Mesmerizing Time-Lapse Shows California As You've Never Seen It

This amazing new time-lapse video from Michael Shainblum called "Into The Atmosphere" shows the amazing natural diversity of California. Although California is often thought of as the sunshine state, the video focuses on the clouds, fog, and other atmospheric conditions.

The locations include Mono Lake, Anza Borrego Desert, Alabama Hills, Trona Pinnacles, Big Sur, Mount Laguna, Santa Maria, Yosemite, Gaviota, The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, La Jolla Coves, Santa Ynez, the San Francisco Coast, and the Santa Barbara Mountains.

The whole thing is set to Daft Punk's "Tron Legacy" soundtrack, as noted by Slate's Bad Astronomy.

Take a look:

Into The Atmosphere from Michael Shainblum on Vimeo.

He notes on Vimeo that he took about 75,000 images, but only about 12,400 made it into the clip. It took about a year to film. He writes:

To create this video there were many nights sleeping outside, and many days spent in the wild to embrace the environment and get to know the surroundings. There is a common misconception about Timelapse shooters that we quickly set up cameras and go sleep in the car for hours at a time, which is far from the truth. We are constantly hiking heavy equipment through dangerous areas and spending time camping in uncomfortable situations, I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything else.

Shainblum dedicated the video to his grandmother, who passed awhile while he was shooting it. Learn more about him in this video interview from The Creator's Project.