Making a Fog Timelapse
We went hiking on Mount Tamalpais this past weekend, twice, actually: both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was especially interesting because we had intense fog (the marine layer) down below us and an overcast sky above us. The motion of the clouds and fog was fantastic.
Having anticipated this, I had brought a tripod to shoot a time-lapse. I used the Apple Camera App on my iPhone, not knowing that it doesn’t shoot a time-lapse in 4K. Damn! Additionally, I thought that since it was close to noon, changes in brightness wouldn’t matter enough to lock down the aperture and exposure settings. Wrong! You’ll see the camera app adjust a few times throughout the time-lapse. Fiddlesticks!
Lesson learned: don’t use Apple’s Camera App for time-lapse if you want 4K. Use FiLMiC Pro. FiLMiC Pro also can be setup to make using the Moondog Anamorphic lens easier. Always lock down aperture and exposure. Period.
Anyway, the time-lapse still was cool. In the extreme far distance and to the left, you see Mount Diablo. In front of that, but still way off in the distance, you see Berkeley and Oakland. On the right you can, at times, see San Francisco in the distance. In the middle of the scene is Belvedere, Tiburon, and Angel Island (from left to center). The trees in the foreground are Mount Tamalpais.
I shot for about 45 minutes, which is compressed into 25 seconds. So, I hope you enjoy the 25 seconds of silent zen! (If you’re viewing this on a desktop, be sure to select 1080 from the gear icon.)