Magical and Peaceful – Video

Posted originally on Huffington Post by
Hunter Stuart (Hunter@huffingtonpost.com).

In San Francisco, the fog can be a depressing presence. But as time-lapse photographer Simon Christen shows, fog can also be heavenly to behold — when viewed through the right lens.

The video above shows the city’s fog in all its inexorable glory as it rushes between the hills and over the bay like a rising tide. Christen’s time-lapse effect makes the city’s airplanes look like fireflies in the night sky.

Born in Switzerland and currently living in Oakland, Christen made the 45-minute trip to the Marin Headlands countless times to catch the fog at dawn.

The 32-year-old photographer (who is also an animator for Pixar Studios) told The Huffington Post in an email Monday just how time-consuming a project like this can be. Between the filming and the laborious post-production work of getting rid of tiny flickers, specks and frame pops, he said it took him hundreds of hours over the course of three years to make the short, beautiful film.

We’d say it was worth it.

Click the video above to watch. Original score by the San Diego-based ambient-electronic band The Album Leaf. See more of Christen’s work on his website.

Call me a sap but this is so magical and peaceful that I cried at the beauty of it all while watching it. It is amazing how magical nature can be and truly inspiring what can be done with technology, time and patience in today’s world.