Downtown of Las Vegas at Night by Sergiy Kadulin

Captured from a hotel rooftop, this long-exposure photograph immortalizes the vibrant, neon-drenched energy of Las Vegas at night. By utilizing a tripod and a wide-angle lens, the photographer successfully balanced the complex, multi-colored light trails of the desert metropolis against the deep shadows of the night sky. The image captures the photographer’s initial awe during their first visit to the city, transforming the chaotic bustle of music and crowds into a structured, luminous landscape. This work is award-worthy for its technical precision in handling high-contrast night lighting and its ability to distill the overwhelming sensory experience of Las Vegas into a singular, cohesive composition.

Downtown of Las Vegas at Night by Sergiy Kadulin
Canon 5D Mark II with EF 24-70 f/2.8L | Exposure 20sec @ f/18 | ISO 100 | Focal Length 27mm
Copyright Β© Sergiy Kadulin
Light & Composition Photo of the Day

Sergiy Kadulin

REGISTERED PHOTOGRAPHER

Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 1967, Sergiy Kadulin balances a distinguished career in information technology with a profound, lifelong devotion to photography. After mastering film techniques with early cameras like the Zenit-12SD, he transitioned to digital workflows and further refined his craft through the Kyiv School of Photography and the New York Institute of Photography. Specializing in travel and landscape photography, Kadulin views his creative practice as a vital means of sharing his love for the world and humanity, aiming to convey warmth and connection through every frame he captures.

Profile View Full Profile
12.4/20
RESONANCE
SCORE
207/500
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Award Reach | Reviews
11,384 views | 5 Reviews
Award Winner Photo of the Day
Award Date December 17, 2017
65.0
AWARD SCORE
Value 13.0
Clarity 12.0
Composition 17.0
Style 11.0
Skill 12.0
Photograph Location
Las Vegas, The United States

AWARD SEGMENT | TAGS

Night Photography
Sergiy Kadulin Photography

Resonance Score Breakdown

Transparency in Award Scoring

Transparency Note: The resonance score (12.2/20) is calculated based on social engagement metrics collected before the award announcement.

Social Shares
5.0/5 points
1,062/1,000 Social Share
Page Views
5.0/5 points
11,384/2,500 Page View
Reviews
0.1/5 points
1/100 Review
Submissions
2.1/5 points
207/500 Submission
Jury Score: 65.0/80
Resonance Score: 12.2/20
Total Award Score: 77.2/100

Expert Photography Reviews · 4

Victoria Ashby Wildlife, Nature & the Ethics of the Unseen Moment Expert Review
It’s a sterile, neon-drenched grid. I’ve spent weeks in blinds waiting for a single, authentic movement, and looking at this, I feel a strange, hollow exhaustion. There’s no life here, just the cold, calculated hum of a city that never sleeps. It’s technically precise, sure, but it’s entirely extracted. I prefer the messy, unpredictable pulse of the wild over this static, light-polluted geometry. It’s a photograph that doesn’t breathe; it just glows.
Priya Sharma Negative Space, Minimalism & the Japanese Aesthetic Expert Review
Las Vegas is usually a scream. Here, it’s a hum. The long exposure pulls the chaos into lines of light. It’s quiet. I’ve spent minutes staring at the black sky above the neon. It’s not just an absence of detail. It’s a weight. The city below is frantic, but the darkness holds it still. Nothing here is accidental. The empty corner is not empty. It’s a breath. I finally feel a sense of peace.
Rafael Ortega Shutter Technique, Motion & the Cinematic Single Frame Expert Review
The shutter stays open, and the city bleeds light. It’s a kinetic blur, a twenty-second sequence compressed into a single, breathless frame. I love how the neon trails slice through the dark like a tracking shot that refuses to end. Kadulin caught the rhythm of the strip, turning chaos into a steady, luminous pulse. It’s the kind of frame an editor keeps because the cut would’ve been a mistake. It’s pure, electric motion held perfectly still.
Eleanor Voss Composition & Visual Structure Expert Review
The frame’s geometry relies on the long-exposure light trails to anchor the chaotic urban sprawl. It’s a rigid architecture of neon vectors cutting through the void. The spatial tension between the saturated foreground and the encroaching black sky creates a necessary fulcrum. While the composition holds, the sheer density of the light trails occasionally threatens to collapse the picture plane. I’ve grown weary of such neon excess, yet the structural discipline here remains undeniably precise.
Reflections on this Photograph
By Priya Kapoor

The Hum of Electric Veins

The air in the city at night tastes like ozone and burnt sugar. It is a dry, metallic heat that clings to the back of the throat, a sharp reminder that everything here is manufactured, pulled from the earth and forced to glow.

Read the reflection →
By Margaret Holt

The Architecture of After-Hours

We often speak of the night as a void, a space where the world simply ceases to be until the sun decides to return. Yet, there is a peculiar, humming industry that wakes only when the shadows grow long.

Read the reflection →

Reviews & Comments

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5 replies
  1. Matt Harvey says:

    Nice, but this isn’t Downtown Las Vegas. This is CityCenter at the south end of the Strip… About 6 miles from downtown and technically not even in Las Vegas.

    Reply

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