Las Vegas abounds with quirky, pretty and fun souvenir settings

We probably didn't need George Clooney to remind us Las Vegas is a shutterbug's paradise.

A key plot point of the movie "Up in the Air" has Clooney's traveling man gradually warming to the project of snapping photos with a cutout of his sister and her fiance, traveling gnome style, in front of Luxor and other landmarks.

With that in mind, follow the Tourist Bunny (crafted by two 10-year-olds) to points both familiar and less known, with a few tips along the way. Here's the first, very important one: Don't expect to collect all these photos with any speed if you're not a conditioned walker. Casino garage-hopping and hiking to these landmarks takes time.

1. "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign

The landmark that turned 50 last year finally was made safer for photo ops with the addition of a parking lot and walkway in late 2008. You can turn into the lot at 5100 Las Vegas Blvd. South only when you're heading south, away from the Strip, which is perhaps counterintuitive.

2. Diamond Inn elephant/Little Church of the West

Not far from the "Welcome" sign, the old motel and its kitschy elephant, 4605 Las Vegas Blvd. South, hold on as a resilient reminder of modest '60s Vegas. The wedding chapel built in 1942 preserves the sacred vows of celebs including David Cassidy, Telly Savalas and Zsa Zsa Gabor.

3. Luxor

Trying to duplicate the Clooney scene in "Up in the Air" turns up an odd fact: Nobody ever walks out in front of Luxor, thanks to the parking garage in back and the monorail connecting it to other properties.

You have to get pretty far away from the Luxor pyramid, 3900 Las Vegas Blvd South, to put it into pointy relief, but you can have some fun with the Sphinx and Egyptian statuary on the sidewalk in front of the valet area. After all, how often can you get a shot of a Sphinx's head looming over a passing monorail car?

4. Statue of Liberty

You can stand on an expanded sidewalk right in front of New York-New York's faux Ellis Island, 3790 Las Vegas Blvd. South, but be prepared to lie on your back to include Lady Liberty's head if you don't have a wide-angle lens. There are easier vantage points from the pedestrian bridges that pass over the Strip and Tropicana Avenue. Might as well snap the MGM's big lion (or go inside to find a real one) while you're in the neighborhood.

5. Everything Coca-Cola Las Vegas/Hawaiian marketplace

You can't miss the giant bottle outside the Showcase mall, a pop-art icon of '90s-era Vegas. Go inside the store at 3785 Las Vegas Blvd. South for a photo op with the cute polar bear statue.

Just north of the Showcase, the Hawaiian Marketplace sports a statue of King Kamehameha. But a velvet rope now protects the king after local Hawaiians pointed out the lack of respect from visiting smart alecks and drunks.

You might get lucky and find a "Star Wars" storm trooper hovering near the statue, calling attention to a Grand Canyon tour company. Have some singles at the ready: "I pose for tips, sir," the trooper lifts his visor to inform.

6. Elvis statue at Aria/Crystals

The Strip's new showplace dials down old Vegas kitsch in favor of "real" art. But the bust of Elvis in front of the "Viva Elvis" theater, 3730 Las Vegas Blvd. South, seems the most popular posing place. Go figure. Most of the stores inside the Crystals retail mall aren't for folks of average means. But the public traffic ways in the mall will nonetheless intrigue families, with fixtures such as the colorful "cyclones" that swirl inside clear cylinders and the 70-foot "treehouse" restaurant (Mastro's Ocean Club).

7. Bellagio/Eiffel Tower

So many of Las Vegas' real charms are indoors, and some of them too naughty to share with the folks at home. Here's an outdoor setup to make your vacation look serene and wholesome. The trifecta combo is to wait for the dancing waters show on the lake at Bellagio, 3600 Las Vegas Blvd. South, then stand by the hotel (west) side of the lake to put the Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas in the background.

That position puts you close to Bellagio's lobby with its Dale Chihuly glass sculpture, and the conservatory with its seasonal amazements of decoration. A heavily traveled path to the CityCenter tram makes it easier to find the "world's largest chocolate fountain" at Jean-Philippe Patisserie. Angle the camera so the chocolate river seems to flow right into your mouth. Wacky!

8. The Greenbacks, Harrah's Las Vegas

Bold is the casino (3475 Las Vegas Blvd. South) that embraces the stereotype most of them are trying to leave behind. The statues of over-the-top tourist couple Winnie and Buck, aka the Greenbacks, are so well-loved that some people dress like them at the casino's Halloween party for VIP players.

9. The Mirage volcano/Siegfried & Roy statue/ pirate battle Those who remember The Mirage volcano, 3400 Las Vegas Blvd. South, as underwhelming compared to later Vegas wonders should pay another visit. The volcano was rebuilt in 2008 to add better fire and lava effects. Fireballs now shoot 12 feet into the air, choreographed to a cool soundtrack by the Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart. The volcano still isn't much to snap at before nightfall, but the pirate ships at Treasure Island next-door make fun backdrops day or night. Those trying to complete a collection of heroic kitsch statuary must seek out the outdoor tribute to Siegfried & Roy, depicting the legendary illusionists as 20 years younger than they were when they came to The Mirage.

10. Riviera "Crazy Girls" statue

The answer to the elliptical tag line "No Ifs, Ands or ..." The rear view of the Riviera's titular cabaret dancers, 2901 Las Vegas Blvd. South, is way more popular than the show itself. The bronze booties stay shiny thanks to helpful hands continuously polishing. Gents simply grab hold, while women usually join the line at either end and throw an over-the-shoulder smile.

11. Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health

Better known as, "the building that looks like it's melting like butter in the summer sun." Frank Gehry -- an architect you can usually name if you can only name one or two -- designed this gravity-defying showpiece of the new "Symphony Park" downtown, 888 W. Bonnevile Ave. Out-of-towners can find it just across the street from Las Vegas Premium Outlets, or by heading west from the old Main Street on West Bonneville Avenue.

12. Fremont Street

It's tricky to capture the "Viva Vision" videos that run on the underside of the canopy lining historic Glitter Gulch. Sit or lie down -- people will think it is just the plastic football of beer -- and hope the backlighting from the videos doesn't put your foreground subject in the witness protection program. (Advanced camera settings can cure the problem with fill flash.) Or you can forget all that and pose with the showgirls passing out beads in front of Mermaids.

Retro-Vegas buffs should step out on the second-floor bar balcony at Fitzgeralds, 301 Fremont St., and pose their pallies with the old El Portal theater in the background. It's a gift shop now, but the facade preserves the place where Frank Sinatra and Joe E. Lewis hosted the world premiere of "The Joker's Wild" in 1957.

13. Neon Museum

It isn't officially finished. The classic signs from the Yesco "boneyard" of old Las Vegas hide in plain sight in the Cashman Center parking lot while its future home is being developed at 821 Las Vegas Blvd. North. Cashman charges for event parking, but there are places to park nearby if you're brave enough to dodge traffic. This is a daytime photo op for now; the signs aren't lighted and the neighborhood is a homeless corridor.

14. Show people

This list so far avoids pay-to-snap attractions, such as ticketed rides to the top of the Stratosphere or Eiffel Tower. But photos are always more interesting with people, not press-board bunnies, so we go out with a reminder that many Las Vegas entertainers linger after their performances for souvenir snapshots. We'll ignore those who charge a VIP "upsell" ticket for the privilege and mention a few who don't: Blue Man Group, Penn & Teller and Mac King, and almost all the less-famous casts of revues ranging from "Legends in Concert" to "V -- The Ultimate Variety Show."

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.