The streets are quiet in a residential neighborhood of South Lake Tahoe, California, and I’m standing in three ft of snow on an unplowed avenue on the base of a 100-foot-tall ponderosa pine tree. The snow continues to fall and pile up round me. I’m sporting an outdated pair of leather-based mountaineering boots, heavy DaKine gloves and have the brand new Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra tucked into my North Face ski jacket.Sounds like the right begin to an journey.All the pictures you see on this story have been taken on the S24 Ultra. Below is a picture I shot at lake stage, an elevation of greater than 6,200 ft, throughout the relentless storm. Blinding winds and blizzard situations shut down practically all the pieces. I took this picture as I used to be heading over the Echo Summit into the Lake Tahoe Basin. James Martin/CNETStorms did not simply flurry, they roared in with a jest of misleading tranquility that might rapidly flip consequential. The climate made the act of straightforward human survival transport me out of a world of recent comfort and made me really feel like I used to be a pioneer in an unlimited, detached wilderness.I arrived after three days of steady blizzard situations. Lake Tahoe was in the course of getting hammered by a historic storm that ended up dumping greater than 10 ft of snow on the Sierra Nevada Mountains by the point it ceased.And I used to be caught proper within the center. Here’s a snowed in tractor trailer truck on Interstate 80 captured with the S24 Ultra. The blizzard shut down journey throughout the Sierra Nevada mountains. James Martin/CNETA storm of this magnitude on a serious journey hall equivalent to Interstate 80 requires persistence. Traffic got here to a halt. We handed dozens of stranded tractor trailer vans buried within the accumulation on the winding highway into the mountains. The closure of Interstate 80 earlier this month disrupted logistics and deliveries in practically each business. A Tahoe native’s trendy survival intuition for a storm like this does not simply embrace meals, water and shelter; it means snowboarding and snowboarding too.Read extra: Best Samsung telephone for 2024For a photojournalist, this storm was a singular alternative to seize nice photographs, albeit with extra journey than my regular daily. At factors, I struggled to even transfer by means of the mountains en route to seek out some snowboarding.The blizzard was initially forecast to let up Sunday morning, however three days after the storm started, the snow stored falling. A photograph of a highway being cleared in South Lake Tahoe from a large blizzard. James Martin/CNET Homes, automobiles, and nearly all the pieces else have been buried by the storm. James Martin/CNETMy household and buddies had hoped to enter the mountains to ski, however first we needed to scoop shovel after shovel of heavy Sierra snow. Our desires of driving blissfully down frosty mountaintops have been waylaid by sore shoulders. Most roads within the space have been both closed or impassable. The winds gusted to 100 mph, forcing ski resorts to shut or operated minimally. Watch this: Camera Comparison: The Galaxy S24 Ultra Takes On the iPhone 15 Pro Max
09:54 Rugged chaos like that is the place a cell phone is useful for images. I’m in a position to simply carry the S24 Ultra and its highly effective cameras and zoom lenses in a jacket pocket. The Ultra has two separate telephoto cameras, one with a 3x lens and the opposite with a 5x lens. Basically, I had among the finest digicam packages to work with for difficult high-contrast outside situations. In the face of the large storm, each plan we made was provisional. James Martin/CNETWith all the pieces shut down, we handed the time constructing snow forts and diving into the fluffy white stuff, which simply appeared to develop larger and greater. In the picture above, you may see the S24 Ultra’s major lens did an excellent job freezing the movement of the child flying by means of the air. The picture has a variety of distinction, with element within the shiny whites of the snow in addition to the black jacket and the shadowed elements of the tree. Samsung’s rendering of publicity on the S24 is spectacular. The distinction seems pure and the cameras produce even tones with delicate variations seen. Take a take a look at the roadway within the picture under, which was shot on the ultrawide digicam. The picture exhibits a powerful array of tones. An Amazon truck stops to placed on snow chains, as the motive force prepares for Interstate 80 to reopen. James Martin/CNETFriends visiting from the East Coast had their meticulously crafted, grand trip desires melted away by the whims of this harsh nature. Everything was now in a bewildering flux, because the standing of roads, reservations, and, nearly all the pieces else, shifted hour by hour.We watched and waited, and nature simply laughed. As the storm lengthened, it solely grew stronger. Every expectation was a draft topic to revision, and the one certainty was the sudden.After three days of an excessive closure, Interstate 80 finally opened to automobiles with four-wheel drive or chains. Ten-foot snow partitions created a journey hall that buried highway indicators. Snow partitions ten ft hight alongside Interstate 80 coated highway indicators after a three-day closure. James Martin/CNETTwo days later, the clouds parted, site visitors was allowed again on Interstate 80, and we have been in a position to proceed up by means of the mountains to Truckee, California. Our vacation spot was Palisades Tahoe, a ski resort situated within the Olympic Valley within the Sierra Nevada vary.I took the Galaxy S24 Ultra out to the slopes and shot it within the shiny morning daylight. The white stability and shade rendering are glorious, as you may see within the varied ski jackets within the unedited picture under, shot on the ultrawide lens.Not solely are the colours correct, they give the impression of being sensible and never oversaturated like pictures from earlier iterations of Samsung Galaxy cameras. The publicity is nice, with solely minimal spotlight clipping. I shot immediately towards the solar, but there’s nonetheless element within the shaded sides of the timber and within the folks standing in line on the raise. The storm handed and we received up early to shoot on the mountain and get some turns in. James Martin/CNETDuring a night stroll within the Olympic Valley, I captured the picture under with the Ultra’s 3x telephoto lens underneath decrease mild situations. The picture exhibits an excellent stage of element and low noise within the blacks. The picture is effectively uncovered, with element within the foreground snow, in addition to preserved element within the darker elements of the timber and the timber within the background farther up the canyon partitions. An night stroll within the Olympic Valley, as seen by the S24 Ultra’s 3x telephoto lens. James Martin/CNETAfter settling in for the night time, we have been woken early the subsequent day by the sounds of avalanche mitigation blasts echoing by means of the mountains.Though the majority of the storm had handed, much less intense snow showers and excessive winds continued. The resort’s raise operations have been impacted, with lifts on delayed openings and a lot of the higher mountain remaining closed. An unedited motion pictures captured with the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s 5x telephoto lens. James Martin/CNETThe S24 Ultra struggled to seize focus after I tried to seize some motion pictures. There was a noticeable delay between urgent the shutter button and capturing the picture.I discovered it a problem to maintain a shifting skier within the body. Panning lagged on the display screen and the Ultra’s zoom lenses suffered from digital bounce making it tough to trace the skier as he moved. You can see on this unedited picture shot with 5x telephoto lens that I used to be in a position to get just a few nice pictures. The picture is sharp and has good element within the shadows, and it even captures the smaller bits of flying snow effectively.I really like the picture under of the Palisades Tahoe Aerial Tram, shot with the 5x telephoto lens. It exhibits off the cameras’ skill to seize an correct publicity and a large tonal vary. You can see a powerful distinction between the brighter whites within the background and the tram within the foreground. Notice the big selection of tonal element coming by means of the clouds within the timber within the backside proper nook. The Palisades Tahoe Aerial Tram taken with on the S24 Ultra’s 5x telephoto lens. James Martin/CNETThe Galaxy S24 Ultra’s 5x telephoto digicam has a 50-megapixel sensor. And the picture under exhibits what it is able to. There’s element within the distinction variations of the moguls’ shiny white tops and the deeper blacks within the troughs. Notice the feel and positive particulars within the wispy, blowing snow coming off the height. Gusting winds and moguls on the peaks of Palisades Ski Resort exhibit the element and tonal vary utilizing 10x digital zoom. James Martin/CNETThis is an unbelievable quantity of vary and element for a telephoto lens on a cell phone to seize. Oh and did I point out, I digitally zoomed in to 10x to take this picture? Absolutely spectacular. An unedited portrait mode shot of my good friend Peter. James Martin/CNETIn this unedited portrait mode shot of my good friend Peter, I like how the shallow depth of subject properly blurs the background in addition to his snowboard within the foreground however left him very sharp.The pores and skin tones are sensible, and the picture has good publicity, with the brighter white sky and mountains within the background nonetheless retaining some element, in addition to the darker base of his snowboard. James Martin/CNETHere’s one other gorgeous and unedited view of Lake Tahoe, shot on the 5x telephoto lens. The picture has wealthy element, from the snow crusted bushes within the foreground to the snowcapped mountains vary within the background.The colours that the S24 Ultra captured actually pop and look true to life. If you look carefully, discover the fantastic array of blue tones coming by means of in Lake Tahoe.And under is one other telephoto picture. I really like the depth compression from the Ultra’s 5x telephoto lens. Here is a view by means of the woods shot on the 5x tele lens. James Martin/CNET An unedited picture of the chairlifts main into the gap shot on the S24 Ultra’s 5x Tele 2 lens. James Martin/CNETThis is an unedited picture of the chairlifts main into the gap. Again the 5x telephoto lens provides some nice depth compression to the picture. The picture is sharp and in focus throughout, with wealthy element. The particular person snowflakes are seen in opposition to the raise towers, and the bokeh of the snowflakes within the foreground give the image some ambiance.Below is one other gorgeous view of Lake Tahoe. This unedited picture was shot utilizing portrait mode on the first lens. Notice the spectacular dynamic vary and the way the Ultra, as soon as once more, nails the publicity. You can see wealthy element within the sky and the numerous tones of the clouds, in addition to an excellent publicity on the darker elements of our topic. The saturation of each the lake and the pores and skin tones on the snowboarder are true to life and never overdone. An unedited picture of my good friend and Lake Tahoe, shot in portrait mode on the Ultra’s principal digicam. James Martin/CNETThe unedited picture under, shot on the 5x telephoto digicam, exhibits true-to-life shade within the blues, yellows and reds of the Look Pivot 12 bindings.You can see some unbelievable on this element shot of my boots, bindings and skis. Look carefully at my Vokll F22 skis and spot the blue dots within the graphic and the bits of ice and snow. Even the feel of the plastic on my boots is seen. Here’s a 5x picture of my skis. James Martin/CNETWhen working in difficult environments, in each snowboarding and in images, your gear issues. Our instruments are companions within the inventive course of and make the distinction between good and nice in our suave endeavors.With the compact and highly effective Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra in my pocket, I conquered a blizzard that left my family and friends stranded within the mountains throughout a number of the most excessive situations. The storm was the catalyst for a canvas of moments that may now by no means be forgotten.
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