Las Vegas (and a P&S photo tip)

As some of you may know, one of the largest photo conventions in the world happened last week (or so) in Las Vegas. I went for a few days: I hit a couple parties to see long lost friends, checked out a few seminars (Jared Bauman with Bronson was the best), volunteered a few hours in the Special Kids Photography booth (a non-profit that trains and educates photographers about kids with special needs- awesome group!), and of course checked out all the coolest, latest, and most expensive gear at the tradeshow.

I always start feeling pretty poopy after a few days of not seeing the sun and breathing poorly filtered second-hand casino smoke so this year I brought my bike to check out the riding- it's been a few years since I rode on the convention trip.

The closest riding to "the strip" is at a little town called Blue Diamond- very fun stuff!

A few shots: (please bear with me as these are from my point and shoot again:)
Looking back at Blue Diamond after a quick climb.
And the goofy tourist shot of me- there's actually a little sign just out of the frame that says "Kodak Photo Op." like at D-Land. Just kidding:) Off in the distance to the right is Red Rock Canyon- never been? GO- it's so amazing!
The terrain changed quite a bit- this hard-packed red clay was a welcome sight after riding lots of sandy, rocky trails.
People think of the desert as some barren wasteland like Mars- but it is so beautiful- especially in the Spring.

So, here's a big tip:
I realized at one point that landscape photos in the daytime were always over exposed with my point-and-shoot camera so I used the exposure compensation to under expose every shot by 1 full stop- makes for so much richer colors! If you're not familiar with this on yours have a look at the manual... find out how to set this in the menu, set it to '-1.0' and you'll be all set. Don't forget to set it back when you're done with the landscapes!!