Hoover Dam at Night

Exposure: Blend of 4 exposures at 10, 13, 15 and 20 secs
Aperture: f8
ISO: 200
Lens: 18-105 @28mm

During a recent visit to Vegas, we wanted to make a visit to Grand Canyon too, but the thought of driving all the way was a put-off for me. I love driving and do get my adrenalin rush once in a while, but long distances are not fun if it ain’t accompanied by frequent stops for my back. So my wife found out that there are bus tours which take you all the way there.

The comfort of not driving itself is a big plus. But the thought of one big bus with 40+ people and a toddler was a big concern. We weren’t sure how Nidhi would react if she goes crazy and more over how others in the bus would react to a cranky toddler. We took a chance and the experience was well worth it. Nidhi was at her best behavior and even got compliments from some of the folks on the bus. Since she was the only toddler on the bus, she even managed to grab some attention. Overall it was pretty smooth, more than I had imagined or hoped for.

The disadvantage of taking a guided tour like this one is that they don’t stop at places where you would want to stop for taking pictures. Plus you won’t get much time at each stop. So you have to make the best of it. I can’t and shouldn’t complain…if I wanted to stop at every spot, then I should have just driven myself right? 🙂 Anyways, the driver did recognize that I was more keen in shooting with the camera and mentioned that he would stop by the Hoover Dam at night specifically for taking pictures. He kept his word and did make a 10 min stop and this is the pic I got from it.

Its a digital blend of 4 exposures, each varying with the shutter speed, tone-mapped with PhotoMatix pro and given some levels and curves adjustments in CS4. I would have been happier if I could have manually blended them together, hopefully one day my aging brain can learn that too 🙂