Captured in stunning 4K resolution, the almost six-minute video captures some of SF’s more iconic structures in new vantage points we can appreciate.
We’re massive fans of hyperlocal drone content. Not only do y’all like it — so long as our readership metrics aren’t fibbing in their summations — but they offer certain bird’s-eye views of San Francisco that allow us to see the city in new ways; familiar structures are afforded fresh textures, dimensions, and tones through elevated cinematography. In a metropolis that measures just 49 square miles, you can sometimes be lulled into a false sense of guarantee that you’ve, in fact, seen and touched and experienced everything it has to offer.
Alas: We all know that’s the farthest thing from the truth regarding San Francisco. (I, for example, forgot that Golden Gate Park contains ten lakes within its 1,021 acres.) And this drone-shot scavenger video recently shared to us by a reader both pays homage to some of SF’s famous fixtures and gives watchers additional viewpoints of them, all while dunking cochleas in a zen soundtrack that soothes as their pupils dance, looking for the described landmarks.
Aptly uploaded by I Spy Zen—a YouTube channel that’s content axiom orbits around virtual scavenger hunts, which have a certain “calming ambiance”—the nearly six-minute, 4K video canvasses nine San Francisco landmarks.
Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum (which… yes, I agree with your premeditated sentiment: It’s by no means a local landmark nor cultural fixture) is shown at a dizzyingly quick speed.
A less frantic drone shot of the Presidio Parkway near the Palace of Fine Arts is the fourth to come on the screen, allowing viewers to appreciate the sheer size of the domed architecture synonymous with the area. Alcatraz Island — and its signage — look awkwardly stunted when approximated to the expansiveness of the San Francisco Bay that backdrops the aerial footage.
Ghirardelli Square is absolutely consumed by the bird’s-eye vantage point showcasing the sheer density of Fisherman’s Wharf and its nearby neighborhoods. Lombard Street’s well-groomed flora, including a filmed lone palm tree, can be fully appreciated for its organic splendor.
(I don’t think I’ve seen the San Francisco sunrise caress North Beach’s smattering of mid-century buildings in such a consoling, serotonin-affording fashion before. I also don’t think I will ever tire of seeing the sunset peek through Karl The Fog as he begins his descent over the Bay Bridge — never mind when shown from atop Telegraph Hill.)
It’s lil’ golden nuggets on the interwebs that add the occasional, much-appreciated indulgence to our WFH lives. And how fortunate for us that we reside in a region of Northern California so dense with riches.
