Here are 10 cool iPhone photos I snapped during my flight on the way back from Las Vegas (much better than an in-flight movie experience).
When I boarded my plane from Las Vegas back to New York City after attending the NAB convention, I found a little surprise. As I sat down in my window seat, I noticed that the traditional LED entertainment screen built into the seat in front of me… was missing.
Sure, I understand that shorter flights may no longer offer this traditional amenity, but this was five-hour trip. Huh.
Instead, I read instructions on how I could stream free content from my phone using the plane’s Wi-Fi.
This is progress?
The Show Begins
So after liftoff, I turned my attention out the plane window and discovered the real show was just beginning.
It was a clear morning with just a few wispy clouds. From 30,000 feet up, I could see… the entire United States. (Well, not exactly, as we’d probably have to be in orbit for that kind of view. But it felt like I could see everything. Just not all at once.)
For the next few hours, I took in the beautiful shifting view, and it was way better than any movie I might stream on Netflix.
It’s not like people never look out their window during flights, but you really need perfect weather to maximize the opportunity. If you haven’t done this lately, I highly recommend you look out for the this experience the next time nature makes it available.
Put Your Phone’s Camera to Work
And it’s shockingly easy to snap some great photos with your phone. You just need to hold it close enough to the window to avoid in-cabin reflections.
Here of some of the photos I snapped with my iPhone 15 Pro Max along my journey home. The order is from west to east, beginning in Nevada and ending somewhere in the eastern half of the U.S. after it finally clouded over.
Sphere in Las Vegas glows and pulses with mystery, inviting you to enter. Though we all know the story of “The Wizard of Oz,” experiencing the new version at Sphere means there are many delights ahead. Here’s why.
If you enjoy watching movies on an IMAX screen, or if you’ve ever been to a 4D theater and think that’s cool, then you’d better hold onto your hat when walking into Sphere in Las Vegas.
I recently visited this enormous venue for the first time while I was attending the NAB conference, and I was not disappointed. In fact, I was blown away (almost literally). Sphere was quite the immersive experience.
We’re Off to See the Wizard
I saw “The Wizard of Oz at Sphere,” reimagined for the massive 160,000-square-foot screen and 17,600-seat dome-shaped arena. The movie’s run time was slimmed down to 75 minutes, but everything else was supersized.
This new 2025 version uses cutting-edge tech to greatly extend the 1939 dimensions for each scene both on screen and off. However, the creative process also revealed certain technological limits with having to scale up the movie’s main characters to insane proportions.
GenAI Enhanced
In a few closeups, I noticed that Judy Garland’s face had that Princess Leia artificial CGI vibe from “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” Clearly, there was some GenAI power at work here.
And I was right. I later learned while attending a Google keynote at NAB that Google DeepMind partnered with the visual effects artists to tackle many of the hurdles involved in creating ‘super resolution’ imagery as well as entirely new elements.
But what I didn’t realize while watching the movie were the multitude of ways that GenAI magic had also been deployed to flawlessly do the impossible. And it was usually so good, I didn’t notice it was even happening.
Sure, it may be a challenge to extend the background elements like the haunted forest or the yellow brick road. But it’s an entirely different hurdle having to visually lengthen the actors’ performances. And that had to happen, because the wider screen size required characters to be in the frame where they weren’t originally.
Performance Generation
So, to create something from nothing, they used ‘AI character outpainting,’ which morphed original medium shots and cropped bodies into full-body shots.
But that wasn’t all of it.
Since the field of view was so much wider on the wraparound screen, more characters suddenly had to remain in particular shots, even though they were framed out in the original scenes. So, those performances needed to be ‘generated.’
And it often felt entirely natural. (Occasionally, there was resulting blurring for background characters, but I expect most viewers wouldn’t notice.)
Inside the Tornado
Each of the movie’s old 4:3 frames had to be broken down, reconstructed, digitally extended and then sometimes reimagined.
When you begin to recognize the process, effort and wizardry applied here, the results become even more impressive.
And then there were certain scene enhancements that were hardly subtle. They’re blatantly reengineered to knock your socks off with everything that Sphere can throw at you.
I’ll mention the tornado sequence and say no more, other than it was worth the price of admission right there.
Incredible.
400 Section Seats are Fine
Speaking of the price of tickets, I sat in the higher ‘400’ center section. Though my seat was relatively far away from the more expensive seating, it was absolutely fine for this film.
If anything, the higher vantage point gave me a better view to appreciate all the expanded visual elements stretching over my head.
I got the same incredible 4D and audio experience as the lower section seats. Sure, I may have missed out on (spoiler alert) a falling apple or two, but that’s okay.
Impressive, Most Impressive
I bought my ticket to “The Wizard of Oz at Sphere” at the last minute. So, I didn’t have time to do research about how they re-made this movie. That’s probably for the best, because I didn’t know exactly what to look for. I simply experienced it.
Sure, I still spotted some of the limitations from 2024-2025 AI tech, but now, I also recognize and appreciated how far these filmmakers stretched to create this.
Ultimately, I am floored by the overall achievement.
And just visiting Sphere by itself was a total experience. (It didn’t really matter what was playing.)
There’s a mischievous design cleverness that’s displayed throughout the entire space, beginning from the moment you walk into the lobby.
And after I sat down in my seat, I must admit I was fooled by the preshow illusion, an homage to Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
So, if you’re in Vegas, and you want to take in a show, I absolutely recommend you head over to Sphere.
You’ll quickly discover you’re not in Kansas anymore.
I recently snapped the photo on the top. I then went home and used generative AI to modify it to create the photo on the bottom. But I didn’t stop there. I continued to evolve it into a short video. The fascinating result is below.
Have you ever encountered a visual moment that you immediately felt compelled to capture with a photo? It happens to me all the time. Taking a walk on the street… hiking in the forest… or commuting to work. I just see it and say to myself, “Wow, that would be a great picture.”
I imagine you’ve experienced this too.
One Frame is All You Need
And whether you happen to be carrying your camera or can quickly pull out your smartphone, it’s often possible to capture the moment. But the visual opportunity usually lasts for just a few seconds, right? You might get off a couple shots, but then the opportunity has passed.
If you’re also attracted to the motion of the moment and you want to shoot a little video clip, that’s usually a much harder task, because there simply isn’t enough time.
That’s where GenAI video creation tools can really help. No, they can’t turn back or slow down time, allowing you the freedom to shoot that perfect video.
But GenAI can take your photo and then magically generate a few seconds of realistic action from your freeze frame.
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
This faux reality is clearly not the same as recording the real deal.
But if you consider the potential of this amazing and disruptive AI video creation process as an art form, you can sidestep (for the moment) the ethical debate surrounding fake video use.
Today, we’re simply talking about using your very real photos as the creative foundation to generate video art. Think of it as a realistic-looking digital painting in motion.
And instead of having to start from scratch with just words and a series of complex prompts, your photo can instantly provide a ton of art direction for your scene. From there, you can focus more on creating the action in it.
Here’s an example of how I do this…
Start with One of Your Photos
Upload your photo to the GenAI platform of your choice. For today’s demonstration, I’m using Google Veo. I snapped this photo of a man flying a kite on the beach on a cool spring afternoon.
Animate your Photo
Then I asked Veo to bring it life.
Change the Person in your Photo
Next, I asked Nano Banana to change the man into a woman.
Create a Cinematic Video
Finally, I had Veo create a video from that new photo and add a tracking dolly move to the shot.
This cinematic motion added to the scene was especially impressive, because that would have otherwise required a video crew for the day with expensive gear to pull off.
I generated this video clip in about 30 seconds.
Impressive. Most impressive.
AI Video Creation Tip: Use a Start and End Image
Often, it’s easier to get what you’re looking for if you first upload what the first and last frame of your new video should look like (using two of your photos).
That will provide the guardrails for your Gen AI platform to appropriately fill in the middle. Otherwise, it might do anything it wants, creating entirely unwanted action. Even uploading the same photo as the first and last shot can help stabilize the output.
Perfect results are not guaranteed, but I’ve found it captivating to explore this process. Here are a few more examples based on my own photos.
Woman Sits on Church Steps in Barcelona
My original photo
GenAI video
Man and his Dog Walk to Waterfall
My original photo
GenAI video
This is Serious
So yes, this is really cool. But what’s my practical application for all this beyond showing off a parlor trick of sorts?
Well, clearly, this is all about the future of video creation. And GenAI video will only continue to become more realistic. Again, beyond the ethical questions surrounding this topic, there are massive implications that are already rewriting the rulebook for the entire video production industry.
At Home with Tech 