, Melbourne. Buses and metro from Hong Kong. Ferry from Sydney and Hong Kong. Last but not least a train from Melbourne. I did actually find several as I started to look through my archives. Happy travels in public transportation.














The tunnel to the railway station was always dirty, full of graffiti, dark and dingy. Nowadays it is colorful, bright and no one has yet done any graffiti art or scribble there which is a nice surprise






Before we left towards our drive to Big Sur we had a nice american breakfast at Joe’s Place in Paso Robles. The owner is a patriot, by the look of the memorabilia and photos on the walls.. Also lot of old movie stars pictures- Ladies room had pictures of old leading men. I did not visit the men’s room, but I heard lovely ladies covered the walls. We do not have these kind of diners/ breakfast places in Finland so this was a rare opportunity to do this kind of breakfast. I was going to skip this part, but my husband let me understand that this should be in the “diary” of our trip.







Still on the road. What you see when you travel and stay awake..













It was sad to see how the water level had gone down. It for sure is not a promising sign to Nevada’s water supplies. You’ll see a visual reminder of the area’s changing water levels in the high-water mark apparent on every rocky surface. Jokingly called a “bathtub ring,” the revealed stone is lighter in color, with undulating lines marking water heights through the years











We ended up at the Bootleg Canyon as one of our friends started to talk to a local at a small local Mexican place. Told us that you can see to both sides to town and hoover Dam from there. So we drove the gravel road up to the top and took some photos in the afternoon and returned at nighttime to see the valley light up. Those photos did not turn up well as I did not have a tripod with me.







The images above are from the afternoon.





So much light, with a better lens and tripod I think I could have had some great shots from this place 🙂
it has been years since my prior visit, but I have to say that the sadness and poverty in so much more prominent today on the streets of Las Vegas. Also the ways various people are trying to make a living. I am posting these just to remind me and us that there is always the other side to glamour. I am not so used to seeing it. so it made me very sad.












No, I am not finished yet. These are mostly from the Las Vegas strip and from our hotel window. Light treatment continues in this post.


















Those who have followed my blog know that I always take tons of photos, so did you expect me to have taken so few from downtown, really did you?
Here goes the blast of neon lights continues – sorry 🙂








If you travel to Las Vegas downtown is a must see, but I have to admit it is not my favorite place in Las Vegas. It is too loud, crowded for my taste. Different music surrounding you from every direction, the total cacophony of sounds. People just everywhere. But the lights are something different, not something you see at home that’s for sure. Though during the dark months they surely would considered as light treatment to the people who walk in in the darkness for several months.









I will still remain in Las Vegas, I am trying to keep the timeline right, I will also remain colorful even if it is not nature photos. Las Vegas night life and lights will be my next topic for several posts.
This is from down town Las Vegas. The sign caught my attention that is the reason for the topic.



It is mid November, the darkness and grayness is starting to get to me. This is the time I start to hibernate. I have no desire to go out or do much. I have decided to try to pass this period by posting photos from my trip in October to Las Vegas and California. I have posted several in my FB profile but now I will try to tackle them in chronicler order. So my first photos are from the hotel that we stayed at in Las Vegas The Aria Resort and Casino. I am not a gambler, but I did spend some time at the pool and walked through the place several time. It is huge, just to get out you end up walking a kilometer












Last view from our room to the mountains lit by the morning light 
Last day at the pool, this afternoon light caught my attention 
The reflections on the main entrance door are rather good

numbers on the wall at the hotel
reflections on our hotel in Las Vegas
I am totally enjoying the weather here in Las Vegas. Pool day for me. The pool is not that big but we are safe. There is three lifeguards working the pool in 30 minute shifts.


I have looked at Helsinki with a tourist eye as I have seen my friends in the city. Catching up with friends is so much fun, I should take take time more often than I do. Best thing about good friends is that they remain that even if you don’t see that often. Helsinki has not lost its appeal to me even if I visit it less frequently.



















I had so many problems with loading the photos into the last post at least 4 attempts to have them in a gallery of my choosing. So I got frustrated and I’ve stayed away for four days. Let’s hope this post is easier. Suomenlinna is a lovely place to visit so I decided to share the joy with you – again .

















Visited on of Helsinki’s most popular tourist attractions today. It has been years since I was here. The place has history Suomenlinna (Finnish; until 1918 Viapori), or Sveaborg , literal translation in Finnish is Castle of Finland inhabited sea fortress built on six islands and which now forms part of the city of Helsinki. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and also it as a picturesque picnic site. Originally named Sveaborg. The Swedish crown commenced the construction of the fortress in 1748 as protection against the Russian expansionism. This particular day it was packed with locals as well as tourist as the day was just lovely. Here is some background on the place.
























Wow, an other post I have doe, but not posted. This is easy to to see where the photos are from.
I will be posting more photos from my trip when I am over the euphoria of spring. But at the moment I will leave this topic for the next rainy day.

