More Las Vegas Real Estate

Las Vegas Trailers, originally uploaded by Gamut's Edge.

Here's another photo from my walk around Las Vegas. This storage lot is located walking distance from The Strip.

Tehnical note: When taking photos in bright midday sun it is easy to get tricked by your camera's LCD into underexposing. Under exposed shots look better on the LCD when viewed in a sunny area. If you're bracketing and don't pay attention to the histogram you could easily fool yourself into underexposing a whole series of pictures. I've done that a few times in the past. Now whenever I shoot in the sun I pay close attention to the histogram. For this photo I based my exposure off the white in the trailers. I made sure there was a spike on the right side of the histogram as close to the edge as possible without overexposing. This spike was the white trailers. I took a few bracketed shots over and under just to be sure I got a workable image. And of course, the underexposed frame looked best on my LCD. However, when I got back to my computer and downloaded the photos the image with the whitest yet not blown out trailers looked best.

Why do underexposed photos look best on the camera's LCD? I am not sure but I have a theory. First of all underexposed photos are darker so they are easier to see in bright sun. Secondly, I think the camera actually does a little post processing of its own when it displays the photos. I could b wrong, but I think most cameras set a white point and black point, kind of a rough levels adjustment, to the photos displayed on the LCD. This is used strictly for the LCD display and isn't saved for to the file data. That's why your images always look contrastier on the LCD than they do once they're downloaded. This white point setting adds saturation just like it does in photoshop. That's why the underexposed photo has more saturation. A sharper correction was made to create a white point and black point in the underexposed image. Therefore there is more saturation in the underexposed photo in the LCD display and it still looks good because it has a black point and a white point. You don't notice the image is messed up until you download it onto your computer or take a second to analyze the histogram n camera.

The State of Utah Should be Paying Me

Sunset Above Utah , originally uploaded by Gamut's Edge.

Is this Utah week? I have to admit that I am getting tired of scrolling down my blog and seeing one after another aerial photos of Utah covered in snow, but I can't resist posting another. I got this photo yesterday while flying from Las Vegas to New York (again). The sun was setting and our jumpseat rider was yammering on and on about how he once stood up to the base chief pilot. Blah Blah Blah. Meanwhile, I was getting some great shots of the desert ridges below.

I have one more shot from yesterday that I want to post, and we are flying to Vegas again today. Look out for more Utah shots.

Apocalypse or Las Vegas?

Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, originally uploaded by Gamut's Edge.

Do you remember that guy that told you to invest in real estate because they aren't making any more land? Remember when he told you about how he got in on a new condo project in Vegas for only $40,000 down. He said it was a can't miss money maker. Well, the construction on his condo is now finished, and he has one month before he has to start paying the full mortgage on his unit. If only he could find a buyer things would be OK.

Are you interested in luxury living only minutes away from the Las Vegas strip? This unit is conveniently located near miles of low rise nondescript office buildings. The homeless people living in the adjacent vacant lot promise to not build their shanties taller than two stories which means your view of the strip will not be blocked. Owner will consider short sale or mortgage take over.

The Sun Rises on Bruce Springsteen

The Sunrises on Bruce Springsteen, originally uploaded by Gamut's Edge.

This is sunrise on the coast of New Jersey. Somewhere down on the shoreline is Asbury Park, home of Bruce Springsteen. This is what the end of a red eye flight looks like. Bruce Springsteen may have been born to run, but when I took this photo I felt born to take a nap at the JFK Double Tree.

For me flying the east coast at sunrise feels like coming home. I plowed these same skies while working at PSA for 8 years. As much as I love the American west I must admit that the east coast offers prettier aerial sunrise photos than the west. Many mornings in the east there are broken layers of cirrus clouds that create a gentle pastel sky that contrasts nicely with the dark blue Atlantic Ocean. I guess I dont have to choose sides -- I can like both the east coast and the west coast. A fan of the visual arts can like both Ansel Adams and Winslow Homer. Have I just lost my small amount of blogger cred proclaiming my admiration of those two guys?

Electronic Flight Bag

Electronic Flight Bag, originally uploaded by Gamut's Edge.

This gadget is one of the joys of working for my new airline. It's an electronic flight bag. Basically it's a tablet PC with all of our maps, charts, and company manuals loaded into it. Because we have these EFBs installed on all of our aircraft the pilots no longer have to carry heavy chart cases. The best part is we no longer have to do manual and chart revisions. In the old days pilots would have to spend an hour or two each week doing revisions to their charts. Now, all that is done by the maintenance department with a simple upload to the electronic flight bag.

I took this photo this morning on at the top of our descent into New York JFK. We were just finishing the red eye flight from Las Vegas. The chart on display is the LENDY5 arrival to JFK.

Kolob Canyons, Utah

Kolob Canyons, Utah, originally uploaded by Gamut's Edge.

Last week I promised more aerial views of the Utah desert. I come through on my promises. This is an aerial view of the Kolob Canyons region of Zion National Park. The red rocks are the Kolob Canyons. If you visit Zion National Park I recomend spending a day at Kolob Canyons. The area is as spectacular as Zion Canyon, but it lacks tourists, and there are some great sunset photo opportunities for all you landscape photographers. Here is a photo I took in the Kolob Canyons a few years ago. If you look hard at this enlarged view of my aerial photograph you can spot the rock formation that I photographed so many years back.

When the Wolves Don't Eat You

Outagamie county Airport, originally uploaded by Gamut's Edge.

We made it through a week at the Cabin in the wild north woods of Wisconsin and none of us were eaten by wolves, including the dogs. A pack of wolves moved into the woods behind our family's cabin two years ago. Walking in the forest has taken on a new level of excitement. None of us has seen a wolf yet, but we have seen tracks, and my brother, a certified wolf howler, has gotten the wolf pack to howl a response. They are out there.

As you can see from the photo leading this post, I am back at work now. The picture was taken at Outagamie County Airport in Appleton. I commuted out of there this morning. The snow plow was out cleaning up the endlessly blowing snow. As I write this post I am listening to the endless chiming of the slot machines at McCarran Airport here in Las Vegas. In a few hours we depart for New York.