RJ Photo

K.M. Cannon, Director of Photography • Jeff Scheid • Michael Quine • Erik Verduzco • Sam Morris • Chase Stevens • Bizuayehu Tesfaye

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The World Series of Poker main event, which takes place annually in July at the Rio hotel-casino in Las Vegas, is always a fun event to cover. It starts off with thousands of players who are whittled down day by day until the there are nine left standing for the final table, where play than stops until November (hence the “November Nine”) - where each player is guaranteed at least $1 million, and the winner pulling in a massive $7,680,021.

I arrived to cover the final night when there were just 15 players left and the stakes for each and every one of them were high. The biggest poker star there, Daniel Negreanu, was mostly hanging on by a thread, but doubled up a couple times in an exciting fashion - until he was knocked out in the 11th spot after going all in with 5.825 million chips. It wasn’t just a disappointing moment for Negreanu, but the whole crowd in attendance, who rose to give him a standing ovation as he shook the hands of fellow players and said his goodbyes. 

Read more about the night here: http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/poker/world-series-poker/final-table-set-the-wsop-main-event

-Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal

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After a near month-long stretch of highs reaching into the 70s, it finally cooled down in Vegas, and along with the chillier temperatures came a storm that left Las Vegans (at least those on the west side of the valley) a Monday morning treat of fresh snow that had just about everyone in the area excited. 

Photos by Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal

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A weekend at the races ruined by the wind.

Read about it here: http://www.reviewjournal.com/columns-blogs/ron-kantowski/october-winds-take-air-out-air-race-world-championship

--Photos by Justin Yurkanin/Las Vegas Review-Journal

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The 3 Wallball World Championships came to the Stratosphere in Las Vegas this past weekend. Competitors sweated under the sun and drank cool beer in the shade when not playing.

--Photos by Justin Yurkanin/Las Vegas Review-Journal

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Scenes from Overton, Nev. after the remnants of Tropical Storm #Norbert caused substantial flooding Monday night.

--Photos by Justin Yurkanin/Las Vegas Review-Journal

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Although monsoon season is nearing its end, the Las Vegas Valley, as well as other parts of Clark County, experienced heavy rains and flash flooding yesterday.

As one of the breaking news photographers I was tasked with going out to capture the flash floods and rain as it occurred starting in the early afternoon, though before that I went out to the Red Rock Canyon area to illustrate "the calm before the storm." 

Flash floods can sometimes be hard to track because they come and go so quickly, but thanks to radar weather trackers (along with the naked eye once getting closer to the scene) I was able to get to spots where the flooding occurred. 

Photos by Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal

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I witnessed an epic battle between some ants and a wasp on a tree in Clark County wetlands Park last week. The ant lost on that day. #nature #lvrj #antlost #clarkcountywetlandspark

--Photo by Justin Yurkanin/Las Vegas Review-Journal

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An eastern Nevada wind farm that sells power to NV Energy has been forced to change its operation after its massive turbines killed triple the number of migrating bats as allowed under its environmental permit. The 152-megawatt Spring Valley Wind project killed an estimated 566 bats during its first full year of operation. 

Photos by Jason Bean/LVRJ

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/water-environment/bat-deaths-prompt-change-wind-farm

a good read from Henry Brean of the Las Vegas Review-Journal

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“There are more beekeepers with colonies in Reno and Las Vegas than we have ever had before,” Knight said.

One concern for the health of honeybees is Africanized honeybees, which are found in Clark County but have not moved farther north than the Beatty and Hiko areas, he said.

Africanized bees are a concern in Las Vegas because if hobbyists do not care for their colonies properly, they will be taken over by the more aggressive subspecies, Knight said. --From Sean Whaley's upcoming article about the state of the honeybee in Nevada.

I had the pleasure of trying to photograph this honeybee looking for pollen on a Mexican Bird of Paradise plant. 559 frames later, I finally got one.

--Photo by Justin Yurkanin/Las Vegas Review-Journal

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The supermoon looms over the Las Vegas valley on Sunday, August 10, 2014. A supermoon is when a full moon is closest to the earth on its elliptical orbit.

Photo by Justin Yurkanin/Las Vegas Review-Journal

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Imagine you are 16 years old and the doctors tell you that you're slowly going blind.  That you have retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease that inevitably causes severe vision impairment, and that there is nothing they can do about it. What would you do?

For Dan Fingland, who is now 22, the answer is to see all that he can before it is too late, especially the Grand Canyon. On Aug. 6th, a non profit organization called the Visual Experience Foundation treated Fingland to a "sight visit" of his dream destination.

Video by Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal

The foundation was created by Michael Benson, who himself has battled glaucoma since he was born. His stated mission is to provide visual experiences to those who have been diagnosed with unstoppable vision loss.

With the help of Sundance Helicopters, the two men shared spectacular views of Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam, eventually landing on a bluff halfway down into the Grand Canyon overlooking the Colorado River. 

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Children participate during the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl Youth Football Clinic at Bill "Wildcat" Morris Rebel Park at UNLV Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014. The free annual clinic, hosted by UNLV football players and coaches, teaches children offensive and defensive skills during the one day clinic.

Photo by Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal

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Gov. Brian Sandoval tours the flood damaged Rainbow subdivision at Mount Charleston Friday, Aug. 1, 2014. During his visit, Sandoval met with residents and entered a few of the worst damaged homes which he reacted by calling the scene "heartbreaking."

Full story: http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/sandoval-open-helping-flood-damaged-rainbow

Produced by Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal

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As the death toll in Gaza rises, approximately 350 people gathered to protest the violence in the Middle East during a peace rally in front of the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse in Las Vegas on Aug. 3, 2014. 

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Last night I witnessed another horrible broken leg (the first being UFC's Anderson Silva) when Paul George landed wrong while trying to defend a James Harden lay up. The other players were truly shaken up and the intrasquad game was prematurely ended out of respect for George and his family. In other sports news, the Bull's Derrick Rose looked as explosive as he ever has and Vegas' odds on the NBA Eastern Conference have now changed as a result of last night's game.

Photos by Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal

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A couple of photos I shot recently at the Jamia Masjid Mosque in Las Vegas on Thursday, July 17, 2014.  The first pic was taken during a quiet moment before the daily Ramadan fast was broken, and the second was shot during a special reading of the Janaza Prayer, or funeral prayer. The prayer was read in honor of the recent victims of the violence in Gaza.

Photos by Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal

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A group of about 250 people gathered to protest the violence in Gaza in front of the Lloyd George Federal Courthouse in downtown Las Vegas on July 19, 2014. Most of the sentiments expressed during the protest focused on bringing peace to the Palestinian people, although a few chants of "Down, down Israel" were heard as well.

Photos by Jason Bean