Mt. Yotei Hike

Summer is the month for camping or other outdoor activities in Hokkaido. 

As usual, we rented a car for a camping trip. But for this time, the main goal is hiking! 

The targeted mountain is not some ordinary mountain, but the so-called Mount Fuji of Hokkaido - because this Mt. Yotei resembles the famous Mount Fuji. 

I initially planned to rent a van for seven of us, but due to Obon holiday season in Japan, most cars were already reserved by others. The only car left was quite a luxurious one - an eight-seater Nisan. It's very pricey! Cost us 32,130yen for 48 hours. 

 

 

We began at the base of Kyogoku Route. (There are four different routes to follow for Mt. Yotei hike, but we opted for this one because there are hot spring facility, a convenient store, and a campsite for us to stay overnight near the base)
We talked, we made jokes... This was how we hiked the mountain! ... at least while at the beginning... 

This was the second milestone (as according to the signboard). There are nine in total before you reach the top.
Notice that everyone were still with a smiling face at this point :)

The third milestone.

Here, we started to see clouds in the surrounding just like the morning mist.  

The forth milestone, no one smile anymore... Even if someone does, it didn't seems natural...

The hiking keeps on... which milestone was this? Why someone was blocking the signboard? Okay, who care, lets take a snap and keep going... "pai rew rew"

This particular stone seems so much like the one you will see in a Chinese ink painting.

Again, which milestone was this? or probably we just decided to take a rest somewhere in between. And I don't care anymore that guy in a black shirt wasn't even ready for the picture. Lets snap a pic and more on!
The decision of not bringing my 6kg DSLR gears prove to be a very wise decision! A smartphone with a good camera is all a poor hiker needs!  

From the eighth or ninth milestone onward, the ground becomes very stony. 

Hiking on the stony ground isn't easy, because the stones can easily sliding against each other and causing you to slip. So there is a rope for you to hold while passing through this area.  

After the stony route, you will reach a plateau and see this signboard. Turning left is going towards the top of this bloody hell Mt. Yotei :)

Almost there, but this is a good spot to take photo too. So why not... 

 

 

 
Finally, the top of Mt. Yotei!

 

Actually, Mt. Yotei is an active volcano just like its big brother Mt. Fuji. You can see its crater in the next two photos. 

There are some short plants at the plateau of Mt. Yotei. 

 

I have totally no idea what this is... someone's grave?

I took a nap at the plateau (probably 40-60min) before we went down.
The way down... after some rest and a meal for lunch, the smiling face reappeared!

Some wildflower species at Mt. Yotei.

A view of Kyogaku town.

Pink mushroom. Looks very delicious.

From about the half mountain down, I started to walk with a cane. My thighs and the right knee hurts a lot probably because of me jumping too much (from branch to branch like a chimp) at the beginning of the way down. 

Right out of the forest is this resting place with the magnificent scene.
Here Matteo kindly offered a piece of apple to us which, as far as I can remember, it was so refreshing and tasty that it made me forgotten about the pain at my knee and thighs, momentary.

After the hike, we went to the nearby campsite and set up the tent.

Beside the tent is this crystal clear stream...  

The next morning, I brought a chair there to enjoy my breakfast. Superb!!!

Diffraction vs DOF

Diffraction! it reduces the sharpness and contrast of your image, thus the overall resolution - isn't it scary?
You will have diffraction issue if using a too small F-stop. Few years back when I first learn about it, I started to limit my aperture setting to what could avoid it all together despite any given photography situation. Back then I have two lenses, so I got to test them to know what is the 'too small' value for these lenses:
1. Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro and
2. Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II USM.

I found that the images begin to appear softer at F8 in the former, and F9 in the latter. So I stop shooting beyond these limits.

Today, I have changed my mind about the factors to consider when setting the F-stop.
Yes, deffraction can reduce the overall resolution of the image. But there are more to consider when 'creating' a photo.

At a glance, how these two photos differ to you? Which one do you like more (assuming both of them have the birds on the roof, so those birds are not the deciding factor)?

At small size you can hardly tell any difference isn't it?
Due to diffraction, the one (above) with F22 appears softer, and provides lesser details, especially at the focal plane (the wooden wall facing the viewer). However, it does provide much greater DOF (depth of field).
See the 100% cropped side-by-side comparison and you'll know what I mean:

Focal plane: Left - No diffraction at F8, sharper image and better colour contrast.
Right - At F22, image is softer due to diffraction.

Background: Left - better resolution.
Right - softer image, although not as obvious as at focal plane.

Foreground: Left: DOF is shallow - blurry foreground.
Right: With F22, the DOF extended to the foreground.

After the detailed comparison, what do you think?
For this landscape shot, I preferred the grass in the foreground to be in focus, so I don't mind to sacrifice some loss of resolution at the focal plane.
Btw, if I didn't show the 100% cropped, I doubt anyone will notice the diffraction issue when viewing the smaller picture, which is often the case when we share something on the internet. 

Another situation when I don't mind to have a little diffraction is when I want to create the star effect in night-time photography. To me, the dazzling touch of the star effect in exchange of some lose of resolution at the focal plane is definitely worth it.

F5 (above) and F16 (below).

100% cropped: F5.6 (left) and F16 (right).

100% cropped: F8 (left) and F16 (right).

The star effect starts to show at F5.6, but even at F8.0, it is still too weak to make an impact to me. I personally like to use F16, which create a big-enough star effect while the image didn't suffer so much from diffraction issue.
Perhaps a better example to illustrate the impact of star effect in night-time photography is through a picture with bigger light sources - didn't the starry street lights catch your eyes?

F16; 6s; ISO160