• Home
  • Portfolio
  • Commercial
  • Event and Sports
  • Landscapes / Panoramas
  • Portrait and Wedding
  • Contact
  • Blogs
    • Commercial Blog
    • Landscape Blog
    • Portrait / Wedding Blog
    • Sports Blog
  • About

© vegaskevin.com / Kevin Thompson Photography Professional Photographer – All Rights Reserved

vegaskevin.com blog

Helping People Helping Others



I received a letter from a friend saying that she was going to Antigua Guatemala with her fellow Lake Mead Christian Academy students and teachers to help impoverished street children and their families. She asked several friends and family to donate funds so she could travel with them and help with these needed tasks. I played a very small role with my donation but I thought the message was worth sharing and I was glad to help.   Here is what Destiny's mom had to say about the trip: This trip was to Guatemala to serve people in need and spread the word of God.  Several administrators...

Zion National Park Photography



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   Kevin Thompson set out to photograph Zion National Park this winter and in only a few short hours delivered some great images. Zion National Park is just east of St. George Utah, and from Las Vegas is about a 3 hour drive. Zion is a beautiful national park that everyone should visit if possible. The weather is normally pretty good, and is a nice break from the desert heat of Las Vegas. In the summer Zion is usually 20-30 degrees cooler than Vegas. With the red sandstone throughout the valley natural...

vegaskevin.com QR Code



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666     Here is a quick way to get Kevin Thompson - Las Vegas Photographer contact information into your phone. If you don't already have a QR code scanner, just download one for free and scan the QR code below (I use QRReader). It is very simple and much quicker than writing everything down.     Here is a free service that can make your QR Code 

Las Vegas Photography



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   I recently found a new location for getting panorama photographs of the Las Vegas Strip. This new vantage point is incredible and because I am so much closer than ever the detail in my photographs is amazing.  These images are very large and to think I am using a 12mp camera these are very sharp. I have recently ordered the Nikon D800 and the images it will produce are 3 times the size of the images I am capable of now. So when I get the D800 I will be photographing the Las Vegas Strip again and those...

Kevin Thompson Featured on Singh-Ray blog



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   Landscape Photographer Kevin Thompson submitted images to  Singh-Ray Filters form his Landscape Photography Workshop in November and they asked for a short story to go along with it. Singh-Ray makes high quality specialty filters that enhance image color and  help create unique lighting abilities, allowing you to create amazing images. Kevin was very happy to be mentioned on there blog and share images from that trip. Kevin explained how he utilized the Singh-Ray Filter into his photography while...

Hoover Dam Photography



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   After photographing Nelson's Landing my buddy Barney and I headed over to the Hoover Dam. The sun had just set and the sky was an amazing color of blue. We both started setting up as quick as possible, I hate rushing but the sky was awesome and we didn't want to miss anymore of the light than was already gone. Security is tight and you need to mind your manners when visiting the Hoover Dam. So we started photographing the scene, we stayed and shot both landscape and panorama photographs for about...

Nelson’s Landing Nevada



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   My Buddy Barney and I went out looking for things to photograph near Las Vgeas, so we headed south to a favorite location of mine El Dorado Canyon. There was too much happening there at the time we rolled into town, so we headed a bit east to Nelson's Landing. and worked on some landscape and panorama photography. It was a very clear sky, this doesn't help much when photographing landscapes. I prefer a few clouds to help sell the image, however mother nature had another plan this day. So we made the most...

Landscape Photographer



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   For years Kevin Thompson has been a sports photographer, however the past 5 years Kevin has been traveling and capturing amazing images. Typically sports photographers don't turn to landscape photography, but Kevin had a client that needed both. With that in mind he was challenged to become much better at landscapes than he ever thought necessary. However now that this was necessary his skills have become very good and he now offers this photography as part of his everyday service. Landorama.com is a website...

Merry Christmas



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!    

Red Rock National Park – Storm Panorama



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   I love this time of year when the sky's get very moody and the storms roll thru. I was watching the news and the weather person said there was a good chance for storms, soon after my buddy and fellow photographer Quincy Nelson called and asked what I was up to. We made plans to get out and photograph the Red Rock area later in the day. On my way out the sky looked very bland and just grey, I almost called it off but thought I didn't have any reason not to go so I proceeded onward. We arrived to a very...

Wild West Photography Workshop



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   I've been talking with a few people about offering a landscape photography workshop next fall and hopefully more to follow. I mentioned the idea to a fellow photographer and we both agreed it would be a fun trip with or without camera equipment. Fortunately we both brought our gear and captured some amazing images. We set out across I-40 and then down to Sedona Arizona. Unfortunately we were given some bad directions and nearly missed the sunset. If were not for amazing low light capabilities of our Nikon...

Colorado Vacation Photography



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   So this year we as a family went to Colorado for our family vacation. We really enjoyed the beauty of the lush landscape, and the people were very kind and helpful when we asked for any sort of help. The landscape of Colorado is stunning just about anywhere you visit. We did not get too far off the trail, as a family it is much harder than when I am on assignment. These photos were taken within 1/2 mile of the car at the most. So if you are looking for a great photo opportunity, don't feel that you need...

Lake Las Vegas End of Summer Fireworks



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   Here are some cool firework photos I captured at Lake Las Vegas tonight (End of summer - wierd but cool). I was told by my wife at 7:30 pm that Lake Las Vegas was having a fireworks display tonight at 8:30pm. She said it was due to the fact they didn't have a successful event on the 4th of July. So we jumped in the truck and got caught up in all the traffic. Just as I set my camera on the tripod the fireworks began. Here is what I captured.   I hope you enjoy these! vegaskevin                

Las Vegas Panorama Photography



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   Las Vegas photographer Kevin Thompson shares some panorama photographs of the entire Las Vegas Strip. These were taken at different times of the year for a few different clients. Some of these panoramas are 18 photographs wide and then stitched together with Adobe Photoshop. With digital files and cameras capable of taking such sharp images, panorama photography is becoming much more popular than ever before. Panorama photography has been around for quite some time, but now with software making it much...

Las Vegas Fireworks 2011



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   Few casinos in Las Vegas have a fireworks show these days. Thankfully to Station Casinos and several individuals I was able to deliver a pretty cool image from this years fireworks. This image is very large, unfortunately I cant share the  detail with you because the computer screen just cant fit the entire image. The location were this was taken is in Henderson, NV just north of Lake Mead and east of Boulder Highway. The nice thing about this location is that there were almost no obstacles in between...

Seattle Washington Panorama Photography



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   I have really fallen in love with the great northwest region. I had never been there until 2 years ago, and now it calls out to me. I find myself thinking about all the different ways to photograph it and the beauty that it offers to everyone, however many people walk right by and never see the beauty it displays. The beauty comes from both nature and those that choose to embrace it with kindness and sharing passion for displaying this beauty. Many things go without being replaced often in this region....

Las Vegas, Nevada Sunset Panorama



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   I was invited by a friend to be part of a photography group on Facebook.com a couple of weeks ago. So the first assignment I was able to take part in was themed 10 minutes from home. And I am always looking for great shots of Las Vegas so I knew of a spot that would fit the theme. So I decided to go big and take a panorama of Las Vegas, but not just any panorama. I used a super telephoto 300mm with a 2x teleconverter. Normally for a panorama most photographers would take a wide angle lens and snap...

Flower Photography



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   I always stop and look at beautiful flowers when I am out capturing images. I am generally standing in the middle of or over them while photographing a beautiful scene or gorgeous model. However we as people see them and almost never stop to appreciate them until they are in a photograph. I do however stop to take photos of them whenever possible.   Here are a few tips to help get better images of flowers: 1) Try not to shoot down on them,  shoot from the side or looking up at flowers. 2)...

Composition – leave it or not?



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   I think the most difficult thing for me when composing an image is what to leave or to ignore. I never want to get back from a shoot and say "I wish I had just left _____ in the shot". I usually shoot all my subjects from many angles, both wide and tight. However there are some things you just need to leave out of a shot. For instance a building with a parking garage on the side, the garage is an eye sore no matter how nice it is. I was at a hotel one day and there was a Ferarri in the parking lot,...

ElDorado Canyon – Photo Shoot



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   My Buddy Jason Boulanger and I had a great day of landscape and portrait photography. We started in Nelson, NV at 5am Friday to shoot the sunrise and returned that same afternoon. We shot for around 2 hours until the sun was completely down. ElDorado Canyon is full of photography opportunities. The vintage buildings, cars and just old stuff offer endless amounts of creativity. Every time I have visited, there is at least 5-6 other photographers wondering around. The owners are super friendly, however...

Nevada Panorama Photography



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   Here are a couple of my panorama photographs taken along the road on my return from Yosemite National Park. We missed out on Bodie Ghost Town due to the snow that had not yet melted. I was pretty upset about it because we traveled about 12 hours out of the way just to photograph the ghost town. We left Yosemite and had to go up and around Tioga Pass due to the snow and ice. I had no idea Bodie ever closed, we even spoke to our hotel and they never said a word about it. Another highlight in the area...

Yosemite National Park Photography



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   This year I decided to revisit Yosemite Nat Park, the timing could not have been better. The weather was perfect and the number of visitors was relatively low. This gave me much more freedom while photographing the park. I will say that after 10am or so the traffic was dramatically increased, however my work was winding down as the traffic was increasing, so I was not too affected by the increase. The temp hovered around 70 all day, and it was great. We were going to stay in the park until I saw a video...

Las Vegas Photographer



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   Las Vegas Photographer Kevin Thompson has been photographing just about everything you can imagine for most of his life. After his racing days were fading into the distance his photography started to grow more and more important. With so much extra time on his hands his once hobby grew into a profession that has gained him several pages in magazines, newspapers and websites. With his racing background Kevin understood racing from both the track side and camera side of every race. This landed Kevin...

Sedona Arizona Photography



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   Last year I took my wife with me to Sedona Arizona at the end of October to capture some Fall Colors and Nature Photography. The night we arrived it was very stormy, and when we woke up the next morning it was still stormy. Unsure of what the day would bring we headed out into the giant sea of clouds and fog. After about 45 minutes the skies parted and the sun started beaming through the scattered clouds creating an awesome sky for taking photos. These are my favorite images from that trip. Sedona...

The Family Photographer Video


Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   Here is a funny little that someone shared with me today. I found it to be very funny and somewhat accurate with a few past experiences. Happy Shooting, Kevin

PhotoShop Sharpening Tip


Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666     PhotoShop Sharpening Tip In the March 2010 issue of Popular Photography There is a great article on how to sharpen a digital photo using Photoshop. The Article is on page 38. Without typing the entire article, here is a brief rundown. 1) Duplicate the layer 2) Desaturate the duplicated layer 3) Go to the filter menu and under “Other” select High Pass. (Set the value between 0 - 5) 4) Use the pulldown menu on the Layers tab and switch from Normal to Overlay 5) Choosing the Hard...

ADOBE LightRoom 3


Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   Until now I had never used Lightroom for anything useful. My buddy is a PhotoShop Master and uses both Photoshop and Lightroom for editing photos daily for a few magazines. He kept telling me I needed to use Lightroom, it would make life easier and I kept blowing him off. Well he was right, If you want to batch edit photos, color correct, remove image noise or just straighten or crop an image. You can do all or any of these very rapidly and mostly with keyboard shortcuts. It makes it simple to add meta...

ADOBE Creative Suite 5


Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   For anyone wondering if the new copy of CS5 is worth the price let me tell you, YES! I was not sure if I had made a wise decision until I saw some of the new features. I was very impressed with how well some of the commonly used tools have been improved. Here are some links to some short movies with sample uses of the tools: Terry White / Favorite 5 things about CS5 Top 5 Dream Weaver And Flash Features Top 3 Features of Flash Professional What is Flash Catalyst Creating Interactive...

Cokin Filters



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666     Here is a shot of some Cokin Filters. These are filter that you slide into an adapter on the front of your lens. They come in a variety of sizes and densities. You can get filters that distort the image or change colors. The filters shown here are neutral density and warming filters. The neutral density filters allow you to tame the light and give a longer shutter speed. This would be beneficial if you were shooting a water scene and the light is too bright to keep a shallow depth of field....

Portland Oregon Photography



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   We went to Portland last year for the first time and fell in love with the city and the kindness of it's citizens. This was not a business trip, but rather a family get away. I was able to do some landscape and panorama photography. We picked the perfect time of year and only saw a few sprinkles of rain. We were completely ready to move there, but so many people said I couldn't handle the rain. I will definitely go back and visit. we had a great time, and the people are great. I think that is what...

Photography Video Tips from Adorama


Here is a great resource for photography tips. from how to use your camera to editing of your photos.   You can find some easy to understand information at:   AdoramaTV.   Written by Las Vegas Photographer Kevin Thompson / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666

Panorama Photography



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   Kevin Thompson success with panorama photography. After learning a few new tricks Kevin has become much better at capturing the photos he envision. Panoramic images showcase an entire scene in a single image. Many people describe a place or scene in an image, however many images just cant show how vast an area is or sometimes leave out an important element. Panorama images generally show the entire area as the viewer would see it for themselves. Many panoramic images are nothing more than cropping...

www.fredmiranda.com Rules!



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   So as I stated earlier, I switched back to Nikon. So what did I do with my old gear? I posted a nice link with great images of my gear and posted the info on FredMiranda.com and Craigslist.org. I sold everything within 3 days, and I mean everything. I sold small things like lens caps all the way up to my 300 2.8. If you are a member you can post your new and used item for sale on the Fred Miranda website.   It pays to make a nice listing with great detail and description if you want top dollar....

vegaskevin stock photography



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   vegaskevin.com has thousands of images that can be used for stock art. If you have a need for a particular type of image please send us a request. We will be glad to let you know if we have anything that might work for you. We work with several art directors and provide both licensed and unlicensed images depending upon the use of each image. Plus if you like my work, Kevin might be interested in adding that type of work to his collection as well. Kevin is always adding images to his collection, from...

Pocket Camera’s – Don’t count them out!



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   I was on vacation a while back and did not have my usual plethora of camera gear with me. When I realized I should have brought my gear I began to doubt the quality of my pocket camera. I actually felt like buying a new camera just so I didn't miss anything. After the look received from my wife for asking such a question I quickly realized it was going to be the pocket camera or the hospital. Pocket cameras don't have all the features or ease of use as my DSLR, but used correctly they can produce...

Las Vegas Commercial Photographer



Written by Kevin Thompson Photography / vegaskevin.com Contact us at: (702) 204-5666   When it comes to commercial photography you need to connect with the photographer that best represents your taste, as well as creative ideas. If you don't match up well the creativity is lost and it's like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Kevin Thompson has been photographing commercial products, buildings and advertising for several years. Kevin photographs everything from detailed jewelry to luxury home architecture.  Kevin has done work for several art directors, advertising agency's...