“You have never seen Las Vegas like this”

THE STORY

I have always been drawn to the high places. As a boy growing up in south Florida I would always seek out the roof of the building we were in, or the highest tree in the neighborhood to climb much to my parent’s shock and dismay. I took more than one spanking as a child for running off and going ‘up there’. One time I climbed a thousand foot radio tower just to see the view from up there (it was sublime). Later on as an adult I discovered hiking, mountaineering and rock climbing, a natural progression for one who yearns to be ‘up there’.

I have always been a huge fan of the photographic masters as well, men and women who capture our natural heritage and beauty; Ansel Adams, Galen Rowell, Peter Licht, and many others have influenced me heavily with their outspoken and often breathtaking images of our natural world. They are the true masters. My father introduced me to photography at an early age. He taught me among other things that the make and model of camera one is using is never as important as the fundamental basics of photography; composition, framing, scale and above all; the light. Knowing how to capture that glorious light is not something that can be bought or sold. A skilled and patient photographer with the cheapest of cameras can ‘out shoot’ an amateur who’s in a hurry with an expensive set up any day. Ultimately I learned, it is the light that will dictate the finished product, and no amount of gear in the world can change it. If the light is wrong the shot is wrong, but if the light is just right and the photographer is patient, willing to work, and in the right place at the right time it can produce pure magic.

The Las Vegas High Points Project idea was hatched on a day hike in 2004 on Gass Peak on the valley’s north end. From that lofty perch I thought ‘wouldn’t be great if everyone could see this view?’ But of course everyone cannot see that stunning view because not everyone has the physical ability (or would that be physical stupidity?) to actually hike up there. The fact is that most of the people who live in or visit Las Vegas will never see the view off of Gass Peak or any of the other high points around the Las Vegas valley for that matter. And what a shame that is too since these peaks are not Mt Everest. In fact, many average people hike up and down them with nothing more than sneakers and a bottle of water all the time. If you would like to try one or all of them please see my links page for some directions, maps and other info.

I was taken with the idea of bringing that image from Gass Peak down with me. It smoldered in the back of my mind until 2008 when I finally got things rolling and decided to move forward with the High Points Project. The light would not let me rest. The light keeps calling to me.

The goal of this project is simple: To capture panoramic images of Las Vegas off of the high points when the light was just perfect. That ‘perfect light’ only happens right around sunset and sunrise, which would mean spending the night on top of the high points. Or as with my first attempt to shoot from Frenchman Mountain; it meant having to leave the house at 2 am in order to be on top over an hour before sunrise and as the sky lightened; waiting for the light.

A major factor in my plan was that the Las Vegas valley sits in a geographic bowl surround by those high points and gets very dusty later in the day around sundown due to all the construction activity. So the images that I saw in my minds eye had to be taken at sunrise when the air was still and the dust had not yet been kicked up for the day. It became clear that to me I was not going to get these images at high noon when most people hike these peaks. The light then is all wrong and besides everyone already had those images who had hiked these peaks. Anyone doing a Google image search can see them, some of which are quite good. What no one else had done before in Las Vegas was combine a love of the high places with the ongoing quest for the perfect light. Not too many people were hiking ‘up there’ and fewer still were spending the night or hiking up in the dark. And thus, not very many people had ever seen the Las Vegas valley in this unique, very special and magical light.

I made the decision; capturing that light would be my art.
My girlfriend is convinced I have lost my mind.

This project is devoted to my quest for that special light. I chase the light for no other reason than it is there and it calls to me. I do not have to explain that statement to anyone because I cannot explain it to myself, it doesn’t matter. I may not have the most expensive cameras, nor am I the ultimate mountaineer either. But I hope that you will enjoy the images and stories presented here as much as I enjoyed capturing them. I sincerely hope also that you can feel even a part of the sublime solitude, the quiet, the patient sweaty and seemingly endless toiling up the hill, and the majesty of the high points as much as I have enjoyed sitting ‘up there’…. waiting for the light.

Cameron Grant 4-24-08

If you DO like the images I hope you will consider buying one of them as well!

And now, onto the Las Vegas High Points………..ENJOY!

THE LAS VEGAS ‘HIGH POINTS’ ARE, clockwise from the north:

GASS PEAK
FRENCHMAN MOUNTAIN
BLACK MOUNTAIN
MT. POTISI
BLUE DIAMOND HILL
TURTLEHEAD PEAK
LONE MOUNTAIN