Our digs in Camp’s Bay are delightful. While we don’t have commanding views of the Bay, we do have the extraordinary views that enabled me to capture this timelapse of Table Mountain.
The first thing we noticed when we arrived at our Cape Town holiday rental that is our home away from home in Camps Bay, was what the locals call Table Mountain’s ‘table cloth’ of clouds.
The ‘table cloth’ is caused by the wind blowing in from the coast and quickly rising as it reaches the mountain, forming the clouds. It’s quite a mesmerising sight.
A little ‘breeze’ was blowing at around 30mph (48kph), with gusts much higher, when I went to shoot this time lapse, so it’s pretty wonky. Trying to keep a tripod steady in this wind was a task that would require welding equipment. I have a very sturdy tripod and it has an attachment to weigh it down, to which I attached my camera bag with 20kgs of camera gear. As wind and weather conditions conspired against me, I didn’t get a chance to re-shoot.
At the centre of the frame you should see the spot where the Table Mountain Cable Car lets off its passengers. The view from there is extraordinary, however, I don’t think it was running the day I shot my Table Mountain timelapse due to the weather conditions. That would not have been a pleasant ride on a day with these kind of winds!
And the weather is something that everyone talks about in Cape Town – while it’s an increasingly sophisticated city, there is something about the geography of Cape Town that makes the climatic conditions a constant talking point – especially when Table Mountain, and its ever-changing ‘table cloth’, is such a landmark in the captivating city.
Time-Lapse Table Mountain, Cape Town
Will be back online soon…
fabulous! love the video
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.
How did you do this? Use a mile of tape or an umpty-terabyte memory card?
Nah, just a 4gb card. I shoot them as JPEGs not RAW files, so you can fit about 2,000 photos on a card. That buys me about 5 hours of images @ one every 10 seconds.
My calculations say about 1 in every 9 seconds! Just kidding. Loved this time lapse. I think CT is really pretty. Would love to retire here, if I had the opportunity :)
Retire?! What on earth are you thinking about retirement for? You must be tired. ;)