Silverton Hotel/Casino, Las Vegas

travelways

I like to take pictures of people and have many, but I'm not sure they qualify for this Documentary thread...

Here are some from Silverton hotel/casino in Las Vegas

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

travelways

Two more with the gablers:

6.

7.

sarasphotos

Hi Tatiana, I like the very first and the last shots but for me what's missing from most of these is a specific point of interest - is there a story are you trying to tell or are these just random scenes? I know it must be difficult to shoot in a room with so many flashing lights and that really loud carpet. Perhaps a bit of cropping or a b&w conversion would help bring out the points of interest in the pictures. What about next time considering a shallower depth of field so that you could set a subject away from the background.

travelways

Hi Sara, thank you for taking your time to comment.

These shots are just simple, strict documentary (in my understanding of the term) photos, intended to be used in my Vegas website. BTW, the page on Silverton hotel is still waiting to be written.
So, no, they are not intended to tell a sequence story, neither to be artistic. I wanted to show the environment exactly as it was, regardless the too ugly carpet...
Some have been taken a little in rush, because in these casinos you never know when somebody will come and tell you that you cannot take photos there (I was in these situations)... I wish I had a smaller camera or a phone to be be incognito, but I didn't.

Yeah, probably I shouldn't have posted them here, but I thought to give it a try...

Mitchell

I'm surprised they let you take photos inside the casino. My understanding has always been the photography inside the gaming area is forbidden.

travelways

@Mitchell said:
I'm surprised they let you take photos inside the casino. My understanding has always been the photography inside the gaming area is forbidden.

I was surprised too, because I knew from years ago that this was forbidden. In some casinos they were either too busy to see me, or they didn't care... I generally ask if there is somebody around that looks like a decision making person, but sometimes I just go incognito

In this casino and some others I was not allowed to take pictures of the roulette. Here however I explained that I'll use them in a website (I gave the URL) that's actually promoting them and they can be a good advertising..., so at the end they accepted

In a smaller casino I was not allowed to take pictures of people (their clients) - perfectly understandable - so I had to delete them.

Juano

I agree with Sara's comments. I like the last one #7, because you can make up a story. Is she lonely?, in debt?...

travelways

OK, I got it - they are not good.

Thanks everybody.

[Deleted User]

@travelways said:
OK, I got it - they are not good.

In a way they are. I recently visited Estoril Casino in Portugal. Normally I would not place my feet in a casino, but our landlord told me that it was an insteresting experience just to walk through the casino and catch the atmosphere. And I caught it. Just very short: All these ordinary people with empty faces feeding machines with money they could not do without or ought to spend on something useful. My impression was sad and when I walked out of the casino I was in a very bad mood. In my view your photos tell a story and revive my impression of the casino world.

travelways

@Jørgen_Bjerring said:

Thank you Jørgen - I was in Estoril, Portugal too but not in the casino

Now, everybody looks at casinos, and gambling in different ways... some just try to amuse themselves (#2), while others are really serious about (especially those at the table). Some don't even like it at all

But there is also another category: the tourists like myself who go there by curiosity (3)... in Vegas you find them all and they are here in my photos

As everybody knows, gambling is a big entertainment industry in this place of the world, and it makes me smile to explore some aspects of it

• Yes, there are many things to see in a casino besides the people involved in this kind of amusement. After all they are in Vegas to get most of all possible ways of having fun...

When I took (1) and (6), I did have in mind some classic pieces of art showing gamblers (card players at the table), but in Vegas it's more than this... it's not only about people, but everything else...

For example in (6), my focal point (maybe hard to see, but I doubt...) is the electronic display with the huge figure of $ to be winn (sorry I know nothing about gambling)

I was also surprised to see the big number of gambling tables there (4)

The big numbers of machines (all different) it's also something I wanted to show, along with all the visual stimulation - To me it's amazing to see all those colors, lights, glitz, signs and advertising

The whole atmosphere and what's happening inside was intended to be as a kind of information for tourists who want to visit Las Vegas (this is what my website is about: information for tourists coming from tourists)

One thing that I haven't explained is that this casino is also family oriented, for all ages - (7) is showing an old lady, while (5) a family with kids (a big point now in Vegas is to have family oriented places, as they didn't have before)

Well, the carpet may be ugly I agree, but this is how it is... (in Vegas they like carpets everywhere, because they are cheaper...)

It was my fault that I haven't explained well in the beginning - yes, these photos are very much about people, but not any kind - those visiting Las Vegas.

• They are also exclusively targeting people interested in finding information about what a Las Vegas casino may look like. This is only one of them I have other photos from other casinos.

But probably all these things are not documentary... I'm wondering what are they, other than just kandid poor photography...

Well, don't worry - they are good enough for my site and I see that I have almost written the page here

[Deleted User]

This is really great. This is what pictures are all about. They can tell different stories to different people. I don't see any amusement in #2. I see three persons staring senseless at some slot machines and spoiling their day by loosing the money, they have worked so hard for. To me there is no family associations in #7. I see an old lonely lady with the only company she has - a slot machine. She is almost as lonely as the Nighthawks by Edward Hopper.

travelways

@Jørgen_Bjerring said:
This is really great. This is what pictures are all about. They can tell different stories to different people.

Great to hear this - that means that my writing is not that bad...

@Jørgen_Bjerring said:
I don't see any amusement in #2. I see three persons staring senseless at some slot machines and spoiling their day by loosing the money, they have worked so hard for.

Ha, ha... they saved money especially for this kind of vacation and activity... they look to me quite relaxed...

@Jørgen_Bjerring said:
To me there is no family associations in #7. I see an old lonely lady with the only company she has - a slot machine. She is almost as lonely as the Nighthawks by Edward Hopper.

... Oh, I personally thought she was a kind of a grandma' trying to do something... I don't know what...

Brett1000

the "story" is you got casino pics, most gambling (aka gaming) establishments don't allow photography

flickr.com/photos/mmirrorless