Finishing up downtown Vegas with "Hip Shots"

 Another very real part of Vegas that nobody ever talks about is the homeless people. Amongst all the crowds they are there. Sitting, watching...waiting. Okay, I am fully aware that most homeless choose to be...that there is mental illness..yada yada...I get that. 

I also think that inside that person that people walk by and ignore is a person. Someone who had a mother..a brother..a life once. Who knows what the story is. I know giving them money is not that answer but in a town filled with people so eager to throw money away, I do find it sad.

My favorite kind of photos are the ones that show the detail of the soul. The wrinkled hard life face..reality maybe?

I also don't want them to know that I am taking the picture...safety yes, but mostly because I want the photo to be real and not posed or broken. 

I call these shots "hip shots" as I am carrying my camera at my hip when I snap them. With an SLR camera they are a lot harder than you think, as the focus lands where it may. The beauty is in not knowing what you get until later. A mystery in itself. Mike really got into these too and I think they are some of my very favorite shots. 

 I saw this guy a few times and his dog was super sweet. 

 Missed the guy but I still love the shot.

 Mike took this one(actually he took most of them) I really love it. I am actually glad he did not get her face. I think the crop tells a better story. 

Anyone who has been to Vegas is aware of what I call "flippers" they try to hand anyone and everyone that passes by a business card type flyer for call girls. Mike took this shot as we walked by them. Looks like he took time to compose it right? Nope, total hip shot.

Vegas is one of the strangest cities. You have tourists everywhere, flippers on on corner, preachers on the next corner, and homeless people in between. 

Vegas is not and never will be a place to take kids(don't try to fool yourself, the walking alone will be too much)...at least if you are going to the strip itself. 

Okay! That wraps up the touristy Vegas. Next we move on to visiting our friends that live there:-)