We spent our first 4th July as Las Vegas residents being treated to hundreds of firework displays around the valley just as a big thunder storm rolled in around the mountains surrounding the Las Vegas area. By the time the main show started around Caesars Palace and the Stratosphere, the lightning was getting pretty intense. Eventually, the rain passed through just before the finale.

Luckily I was able to capture a few exposures that showed some of the craziness around us. The photo below is 5 shots from approximately 1 minute of the show.

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Out hiking by myself in these crazy groves of trees made for a perfect morning last week. It was almost silent before the rains would begin to move into the area. All I would hear would be the slight rustling of leaves on the trees and the occasional sound of a creature scurrying by along the ground. And every direction I looked, this is what I would see.
Some people think they are aspen trees … they are Poplar trees and are closely related to the aspen and cottonwood trees. They grow fast and have a lot of commercial uses. They are also voracious for water.

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