Jim Dockery
Well-Known Member
Artist Point is one of the best photo and easy hiking destinations in Washington's Cascades. Follow directions for the Mt. Baker ski area (which is misnamed because it sits on the lower slopes of Mt. Shuksan and you can only see Mt. Baker at a distance from the top of the chair lifts). Continue up the road to the large parking lot at Artist Point, which can be packed on summer weekends, but was just pretty full on a beautiful Monday/Tuesday in early Oct.
This was a multi-camera trip for me, which is the real theme of this posting. I had all my regular cameras, each with it's own niche: My big camera -Sony A7rII with 24-105mm + 100-400mm, My little camera (mostly for skiing and long hike/climbs) Sony RX100 IV, DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone flying camera, and new iPhone 11 Pro - always with me camera. I tried to take pictures with all of them, but found myself mostly using the A7rII and the iPhone. I've put this in Travelogue because there isn't a limit to the number of photos and I wanted to compare the shots with each camera.
We got there late on Monday and didn't take any pictures due to clouds and being hungry for dinner, which I had to cook. Tuesday was great weather, so I set the alarm for sunrise and got up to fly the drone, leaving the A7r to do a time-lapse. Luckily I had the spot I stopped to myself - the noise of the drone doesn't lend itself to quiet enjoyment of a sunrise, so I would't fly it by other people unless they gave me permission. I wanted to get some video so didn't take time to do any drone photos so these shots are screen grabs from the 4K video.
After a quick cup of coffee I was off to fly/shoot leaving my wife in our van to sleep in a bit.
I've worked this in PS to bring up the shadows etc.
Table Mt. on the left
In between flights I got out the RX100 for a few shots.
Mt. Baker
Sunrise behind Mt. Shuksan & Tarn
I came back to the van for breakfast and shot this with the A7r from the trailhead.
Chain Lakes Trailhead
The Chain Lakes trail traverses mostly flat below Table Mt. I shot this with the RX100
I really got suckered into taking a lot with the iPhone - I carried the RX100 in one hip belt pocket and the iPhone in the other on my Osprey pack. Both were easy to get out, but the immediate feedback from the phone on it's gorgeous display looked so good I used it more. This was with the new wide lens.
iPhone tele shot. This looked great in camera and the HDR (which you can't turn off) did a pretty amazing job of holding back the intense reflected light off the mountain's glaciers, but went a bit too far IMO. I could bring that back up in post, but will leave it in most of these examples.
iPhone reg. lens. This one kept the mountain brighter, but the sky is uneven.
A7r 24-105. This is why we still use real cameras. This is a crop at 105.
iPhone in camera pano with regular lens. Mt. Shuksan
iPhone 2 tele verticals stitched in ACR and processed to taste.
We still had plenty of time to hike out to the point (easy 2 miles round trip). There were a lot of people, but it didn't feel too crowded. I brought the A7r with 100-400mm mounted on a tripod and carried over my shoulder on the hike out, I put the tripod away with 24-105 for the walk back, iPhone experiments also.
Zoomed in on a glacier pouring down Mt. Shuksan. I love zooming in on details of the landscape like this with the 100-400mm. No phone will do that in my lifetime.
Debbie in front of Shuksan at 400mm.
When we first got to this tarn we waited for other people to pass then Debbie was my model hiking while I shot some video with the phone. This is a phone still with the regular lens.
iPhone wide
Same tarn on the hike back with the A7r2 24-105
The next shots really show why I won't give up my A7.
A7r2 24mm, note hikers on the rocks to the right of Shuksan.
Same shot cropped.
cropped more!
iPhone
iPhone crop
Conclusions: each camera has it's strengths and weaknesses.
The A7rII with 100-400mm mounted on a big tripod has amazing image quality, but is bulky and heavy, and I always shoot RAW so spend a lot of time in post (which I enjoy, but not everyone does).
The drone is a niche camera. Can get new and interesting angles and shots impossible otherwise, but takes time to deploy and fly, is illegal in Wilderness areas and NP (not Artist Pt., but half way out under Table Mt.), and can annoy other hikers.
RX100 IV: Amazing little camera, but to get the best out of it also requires RAW shooting and PP.
iPhone 11 Pro: Also amazing photos for a smart phone. All that most people will need or want. Photos look fantastic on the phone, but don't stand up so well on the computer. Very little control, too bad Apple doesn't let you shoot RAW in addition to their HDR default. I know there are 3rd party apps that can.
This was a multi-camera trip for me, which is the real theme of this posting. I had all my regular cameras, each with it's own niche: My big camera -Sony A7rII with 24-105mm + 100-400mm, My little camera (mostly for skiing and long hike/climbs) Sony RX100 IV, DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone flying camera, and new iPhone 11 Pro - always with me camera. I tried to take pictures with all of them, but found myself mostly using the A7rII and the iPhone. I've put this in Travelogue because there isn't a limit to the number of photos and I wanted to compare the shots with each camera.
We got there late on Monday and didn't take any pictures due to clouds and being hungry for dinner, which I had to cook. Tuesday was great weather, so I set the alarm for sunrise and got up to fly the drone, leaving the A7r to do a time-lapse. Luckily I had the spot I stopped to myself - the noise of the drone doesn't lend itself to quiet enjoyment of a sunrise, so I would't fly it by other people unless they gave me permission. I wanted to get some video so didn't take time to do any drone photos so these shots are screen grabs from the 4K video.
After a quick cup of coffee I was off to fly/shoot leaving my wife in our van to sleep in a bit.
I've worked this in PS to bring up the shadows etc.
Table Mt. on the left
In between flights I got out the RX100 for a few shots.
Mt. Baker
Sunrise behind Mt. Shuksan & Tarn
I came back to the van for breakfast and shot this with the A7r from the trailhead.
Chain Lakes Trailhead
The Chain Lakes trail traverses mostly flat below Table Mt. I shot this with the RX100
I really got suckered into taking a lot with the iPhone - I carried the RX100 in one hip belt pocket and the iPhone in the other on my Osprey pack. Both were easy to get out, but the immediate feedback from the phone on it's gorgeous display looked so good I used it more. This was with the new wide lens.
iPhone tele shot. This looked great in camera and the HDR (which you can't turn off) did a pretty amazing job of holding back the intense reflected light off the mountain's glaciers, but went a bit too far IMO. I could bring that back up in post, but will leave it in most of these examples.
iPhone reg. lens. This one kept the mountain brighter, but the sky is uneven.
A7r 24-105. This is why we still use real cameras. This is a crop at 105.
iPhone in camera pano with regular lens. Mt. Shuksan
iPhone 2 tele verticals stitched in ACR and processed to taste.
We still had plenty of time to hike out to the point (easy 2 miles round trip). There were a lot of people, but it didn't feel too crowded. I brought the A7r with 100-400mm mounted on a tripod and carried over my shoulder on the hike out, I put the tripod away with 24-105 for the walk back, iPhone experiments also.
Zoomed in on a glacier pouring down Mt. Shuksan. I love zooming in on details of the landscape like this with the 100-400mm. No phone will do that in my lifetime.
Debbie in front of Shuksan at 400mm.
When we first got to this tarn we waited for other people to pass then Debbie was my model hiking while I shot some video with the phone. This is a phone still with the regular lens.
iPhone wide
Same tarn on the hike back with the A7r2 24-105
The next shots really show why I won't give up my A7.
A7r2 24mm, note hikers on the rocks to the right of Shuksan.
Same shot cropped.
cropped more!
iPhone
iPhone crop
Conclusions: each camera has it's strengths and weaknesses.
The A7rII with 100-400mm mounted on a big tripod has amazing image quality, but is bulky and heavy, and I always shoot RAW so spend a lot of time in post (which I enjoy, but not everyone does).
The drone is a niche camera. Can get new and interesting angles and shots impossible otherwise, but takes time to deploy and fly, is illegal in Wilderness areas and NP (not Artist Pt., but half way out under Table Mt.), and can annoy other hikers.
RX100 IV: Amazing little camera, but to get the best out of it also requires RAW shooting and PP.
iPhone 11 Pro: Also amazing photos for a smart phone. All that most people will need or want. Photos look fantastic on the phone, but don't stand up so well on the computer. Very little control, too bad Apple doesn't let you shoot RAW in addition to their HDR default. I know there are 3rd party apps that can.
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