Las Vegas Neon Sign Boneyard through my Pentax K-7

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Hi Pentaxian friends.

A Company named "YESCO" has created most of the neon signs that used to identify the Las Vegas Casinos.

The Vegas " Strip", as it is still called, has seen an explosion in renovations and many Casinos were torned down to make place for new and bigger Casinos. The neon signs have been replaced by gigantic TV like screens. The old neon signs are a part of Las Vegas history and a group of people formed a non-profit organization to preserve the neon signs. The organization is called "The Neon Museum".

The museum was not open to the public when I visited on January 9, 2010. I was able to get some shots by climbing on the roof of my rental car and through the holes in the fence.

I decided to modify my pictures in Photoshop Lightroom in order to give a feel of antiquity to the signs. I moved the clarity slider to the left and decreased the vibrance as well. On some pictures, I decrease the luminance. The end results are pictures with less pronounce colors and a flair of early color film. I hope you like the effects. I used a Pentax K-7 with the 18-55mm kit lens and the 10-17mm DA lens.

Thank you for reading,

Yvon Bourque

We support this site by selling e-books for the Pentax Digital SLR cameras, including theK100D, K10D, K20D, K-7 and the K-x. This site does not ask for contributions. We sell real tangible merchandise that can improve your photography. Our free Auto-focus adjustment charts have been downloaded thousands of times by Pentaxians as well as Nikon and Canon users.

Visit with Pentax in Las Vegas on Thursday January 7th.

ARIA Hotel suite on the 24th floor.

P.S. All the pictures at the Pentax suite were taken with the K-x, no flash and ISO 6200.

Michelle Martin to the left, Pentax's Events manager and Public Relations Coordinator and my wife Anne, Editor of my all my books.

Michelle Martin, Ned Bunnell, Pentax Imaging's President and Anne

John Carlson, Manager of Product Marketing and support, chatting with another Pentax employee. I believe it is Carolyn Pitcavage.

Invited guests and Pentax employees. I also met with Chris Pound, Product Manager, but couldn't find him when I took these pictures.

Member of the media chatting with Pentax employees.

Some were watching the football game between Texas and Alabama. Alabama won.

The above is an excerpt from DPReview Pentax Forum, thread No. 34242883.

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Hi Pentaxian friends.

I have received tons of emails asking what was new at Pentax following the CES. All are referring to the brief meeting I had with Pentax at the ARIA Hotel in Las Vegas, during the CES event. Pentax did have a suite at the ARIA Hotel, but there weren't any cameras or equipment on display. The meeting was mainly to introduce Pentax's personnel to Vendors, Store Owners, Bloggers and the Media in general. Many were invited but not all could attend. The CES is not the main media event to display and launch new cameras and equipment. I'm sure that their presence will be bigger at the PMA 2010 convention held at the Anaheim Convention Center. The exhibition hall will be open from February 21 through February 23, 2010.

I assume that if Pentax were to announce new cameras and equipment, they would do so at the PMA 2010. Of course, they have new cameras and equipment on the radar screen, but the launching will be done by Pentax when they feel the time is appropriate.

The Pentax 645 Digital Medium Format SLR has been the subject of many discussions in the past year. As far as I know, it is still to be launched this coming Spring and will be produced in a limited quantity to test the market first. It will only be available in Japan, and everywhere else if successful. We all know that if you want one, Adorama and B&H Photo will be able to get some.

I picked up a post on DPReview, shown at the top of this page. (Thread No. 34242883)

Pentax also had a small private area at the CES for meeting with clients that had requested a face to face during the CES. They had some products there but none that could be shared at this time without breaking the Non-Disclosure-Agreement (NDA). Some cool stuff is on the horizon. Stay tuned.

Thank you for reading,

Yvon Bourque

We support this site by selling e-books for the Pentax Digital SLR cameras, including the K100D, K10D, K20D, K-7 and the K-x. This site does not ask for contributions. We sell real tangible merchandise that can improve your photography. Our free Auto-focus adjustment charts have been downloaded thousands of times by Pentaxians as well as Nikon and Canon users.

Follow-up to the Las Vegas Trip...Shelby Mustangs

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Hi Pentaxian friends.

As a follow-up to yesterday's post, here are some pictures of the Mustangs we saw at a gas station off of highway 15, on our way to Las Vegas.

Carroll Shelby is an icon in the Mustang performance world. On January 11th, a group of Shelby owners from Los Angeles drove to Las Vegas to celebrate his 87th birthday. We were lucky enough to be at a gas station when about one hundred of these Mustangs stopped to refuel. Shelby's main goal in life, we were told, has simply been to move faster, whether it was in the airplanes he’s flown or the cars he’s raced. Shelby’s legacy is one defined by the many roles he took in the automotive world and by the legendary high performance Mustangs he created.

Having my Pentax K-7 and my K-x allowed me to capture these wonderful Mustang pictures. I tried to get close to the cars as there were too many distractions in the background. I have never been surrounded by so many nice cars. They were to meet at the Las Vegas race track with more Shelby enthusiasts. What a weekend they must have had!

Thanks for reading,

Yvon Bourque

We support this site by selling e-books for the Pentax Digital SLR cameras, including the K100D, K10D, K20D, K-7 and the K-x. This site does not ask for contributions. We sell real tangible merchandise that can improve your photography. Our free Auto-focus adjustment charts have been downloaded thousands of times by Pentaxians as well as Nikon and Canon users.

Las Vegas, CES show, Meeting with Pentax, Vegas Neon Sign Graveyard, City Lights, Glass sculptures and the new ARIA hotel.

On our way to Las Vegas, we met a group of about 100 Mustang Shelby Cobras, going to the celebration of the 78th birthday of Carroll Shelby at the Las Vegas race track. There were some very impressive cars.

We were lucky enough to meet with Pentax at the new ARIA Hotel.

Glass Art exposition at the CityCenter. The artis: Dale Chihuly. His creations are just magnificient.

The new Aria Hotel with the impressive water wall that constantly changes.

Driving on the Vegas Strip at night.

The reality show "Pawn Star$" aired on the History Channel is a real place. The owners are very friendly.

The "Neon Sign Graveyard" of East Las Vegas.

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Hi Pentaxian friends.

I was in Las Vegas from Thursday January 7th through Monday January 11th. I was there primarily to attend the Consumer Electronic Show (CES), but there was so much to do in Vegas that I decided to split the upcoming blogs in several segments. I only spent one day at the CES. It's a fun show, but there was soo many people and other than the upcoming 3D Televisions, it was the same new stuff that has been shown on the G4 Network.

1. The first day, I was fortunate enough to meet with the Pentax group at the new ARIA Hotel. Pentax had a suite instead of the usual booth at the CES. I did met some influential people.


2. I visited the new ARIA Hotel and the new CityCenter. I took some very interesting photographs that I think you will like.


3. There is something magical about the Las Vegas city lights, the neon signs and the Strip. I have an essay on the night lights in Vegas I want to share with my readers.


4. There is a reality television show aired on the History channel, called Pawn Star$. Generations of men from the Harrison family – grandfather, father and son – amusingly clash while running the business together. We found the pawn shop and were able to take some pictures inside.


5. Las Vegas has grown so rapidly in the last decades that some of the old Casinos were demolished to make place for new bigger Casinos. Some of the old neon signs are kept in a "graveyard" on the east side of Vegas. I was able to locate the Neon Sign Graveyard, and although it was not accessible to the public, I got some great shots through the fence and by climbing on the roof of the rented car. ;-)


6. Finally, the CES was just a visit to the current and future electronic gadgetry's . I was unimpressed. Many bloggers, TV networks, and magazines have reported on just about everything that was at the show. I don't think I can add to it.

Come back in the following days. I will be posting photos and reports on the subjects above.

We support this site by selling e-books for the Pentax Digital SLR cameras, including the K100D, K10D, K20D, K-7 and the K-x. This site does not ask for contributions. We sell real tangible merchandise that can improve your photography. Our free Auto-focus adjustment charts have been downloaded thousands of times by Pentaxians as well as Nikon and Canon users.

Thank you for your visit,

Yvon Bourque

PC's and Apple allows third party software, Why can't Pentax do that?

The above is what writing code for Pentax Firmware looks like.

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Hi Pentaxian friends.

We all know that digital cameras are somewhat like computers. Sure, they use real glass lenses and many of the traditional analog cameras characteristics are still utilized. However, some of the functions , if not most of them, are embedded into the camera's "Firmware". Currently, only Pentax can modify the Firmware and they do so by issuing downloadable revisions mostly to fix problems reported by users.

You know that the cheaper DSLRs could have some of the same functions as the more expensive models. For example, the new K-x does not show the "red-illuminated" square over the focus point. I suspect that it could easily be added in the Firmware. The K20D and the K-7 have the capability of adjusting the front/back focus of any lens attached. Again, I suspect that this feature could be added in the Firmware. I remember the complaints from K10D owners wanting to have the K10D updated so that it too would have the capability of adjusting front/back focusing. I also remember some hacker, from Russia, coming up with some solution to the problem, that anyone could somehow enter in the firmware. Of course, any problems caused by someone unsuccessfully trying to modify the Firmware, automatically voided the warranty.

There are many great software companies in the world, that could come up with pretty interesting features. Why not grant a license to these guys and let them sell additional features for the Pentax cameras. Instead of reducing the sales, I believe it would increase them.

Would you buy an Apple computer if only Apple were able to write software for its computers? Would you buy a PC if it would only run on the manufacturer's software? Of course you wouldn't.

Pentax has always been a unique company with design and ideas outside the box. Maybe time has come. The time to beat Canikon at the game has come...maybe.

What do you think?

Thank you for reading,

Yvon Bourque