Natural Amphitheater Diavolezza

Getting a glimpse into the crevasses, couloirs, buttes, overhangs and/or other mountain conditions without having to move around a mountain oneself. To get a glimpse of a dramatic situation a particular section or a whole range can reveal, and to feel and hear the sudden change of appearance and sound without having to move in the danger zone - that´s the whole greatness and fun of the Diavolezza Terrace at roughly 3,000 m above sea level. Have the mountain drama while sipping a beer or enjoying a coffee on a bench resting on firm ground. It´s all just a convenient 10 Minute cable car ride from the parking lot or train station along the Pontresina - Bernina Hospiz Road in the Swiss Canton of Grisons.

Once again all I had with me was a smartphone, leaving behind my camera equipment in order to find out how well I can handle a unique situation without the reliable optics. To try to get the best out of a minimal gadget, that´s been my photography challenge for the past three years. Or is it still? After three years without changing back to a camera with all its options and the range of single focal lenses? Even though I´d like to think that I will make that last and decisive comparison, the grand duel of both philosophies, the decision has long been taken from me. I know that a good camera will still be making the technically better pictures with sharper images full of dynamic range that a smartphone is not able to capture without the computing power of its small brain. But I think that that is the point of interest for me: to do the best a minimal choice will give me, coming forward from a very basic approach. And still get good results within my own expectations. After all I don´t need to blow up the pictures to mural size, neither am I interested to see a single hair magnified to a perfect pixel.

Here´s the result, and once again I am content with the smartphone outcome - good enough for this photo-blog I´m convinced.

Piz Palü

Piz Bernina

The detailed views above are single shots of their own, yet can all be seen in this panoramic view:
 

And this is the only view towards the west, away from the amphitheater.

Diavolezza