Simon Christen shot this in the Bay Area:

Seems I spend a lot of time shooting, watching and seeking out good examples of time-lapse photography.

It moves me. It puts me in a mindset somewhat more aware of the passing of time. I like the way it makes me feel small. That perspective is something I crave.

Naturally, I like learning more about stuff, for example where this method originated – so, here’s some of what there is to know about it, from Wikipedia:

Time-lapse photography is a cinematography technique whereby each film frame is captured at a rate much slower than it will be played back. When replayed at normal speed, time appears to be moving faster and thus lapsing. Time-lapse photography can be considered to be the opposite of high speed photography.

Processes that would normally appear subtle to the human eye, such as the motion of the sun and stars in the sky, become very pronounced. Time-lapse is the extreme version of the cinematography technique of undercranking and can be confused with stop motion animation.

The first use of time-lapse photography in a feature film was in Georges Méliès’ motion picture Carrefour De L’Opera (1898). Time-lapse photography of biologic phenomena was partially pioneered by F. Percy Smith in 1910 and Roman Vishniac from 1915 to 1918. Time-lapse photography was further pioneered in a series of feature films called Bergfilms (Mountain films) by Arnold Fanck, in the 1920s, including The Holy Mountain (1926).

But no filmmaker can be credited for popularizing time-lapse more than Dr. John Ott, whose life-work is documented in the DVD-film “Exploring the Spectrum”

Here’s another great example – thanks for the tip from my friend, Mark:

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I can watch timelapse after timelapse and never ever get tired of them.

A fella made this one on a flight from Amsterdam and it’s a good one: