The Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nev.

‍05.31.26: Heat on The Strip

‍Usually when I write about the photo of the week on my website, I’m discussing the technical or aesthetic aspects, things like composition, lens selection, or even why I decided to photograph the scene.

‍But whenever I look at this photo, all I can think about is extreme heat.

‍I was in Las Vegas on business in mid-June 2005, arriving late the night before and spending all day in meeting rooms in the hotel. I had heard on the news that temperatures were expected to reach 110 degrees that day, but I knew it would be well after 11 p.m. before my commitments ended and I had a chance to step outside with my camera to grab some photos along Las Vegas Boulevard, commonly called The Strip. I assumed it would be a bit cooler then.

‍Boy, was I wrong.

‍I stepped outside the Bellagio, where I was staying, a little after 11 p.m. The temperature was still 102 degrees. That’s rough. But the humidity was under 10 percent, something I had never experienced, and I could feel all the moisture in my body being pulled through my skin. I needed water. Immediately.

‍I ducked into a nearby convenience store and purchased a comically oversized bottle of water, enough to last for days on most occasions. This wasn’t most occasions. The water was gone in less than 15 minutes. And I was still thirsty.

‍To make matters worse, the heat rising from The Strip felt like standing beside a pizza oven. The surprisingly large number of people roaming The Strip seemed to be oblivious to the oppressive conditions. I guess massive amounts of alcohol contributed to their obliviousness. 

‍I quickly made a couple of decisions. First, my plan to walk The Strip, grabbing photos of the lights and sights, was reduced to photographing whatever I could see from within a block of the hotel. And second, if I didn’t get back inside and find water, I would likely turn into a hot pile of dust and blow away.

‍I found this colorful scene looking north from a spot about a half-block south of my hotel. I liked how the lights and colors popped against the night sky and how the interesting architectural elements — the Eiffel Tower replica and the fake hot-air balloon outside the Paris Las Vegas Hotel, and the Bally’s sign — contrasted with the line of palm trees in the foreground.

‍I grabbed a couple of other shots from that location before heading back to the hotel, resisting the urge to cool down in the famous Bellagio fountains as I passed them. I was hot, but unlike just about everyone else I encountered on my brief trip outside, I was sober.