I travel a lot for work, and that travel often leads me to a convention or conference in Las Vegas. And since I travel often alone, I like to find ways to amuse myself. I got an idea from a friend to start taking time lapse videos from my room, since I’m often upgraded to higher floors with better views.
So, now, I present to you, a few of my time lapse videos from Las Vegas.
Cosmopolitan Las Vegas – October 2018
First, we’ll start with my most recent and longest. This was taken in late October 2018, from my terrace of the Boulevard building of the Cosmopolitian in Las Vegas. While the room number read 6788, I believe we were about on the 40th floor and that the Cosmo has a few vanity floors. I took this time lapse with my GoPro Hero 4, positioned it on a tripod and used actual pony tail holders to secure it. It’s pretty long, but love how it catches lightning and the stream of planes about to land at LAS airport.
Hilton Elara Las Vegas – October 2018
This next time lapse is from early October 2018 (yes, Vegas twice in a month). It’s just over 100 hours, as well. This was taken from the 55th (really 45th – damn vanity floors) of the Hilton Elara in Las Vegas. I love how you can get a glimpse of the Bellagio fountains (by the Paris) and the Linq High Roller has a color changing light pattern. The clouds also put on a good show. I was a bit bummed because I think housekeeping bumped the camera during turn down service. But that view!
Hilton Elara Las Vegas – May 2018
Also from the Hilton Elara in May 2018, this is a different view from the corner room (also on the real 45th floor, but the hotel claims it’s 55). In this view you can see the lights of the Aria and Cosmo, as well as some cool cloud action.
Hilton Elara Las Vegas – April 2018
This video is especially interesting because it caught the Ellis Island Casino restaurant on fire, and fire trucks putting the fire out. I was on the 35th-ish floor for this video and on the back side. This is part of a fuller video, but it caught a lot of reflection and some of it is not shareable (like me changing into pajamas…). I would also like to add that not all casinos caught on fire during our time in Las Vegas.
My Gear & Set Up
And yes, there are affiliate links below, but I own and use the products below and only make peanuts on the affiliate links anyway.
I use two different cameras for time lapses, depending on how I’m shooting or the set up of the window/terrace. I have a GoPro Hero 4 and GoPro Hero 5. Sometimes I can mount the camera on the window sill (with painters tape) or I have a aftermarket flexible mount. I keep a 128gb Samsung EVO card in the camera, and keep it plugged in the entire time (yes, I bring an extension cord to my hotels). I also bring a black towel, in which I’ve cut a hole in the middle, and painters tape, to put it on the window to cut down on reflections in the evening (you could get fancy and buy a Lenskirt to do this).
I use the time lapse photo setting (not video), and generally choose one photo every 30 seconds when I’m doing a longer time lapse. Then I use the program Time Lapse Tool (I use the paid version, but it does have a freebie version) to put it altogether, and grab royalty free music from YouTube studio creator.
Oh, and I use Windex Wipes. Seriously, they make all the difference.
Do you have any quirky things you do when traveling? I’d love to see them (and show my husband that other people do quirky things to amuse themselves on business travel, too!). Leave me a comment or sent me a Tweet!
