Horseback Riding in Red Rock Canyon with My Nokia Lumia 1520

2014 has started out with a bang for me. Just six days into the new year, I was on a plane to Las Vegas - for the very first time - as a guest of Nokia. Not only was I heading out on an all expenses-paid trip to experience all of the excitement Las Vegas has to offer, but my agenda included a private concert with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, fancy lunches and dinners at some of the best restaurants in Las Vegas, a visit to Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden, and Horseback Riding in Red Rock Canyon.

Out of everything I did in my four days in Vegas, Horseback Riding in Red Rock Canyon was by far my favorite experience!

The purpose of our activity was to try out our new Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone cameras, which I and the other guests received prior to arriving in Las Vegas. I'll be posting a full review of my new Windows Phone, the Nokia Lumia 1520 later on, because to be honest, I am still getting used to it and I want to be able to provide a detailed review!

In the meantime, I had to share these amazing photos of our Horseback Riding in Red Rock Canyon experience. Aside from cropping, I haven't edited the photos - they are just that amazing!

When are arrived at the ranch, I got pretty excited. You see, aside from my visits to Edgewood and Albuquerque, New Mexico, I'd never really been "out West" before. While the scenery is completely different than I am used to in Miami, I found it break taking!

As cliche as it may seem, I truly felt that I was a cowgirl back in the days when Americans were embracing Manifest Destiny and making their way out West.

I even wore my cowboy boots!

The photos I am sharing were all taken with the Nokia camera, which is a free app from the Windows store, especially designed by Nokia for Windows phones. The main camera has optical image stabilization, PureView, Backside-illuminated image sensor, 6-lens optics, and a high resolution zoom 2x. 

Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone Main Camera Features:

• Main camera sensor: 20 MP, PureView and the sensor size is ½.5 inch
• Main camera focus type: Auto focus with two-stage capture key
• ZEISS optics: Yes
• Main camera f-number/aperture: f/2.4
• Camera focal length: 26 mm
• Camera minimum focus range: 10 cm
• Camera image formats: JPEG/Exif
• Flash type: Dual LED flash, flash operating range: 3.0 m with flash modes: Off, Automatic, On

The free digital camera add-ons, like the Cinemagraph lens, Bing vision, PhotoBeamer, Creative Studio, and the Nokia Camera I used in these shots, are super easy to install and use.

The Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone secondary camera features:

• Secondary camera resolution: 1280 x 960 pixels
• Secondary camera f-number/aperture: f/2.4
• Secondary camera - other features: HD 1.2 MP wide angle, Video recording, Still image capture, Video call

Now, I am still learning how to use all of the features of my Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone, but I was given a little lesson by photography Colby Brown right before we set off on our horseback ride through the canyon.

He taught us how to use the different Capture modes: Video and Still. I used the Still mode during our horseback ride, with the scene mode se to Sports since we were going to be riding on the backs of horses. There is also an automatic mode, which I used later during the day, and a night mode, which I've used many times at night. All three modes have a noticeable difference in the resulting photos. I love that this phone camera has settings like my DSLR! That's something I have always missed when using my iPhone.

There are also white modes: Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent, Daylight, and Automatic, so you can create the perfect mode for the perfect shot! There are light sensitivity options as well, which are almost the same as on my DSLR: Automatic, ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 400, ISO 800, ISO 1600, ISO 3200, ISO 4000. It's amazing, really, what Nokia has packed into the camera on this Windows phone!

You know, as much as I love taking photos when I travel, I have never thought of myself as a photographer - not even an amateur photographer!

Looking back on these photos taken with my new Lukia Lumia 1520, I have a feeling that that is going to change very soon. Some of the photos I snapped on the back of that horse just amaze me, and it's not my eye - it's the camera!

Who knew that you could capture such amazing scenes with a phone?!

You can learn more about activities offered in Red Rock Canyon in Las Vegas here.

I will be writing a full review of my new Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone soon, but if you're already enthralled based on the photo capability alone, you can find more information on the Nokia website. It retails for $549 without a contract, but like with any phone, you can always get a fantastic deal when upgrading through your carrier or signing up for a new phone plan!