In any given year, Las Vegas Weekly runs thousands of images of life in our Valley. Add the combined Greenspun Media Group force of the Las Vegas Sun, Las Vegas Magazine and The Sunday, and the vision of where we are—and who we are—gets incredibly colorful. Here’s some of our favorite color from 2014, in honor of the stories these photos can tell without any words at all.
-
Double vision
“It was my day off, and we were visiting a friend’s family near Charleston and Decatur when storm clouds rolled in. Lightning was flashing, but I couldn’t leave yet, because my wife was still chatting. Finally we got in the car and headed Downtown, where the storm had already hit and moved on. I knew the neon lights would reflect on the wet streets of Fremont, so I pulled over and took some shots of the reflections. Then I moved a photo to the website from my car as my family patiently waited.” —Steve Marcus
-
The ice-cold rush of victory
“I have been covering sports for 20 years, and one of my favorites is high school football, mainly due to the playing for the love of the game with emotions high and skills on the grow. While I do my best to capture the best game-time action, I always keep an eye on the sidelines and stands for other worthy moments, like this post-game iced-water bath of Arbor View’s coach after his team beat Centennial. To capture a moment like that, I’ve found that I need to be on the winning side as time winds down, ready to shoot with a wide-angle lens. Getting out in front is key for a clear shot. This time, luck met preparation.” —L.E. Baskow
-
Portrait of pain
“With boxing, it’s often frustrating trying to get a clean photo of a connection. Sometimes an arm or a glove will block the fighter’s face. Or sometimes all you see is the back of the fighter but you can hear the sound of the connection and the fan reactions as sweat flies up around his head. This fight was on the undercard of a Floyd Mayweather Jr. bout. Amir Khan (left) won against Luis Collazo by unanimous decision.” —Steve Marcus
-
Channeling icons
“We had the wonderful opportunity to work with kids at Boys & Girls Club of Las Vegas. It was such a rewarding project! We were able to put them in the spotlight and give them the chance to portray various Las Vegas entertainers. In this shot we have Damien, Travis and Aiden embodying the Blue Man Group, and boy, did they play the part well! We all had a great time shooting this image. The cleanup was equally intense, but well worth it!” —Christopher DeVargas (photo illustration)
-
Lights in the desert
“Every now and then I get to cover events I’ve never experienced, like the recent Rise Lantern Festival. It was incredibly dark on the Jean Dry Lake Bed, which made for a creative use of the light that was there. Taking advantage of headlamps and phones made for interesting images as participants streamed in and wrote meaningful notes on the lanterns being set to float away. I hauled out a tripod, and it paid off.” —L.E. Baskow
-
Nature of the beast
“Having moved to Nevada just over a year ago, I had limited experience with rodeo sports like bull riding, but I was intrigued. I appreciate the classic battle between man and beast, and capturing those moments is a battle in itself, the action fast and unpredictable. There are so many elements to the competition and just as many ways to miss the shot. Often, the rider and animal are facing away from you, or blocked by those in the ring to protect a cowboy from injury. Timing is everything, and so is lens choice, focus and the ability to sense the movement of the bull. There’s a little luck involved, too.” —L.E. Baskow
-
Tough as sin
“These Legends Football League women are no joke! They play, pass and tackle like pros—definitely wouldn’t want to go up against any of them. It was a well-played game, with the Las Vegas Sin beating the Green Bay Chill, 34-24.” —Christopher DeVargas
-
Stacked
Breakfast at the Pantry is a beautiful, beautiful thing. —Photo by Peter Harasty; styling by Roni Fields-Moonen
-
Classic Piff
“It didn’t seem that unusual, for a dragon and his magical Chihuahua to be sharing a tub with me, or that the goldfish on the tiny piano was reading our minds. We were in a cluttered chamber of Rose. Rabbit. Lie., like the cloakroom of Wonderland. This moment captured it all, except for the part where Piff made an entire box of doughnuts disappear.” —Erin Ryan; photo by Adam Shane
-
G-strings and gutsiness
“Most of us hide behind our clothes, hoping the world will never see the lumps, wrinkles and scars that make us feel imperfect. Strippers can’t worry about that. Of course, it helps when they look like Sydney, a Crazy Horse III dancer whose legs (and heels) went on forever. Even if you can’t relate to the profession, you can’t deny the beauty and symmetry of a mostly naked human form on a pole.” —Erin Ryan; photo by Mona Shield Payne
-
Family business
“I had the pleasure of working on a package about dirty jobs some folks do in Las Vegas. One such individual was Bob Combs of R.C. Farms, a pig farmer for half a century and proud of his family business. He gave me a tour of his property, pleased with the idea of working with casinos to recycle all of their food waste. With laughing, squealing piglets and creative design I managed to capture a great moment—and make a friend.” —L.E. Baskow (photo illustration)
-
Time warp
Like any great city, Las Vegas has corners that blur eras together, where neon relics shine among digital flash and revamped buildings retain some of their old bones. While Fremont Street has transformed many times, it wasn’t hard to weave images of the 1940s and now. It’s nice to know that some of the same names are still in lights. —Photo illustration by Corlene Byrd and L.E. Baskow
