Fake France and Stuffed Animals

FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4.5, 1/250 sec, ISO200)

So here we are back in the year 2015 which explains the camera I used for the shots.

In 2015 I shot with a wild mix of cameras. Sony A7R, Canon 6D, Sony A6000 and Fuji X-T1. And because I’m mad I took them all to our fourth vacation in the South West of the USA. The second time that we start our trip from Las Vegas and the year before we learned a valuable lesson. Don’t get your rental right after landing. Get a taxi instead.

The airport is literally next to the strip so the taxi ride is cheap. The advantages: You don’t have to deal with all your luggage on a bus trip to the rental station. You don’t have to deal with your car when you get in your hotel. And of course you don’t have to pay for your car that you wouldn’t use the first night anyway.

FUJIFILM X-T1 (27mm, f/8, 1/125 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/80 sec, ISO400)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/420 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/2.8, 1/80 sec, ISO2500)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/80 sec, ISO800)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/80 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/250 sec, ISO200)

Even though we stayed in the Paris, Paris we went to sleep early after a very long day. When you travel west you gain time. There is a 9 hour time difference so in case of a direct flight from Vienna to Los Angeles of 12 hours you land only 3 hours after you took off. So you start at 10am and land on 1pm. Of course it still feels very different and there is no direct flight from Vienna to Las Vegas so we had a very long day behind us when we had a quick early dinner and went to bed.

Thanks to a massive jet lag of course you are up early the next day. And because this is Las Vegas we could have a nice “French” breakfast next to the Eiffel tower. Of course it is all fake. Everything is in Las Vegas but I prefer this to eating cookies in the bed of a not so cheap airport motel in San Francisco. That’s why it makes sense to start in Las Vegas.

After breakfast we took a taxi to get to the rental station and our car was a Chevrolet Tahoe in black. A Tahoe doesn’t offer the most sophisticated ride, it’s more truck than SUV, but they sure look very cool. I love the boxy look. Nest Stop: Bass Pro World Las Vegas!

FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/8, 1/420 sec, ISO200)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO800)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO400)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO400)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO640)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO2500)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO1000)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO1250)
FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO1250)

Bass Pro World is a chain of “outdoor” shops in the USA. But it’s not like the average outdoor or camping store you may find in the rest of the world. This is simply crazy regarding size and items on offer. You can get everything from a simple fishing rod to a boat or an all terrain vehicle. There is also a clothing section but what really separates this place from most shops in Europe are two things. There are stuffed animals everywhere, bows and crossbows for hunting and guns, guns, guns. These shops are crazy big, offer dozens of items of the very same thing and are armed as hell. They are as American as it gets.

After lunch we moved on to our next destination. The Bryce Canyon Pines motel.

FUJIFILM X-T1 (14mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO3200)