This new post will take us to a place I have only seen once before, and that was just to drive through it quickly. Thats right, the Hoover Dam. I headed up there with Rory from Realism Photography and his friend Chris.  We arrived at the Dam just around 11:00pm. We parked in parking lot 10 since all the others had been closed down at this hour. Signs all over tells us that the dam is closed at night and no one is allowed. That didn’t stop us, but the police did. So after reading the sign we decided to attempt it anyways. We began hiking down the hill when a police SUV pulls up and announces through his bull horn that the dam is closed and we are not allowed any closer.

This seriously blew.  So we hiked back up even further past our car to the nearest (to us) and farthest (from the dam) observation deck. The observation decks were separated into 2 platforms, an upper, and a lower. These first set of pictures were taken from the lower platform.

Being a windy day made it a little difficult to acquire ‘epic’ shots since I was using a crappy $30 tripod from Best Buy. What can I say, I’m a photographer on a budget. So since it was a windy day, shooting on a crappy tripod, I had issues with camera shaking during the long exposures. I eventually had to weigh the stand down in order to get less camera shake, which as we all know makes for terrible photos. Since we were not allowed on the dam itself these photos will be rather limited, for that I apologize.

Camera: Nikon D200
Exposure: 10
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 15 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Camera: Nikon D200
Exposure: 7.1
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Camera: Nikon D200
Exposure: 2.5
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 12 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Before I left the lower observation area I headed over to right above parking lot 9 and shot this image of one of the large spillway holes. I like to call it the “hole of death” because you can’t see the bottom and its huge and just all around extremely creepy looking, even during the day.

Camera: Nikon D200
Exposure: 18
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 24 mm
ISO Speed: 100

I headed up the walkway to the next observation area to try and get some new or better shots, you know, different angles. Also on a side note, this was the first time I attempted to shoot 200mm at night, which also helped in the camera shaking department. The dam at night was truly a unique and beautiful sight to say. I look forward to shooting it again once the bridge is finished. In this next photo you can see Rory in the far left side taking photos.

Camera: Nikon D200
Exposure: 10
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 12 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Camera: Nikon D200
Exposure: 7.1
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 12 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Camera: Nikon D200
Exposure: 6
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 100

The view from the opposite side of observation deck wasn’t as interesting at night, but I shot it anyways. Please save your awe’s, standing ovations and clapping until the end please.

Camera: Nikon D200
Exposure: 30
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 12 mm
ISO Speed: 100

These last two images were very poor attempts to take dramatic and strange self portraits. I already know I failed at this so no need to make me the center of your jokes. So please enjoy.

Camera: Nikon D200
Exposure: 3.6
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Camera: Nikon D200
Exposure: 4
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 12 mm
Exposure: +0.55
ISO Speed: 100

I hope you enjoyed this installment at the Hoover Dam. I shall return they finish the bridge and I will also try to shoot it during the day to get the shots I wasn’t allowed to this time. So keep checking back for more updates and photos.

- Travis Sackett