The Trip of Words

FremontEast_0668, originally uploaded by carolsLittleWorld.

There’s something about Las Vegas, at least, for me, this last trip. It was the trip of words. Allow me to explain.

Sometime, during the start of it maybe, I starting shooting words. Text, text, text. Vanna White be damned, it’s like I was hunting vowels. I just kept looking for words, text, lettering of any kind. At one point, I even stopped shooting pictures and just starting shooting text. I swear, I don’t know what got into my head, but there you have it. Words?!? Lots and lots of words.

I’ve found, over the course of being a photographer for a while, to learn to trust my instincts. If “my feet” want to shoot words than, by golly, words it is! I’ll make something of it afterwards, heck, I always do. But, really, man, what’s up with all of the words? Words, words, words, everywhere I looked, I kept finding words. And, of course, the more you look, the more you find, the more words you find the more you think you can only find words and it’s like this downward spiral of the lexicon. Descent into word madness, really that is.

I guess maybe Vegas has a lot of signs. Lots of sign action going on there. And, signs, well, they usually have words, don’t they, or at least maybe lots of letters in them, right? Seems kind of obvious, maybe even a bit too much, but somehow, something deep inside me kept on going for the words, the letters, the text. It was like I was text crazy. Now that I’m back home? Eh, not so much. But, in Vegas, man? Oh were there words there. Lots and lots of words. Here a word, there a word, everywhere a word, a letter, a sign. It was crazy.

Maybe I’ve wanted to shoot words for a long time and didn’t know how to incorporate them into my routine shooting? Maybe I just felt I wasn’t writing enough and shooting too much? Heck, I don’t know what was the cause of it, but I do know the result. Lots of lots of words. I’m now processing images and finding words I didn’t even realized I’d shot when I was out there. I’m all like, “What? You mean there’s a word in that too?!?” Geesh. (But, there you have it. The trip of words.)

Now, don’t get me wrong. Words are not all that bad. Heck, I’d have to say I actually like some of them. Words, letters, signs, text, it’s all fun stuff. Maybe not what I expected to shoot, but fun stuff to shoot anyway. I’m glad I did it. And, who knows? Maybe I’ll get to do it again some day. Graphical. Words. Vegas. That was it, man, that was it for me. Seriously.

Now, at some point in the not too distant future, I’ll be hitting you with some of these words and maybe you’ll be surprised. Then again, maybe not. Hey, at least I have given you fair enough warning, right? Words….go figure! And now, here they come to you too.

Until next time…

(This one shot at night, just after dusk, Fremont Street East District, with the Canon 50mm lens, 1.6 second exposure at f/16. A bit of car/light trail and some blue in the sky, don’t you think?)