Back in 1987 (yes, 1987 - 21 years ago!) I was a young, single and rather hot TV News Cameraman.  I had just relocated from Great Falls, Montana to the hopping, exciting metropolis of Reno, Nevada.  This was a big step up for me, career-wise (or so I thought at the time - ah, the ignorance of youth!) and I could not have been more excited.  I'd never been to Reno before and it was a very exciting time.

I had the opportunity to shoot some very interesting news stories in my brief in Reno, but what I enjoyed most was taking the camera out between stories and shooting images of the city at night.  Reno was all Bright Lights, Big City to me at that time, and the whole gambling thing gave it a slight aura of decadence to me (again, remember I am young and impressionable - but still HOT) and I lapped it up like a melting ice cream cone.

One evening I heard of a local fundraiser/fashion show taking place at one of the casinos. Using my press pass and TV gear I talked my way in to the event.  I roamed around the fundraiser, which just so happened to feature some very attractive models.  I shot quite a bit of tape, took it back to the station and edited together about 30 seconds of tape.  I handed it to the 11:00 PM news producer, who wrote a short script and put the piece in the last block of the news that night.

On my own I took some of that footage and combined it with other footage I had been shooting of Reno at night.  I cut a series of shots together, edited to music, and tucked it away.  It spend the past 20 years in various storage places, never seeing the light of day (or the inside of a videotape player) until I dragged this and other tapes out of the attic of my house.  

I played it again, 20 years later, and though it is old, dated and not what I would have cut if I were re-cutting today, I think it is still a nice little piece.  I like some of my edits and the way they flow to the music.  

Reno has no doubt changed significantly in the 20+ years since I was there, but some things never change - bright lights, attractive women, film noir scenes of rain-slicked streets at night and a classic soundtrack.  If you'd like to see for yourself, click over to the Multimedia page and click on the link under the heading Reno at Night.