A rather irregular photo blog sharing six images from the archives at www.timbirdphotography.com and other adventures.

One of the great things about self-employment in this line of work is that life is even more full of surprises than it might be otherwise. Las Vegas was one of those places I never thought I would visit, but a couple of weeks ago I was commissioned to attend a conference on something called Big Data and to write an article on the subject. Not my usual field, but I’m nothing if not versatile, so I jumped at the chance. I listened to Steely Dan’s Showbiz Kids and ZZ Top’s version of Viva Las Vegas to get myself in the mood and off I went.

Las Vegas is like concentrated USA, a money-making, money-spending machine in the middle of the desert in Nevada. I was a bit frustrated to be mostly confined to Las Vegas Boulevard, otherwise known as the Strip, lined with endless casinos, hotels like mini-Disneylands, restaurants selling unfeasibly large plates of food and Latinos in g-strings and nothing else gaily jogging over the crossways. I glimpsed the rugged mountains of the desert glowing at sunrise and sunset, backdrops for a thousand Westerns, but I couldn’t get out there. I also regret not having time to go and see Donny and Marie Osmond perform. Maybe I’ll go back one day and the chances are they’ll still be on the bill.

I probably wouldn’t hurry back to Vegas – I don’t know how to gamble for one thing, and that’s a fairly basic requisite. But it provided some entertaining shooting opportunities that distracted me from losing my wages. Here are a handful of shots from my short visit:

Neon signage at Harrah’s. It’s hard to work out where the casinos finish and the hotels and shopping malls begin. One thing is for sure – there is little point coming here unless you’ve got money to burn. Or you’re just happy taking photos.

The fountain show outside the Bellagio, a spectacle repeated every 15 minutes.

A Fat Fairy (I gave him five bucks for this shot so he won’t mind me calling him that) and his buddy, something out of Transformers, at a guess.

The restrained and tasteful reception area of Caesar’s Palace.

The Strip consists of a string of re-created cities, from Venice complete with a Grand Canal and gondoliers to Paris with its Eiffel Tower and, pictured here, New York New York. Ridiculous.

The ceiling of the reception at the Bellagio Hotel/Resort/Casino features an extraordinary installation of 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers, the Fioro di Como by Dale Chihuly.

Do take a look at previous Six Picks posts if you’ve enjoyed your visit, and keep an eye out for future posts. You’ll find more shots from Vegas on my web site – just click here.