Tagged: san francisco

Experiments In Time Lapse

by Stephen Von Worley on September 9th, 2009

Day and night for the past hundred years, propellerheads worldwide have worked to make technology better and cheaper.  By doing so, they’ve enabled us to engage in pursuits that our forefathers could barely dream of.  To toast our bread with a machine!  To fly cross-country on that wonderful airplane!  To watch moving pictures, plucked from the ether, as they dance on the screens of our new-fangled televisions! 

And with recent improvements to consumer-grade cameras, rejoice!  The night time lapse video is now within our reach!

Golden Gate Bridge, Towers In Fog

Ergo the above video: a time lapse of a low evening cloud deck blowing past San Francisco’s Golden Gate bridge.  Created earlier this summer, by shooting 300 or so still photographs, one per second, with Canon DSLR gear, and then assembling them back-to-back, using some inexpensive video production software.

Beyond its atmospheric nature, what I like best about this clip are the subtle details within.  The mist curling around the superstructure and lighting up as the brighter headlights traverse the bridge.  And, check out the floating duck, in the water slightly to the right of bottom center!

Apologies for the silent video - I’m currently in search of suitable audio accompaniment.  If you’ve got any ideas, please contact me.

Stay tuned for more of these, as I’ll be posting details of some of the juiciest ones in the future.

The Lineup: Distant Coit Tower

by Stephen Von Worley on September 1st, 2009

Editor's Note: From time to time, I post the details of an upcoming San Francisco Bay Area celestial lineup. See this post for an introduction and more general information.

Update: Ooops!  Turns out that the Coit Tower lineup that I describe below will happen as predicted, but the view will be blocked by a tall building atop Nob Hill.  Mea culpa!  As penance, I offer another lineup, this time of the Bay Bridge, on the same evening:

"Bay Bridge, Third Tower, Top" from
    "Embarcadero, Pier Promenade, South Side"
    moon within 0.0 degrees at Fri 04/Sep/2009 20:06:40 PDT
    to landmark: alt 7.3 deg, az 97.9 deg, distance 1.23 km
    to body: alt 7.3 deg, az 97.9 deg
    from lat,lon 37.797063,-122.394316
    sun at -7.2 degrees
    phase 100%

The moon will be a bit high in this one, but you might be able to get a nice silhouette out of it, especially if there are some thin clouds around.   Here, the ”Third Tower” of the bridge is counted from Treasure Island.

Once again, my apologies!  I’ll be sure to scout the next lineup location before I post it!

On the evening of Friday, September 4, 2009, the full moon will rise behind the top of San Francisco’s Coit Tower, as viewed from the western edge of Crissy Field. Specifics from my lineup calculator:

"Coit Tower, Top" from "Crissy Field, Beach Path"
    moon within 0.0 degrees at Fri 04/Sep/2009 19:36:00 PDT
    to landmark: alt 1.5 deg, az 93.3 deg, distance 5.41 km
    to body: alt 1.5 deg, az 93.3 deg
    from lat,lon 37.805195,-122.467110
    sun at -1.2 degrees
    phase 100%

In plain English, the spot is on the main path along the beach (Marine Drive) at the west end of Crissy Field, near the Farallones Marine Sanctuary visitors center. Go to latitude 37.805195 north, longitude 122.467110 west, and at about 7:36 pm, more or less directly to the east, you should see the full moon pass behind the top of Coit Tower.

The full moon rises behind Coit Tower, August 2007.

The full moon rises behind Coit Tower, August 2007.

The sun will have set a few minutes beforehand, but the tower should still be catching lots of ambient light from the west. At this distance, about three and a half miles, the tower, from base to top, should span slightly more than one moon’s width. The view should be similar to the previous shot that I’ve included to the right, except the tower will be a little smaller, and the sky and tower should be brighter.

This is a kinder, gentler variety of lineup - with an arc of spots crossing Crissy Field that will give you a similar view, and lots of room to keep up by scooting your tripod. But to maximize your chances of catching the action, start at the place that I’ve highlighted.

Use this information as you please, subject to the Lineup License Version 1.0.

Good luck, and pray for no fog!

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