best airport of the year: palm springs

after walking to my gate last night thinking of my next portrait cactus client, i stumbled upon this little guy... making for the cherry on top of my palm springs triparoo. i've never been to an airport where just outside my gate i can appreciate native cactus species with a sunset and distant mountain views and palm trees in the background.

that, in itself, makes the palm springs airport the best airport of the year (and i've been to about 15 different airports this year).

i couldn't decide which i liked best, so i am posting all three and would like YOU to decide (in the comments section below:)

#1.
RJK_6080

#2.
RJK_6063

#3.
RJK_6052

shortly after take-off, i snapped this shot of the mountains near joshua tree national park with all the recent snow they got this week. i could have paid hundreds of dollars for a scenic flight of the area, and got this view for free with my $300 round-trip airfare ticket from denver. the key: 1). sit in the back of the plane in a window seat so you don't see the wing. 2) shoot with an-ultra wide angle lens smear against the window 3) shoot through the least disorted portion of the window, which on my window was the top 4) also, i like to shoot at least 1/1000 sec to reduce possible blurring from the airplane. also, telphoto shots can be cool and if you are using a vr lens like the nikor 70-200 f/2.8, click on the "active" vr mode made for shooting in airplanes... it is one of the few times we can use the feature to our advantage.

RJK_6099