THS-Visuals Tells Nevada's Story

BY MATTHEW B. BROWN

One of the slogans we use at Nevada Magazine is "Telling the Silver State's story since 1936." Well, THS-Visuals has been telling Nevada's story for many years as well. We were lucky enough to work with owner Todd Simon and his crew this month for a Nevada Magazine promo video, which you can watch below:


I found it interesting, in conversations I had with Simon in between filming at our Carson City offices, just how much of Nevada he's seen. We share this in common, I as the editor of Nevada Magazine and he as the owner of THS-Visuals, which has produced numerous Nevada tourism videos. Here is a summary of THS-Visuals' Nevada travels just this year:

• In March, they shot for a new TLC TV show called "Insane Bathrooms" covering a solid-gold bathroom in a Zephyr Cove (Lake Tahoe) home. The house was built by the co-founder of Tommy Hilfiger.
• Shortly after, they visited Pahrump for eight days to film a series of videos aimed at promoting tourism on the Visit Pahrump website. Included were Southern Nevada attractions such as Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Hoover Dam, local wineries, Death Valley National Park, and Rhyolite ghost town.
• In May, THS-Visuals spent time in Elko making a video for the California Trail Interpretive Center, followed by a shoot at Barrick Gold Corporation's Goldstrike mine site.
• In June, the Nevada Commission on Tourism asked THS-Visuals to put together a "Travel Nevada" video set to the new Nevada theme song, "Don't Fence Me In," by Las Vegas band The Killers.
• This summer, Simon and crew filmed events and activities in West Wendover during the city's July 4th celebration, then spent four days covering wild horses around Reno and Winnemucca for a new Discovery Channel show. Then they were back in West Wendover for 10 more days to film a series of tourism videos for the city website.

"Who knows where in the state you'll find us next? Interesting, and often unexpected...but always fun. That's my take on Nevada!"—Todd Simon

THS-Visuals' reach is not limited to Nevada, having produced shorts for Redding, California and Shasta Lake, for example. They were extremely professional during filming and turned the video around quickly, while remaining diligent about quality. We at Nevada Magazine highly recommend their work if you're looking to have a video made for your agency, business, etc.

Reno Man Wins Nevada Magazine’s 2012 Photo Contest

Kristoffer Glenn Pfalmer (left) poses with Nevada Magazine Editor Matthew B. Brown on August 27 in Carson City. Pfalmer had large prints made of his three photos that earned accolades in the magazine's 2012 photo contest.

Kristoffer Glenn Pfalmer, a guardsman navigator for the Nevada Air National Guard in Reno, is the Grand Prize winner of Nevada Magazine’s 35th annual Great Nevada Picture Hunt photo contest — the feature story in the publication’s September/October 2012 issue.

The winning image, titled “Ranges Blue," was captured from a Las Vegas-bound commercial jet about 100 miles northwest of the city looking east into Nevada. The picture shows dozens of Nevada's mountain ranges shrouded in a beautiful blue haze (see below). "I used the color casting as an artistic element," Pfalmer says.

In addition to the Grand Prize, Pfalmer won the Events category with his black-and-white "Thunderbirds" photo and was runner-up in the Photo Illustration category with his "Strega" image. Both images are of planes that participated in the 2011 National Championship Air Races and Air Show (now the TravelNevada.com Reno Air Races, which occur annually in September).

Photo: Kristoffer Glenn Pfalmer

The additional categories of Nevada Magazine's 2012 photo contest are: City Limits, Wide Open, Nature, People, and Then & Now. Overton resident Jay Wanta won the City Limits category with his vibrant nighttime image of the Las Vegas Strip; Neil Lockhart of Reno won Wide Open with a beaming black-and-white image of North Lake Tahoe; Las Vegas' Jose Witt took top honors in Nature with a photo of a golden-colored bobcat; Oregon photographer Larry Turner won the People category with his soulful image of grey-bearded Beatty resident Fred Reed; Mauricio Reyes-Gomez of Las Vegas won Photo Illustration with his Valentine's Day-themed photo of his balloon-wielding girlfriend at Bonnie Springs; and Beatty's Mark Holloway swept the Then & Now category, in which photographers snap a modern photo from the same place a historical photo was taken a number of years ago.

To view the winning images and runners-up, pick up the latest issue at national bookstores and where magazines are sold in Nevada, or visit nevadamagazine.com. Look for information in a future 2013 issue covering rules of submission for the 2013 photo contest, or check back regularly at nevadamagazine.com.

Also in the September/October 2012 issue

Photo: Rob Petersen

The remainder of the current issue honors Nevada’s centennial ranches — ranching families that have survived for 100-plus years. Lake Tahoe photographer Rachid Dahnoun captures this traditional lifestyle wonderfully in a photo gallery feature.

Also highlighted are scenic autumn drives and hikes, Reno's MidTown District, volunteer efforts at Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, Fallon's Tractors & Truffles event, Pahrump Valley Winery's Grape Stomp, a Q&A with St. Louis Rams running back and Las Vegas native Steven Jackson, and a history story titled “Nevada's Lost City,” which includes excerpts from a new Arcadia Publishing book of the same name.