In a previous post I showed you a finished time lapse video captured from the parking lot of Mariposa Restaurant in Sedona overlooking the red rocks after having lunch there last Sunday afternoon. While having a great lunch we were watching the clouds clear after a bit of weather. And you guessed it, I had to run home and grab my gear. Today I’d like to share some ideas on what settings to look at when thinking about creating your own time lapses.
Depending on your scene and how long you would like to cover it you should decide the space between your image captures. Math comes in handy here and you will start to have an idea of your settings almost by instinct. For example, depending upon the speed of moving clouds I’ve found the interval that works for me is between three & five seconds. The rate that the images should be played back is between 12-24 frames per second. The time lapse in the previous post covered a period of about 40 minutes with 3 second intervals and 24 fps. This translated into a video that was about 35 seconds long. Now not being a fan of that much math here is a calculator that will help you figure things out including how much memory you will need to have in your camera to complete your session.
Time Lapse Calculator
Time Lapse Calculator from PhotoPills. You can download your own for your web site or get the App to calculate while on site. Try it right here you’ll like it!
Lumix Time Lapse Processing Features
A great feature in the Lumix cameras like the GX8 used to capture this time lapse is the ability to process the video in camera choosing from a large number of settings in quality and frame rate. When calculating how much memory you need to have on your card remember you’ll need room to process and store the final video as well. I processed out the video using the 4K setting. 4K is four times bigger than HD video which means you can place it in an HD timeline then have room to pan and zoom which adds a lot to the final product. There are many programs you can use but I used Adobe Premiere Pro CC.
Screen Capture of still files in Adobe Bridge.
I shoot in RAW so I can process the original files for stills or for color tweaking if necessary. Then process out the files into jpegs and use a free program such as Time Lapse Assembler to put your video together. (link for MAC for link for PC. There are plenty of free or freeware programs to choose from. Find the one you like.
Time Lapse Assembler window. I like it because it’s pretty simple and straightforward!
Shoot longer than you think is necessary. The first couple times out my time lapses were only seven seconds which was a little disappointing. Use the calculator above to save yourself some heartache.
Always found myself interested in time lapse imagery. The Netflix Original series House of Cards show intro brought back the ‘want’ to try to create some of my own. The short time lapse clips used were quite captivating! I had held back in the past because the techniques were too cumbersome and software was a bit of a PIA to manipulate to get some good results. For most cameras you had to have a separate timing gizmo (called an intervalometer if you need one) for a camera to capture your images and be able to program it properly.
Fast Forward to today
Like many things there have been some incredible changes happening in camera technology. Most of the newer Lumix cameras (and other brands and cell phones) have the time lapse capture built right in. You can easily program the camera to capture X number of images at X seconds for X number of captures. The camera will tell you the time the shooting will be completed. OK here’s the really wonderful part. The camera will even process the images into a finished time lapse giving you many choices of quality, size, number of frames per second and output format. This takes a lot of the hassle out of creating time lapses. Now you can use that as a finished file or take it to an editing program like Adobe Premiere Pro to add some more action.
Here’s the Time Lapse
Cloud Time Lapse captured 700+ images with one image every three seconds. Processed in camera at 24 frames per second.
Final Time Lapse Video Thoughts for Today
Used the Lumix GX8 with the 7-14mm f4 Vario lens. Couple of things to think about when setting up the capture. How often should you fire the frame? Subject matter and speed of moving objects need to be considered. Manual or Aperture Priority exposure? How many frames are needed? How long do you want the finished video to run. We’ll talk about these settings and processing in a day or two.
I had an assignment from a game of Survivor we are playing in the Arcanum (a place of growing your photography skills at your own pace with a group of like minded folks. Click the link for a peek under the Arcanum’s hood)
The assignment was to shoot a self portrait to help share a bit of who you are. So I decided to make it a learning experience. Here’s the thought process I went though.
First I wanted to give people an idea of how busy it can be in my head. So the title became ‘Under the Hood’.
Let’s see what’s under the hood in Bob’s Brain…
Set up the photo
Start with a solid head and shoulders studio self portrait. Main light forward and bounced off the wall to get a large source with medium contrast. Two strip light soft boxes with egg-crate grids attached were set to camera left and right slightly behind pointing to skim and add separation and spice to the look. Lumix GH4 camera with the 42.5mm 1.2 Nocticron lens mounted on a tripod with the Wifi activated allowing camera control from my IPhone. I use Paul C Buff lights and modifiers because of the good value, selection and great service when needed.
On to the Photo Art
Original concept was to have a zipper peeling back from my forehead to allow the reveal. After some experimentation that didn’t feel like it was going in the direction I wanted. Next thought was to cut off the top of the head and tilt it back but that made it difficult to show what was coming out of the head. Finally, on the third try I took the top of the head and tilted it to the left and got the base image for which I was looking.
Adding Photo Elements to Tell the Story
Then the search was on to search for and create elements that were to tell the story. Inverse square law. Brain. Smoke brushes. Neon signage. “Wait I’ve got an idea, a light bulb went on in my head.” Textures for blending element together. All images were layered in Adobe Photoshop using various blend modes. You can see the Layers and their Masks used to put this together. Got a question? Give me a shout…
Photoshop Layer stack showing Layers and masks…
Hope this inspires you to take a project and push yourself to a new limit.
Valerie Romanoff is a musician that shares her time between New York & Sedona and we have started working together to create images for her social media campaigns and possibly CD covers. Learn more about Valerie and her NY gig… Starlight Orchestras
I also photographed Valerie over in Cottonwood at the Main StageTheatre where she sat in with the Bottom Line Band who host the Bottom Line Jam on Thursday nights.
Here’s a few images from there…
Main Stage dance floor in Cottonwood, Arizona
Band and dancers at Main Stage
Valerie with Bottom Line
Sax man!
Guitar with Valerie
Valerie belting one out
Live performance photos were made with the new Lumix GX8 12-35mm f2.8 and 7-14mm f4 lenses. Kicked in a little fill light with an on camera speed light with diffuser bounced in as the stage lighting was really spotty
They are often solid creative people and have spent some time in front of a camera so getting good posing is not a chore. Good eye contact with the camera and an idea of the story they want told in the image makes for a fun photo shoot. Especially fine session with Valerie Romanoff of Starlight Orchestras who splits her time between New York, NY and Sedona, AZ.
Valerie was looking for images to use in her social media. Some images were set in the red rocks and some were during a live performances over in Cottonwood at the Main Stage venue. She performed with some great musicians as part of the Bottom Line Jam with host band Bottom Line. (Totally enjoyed the performance by the way!) When I was going through the first edit my wife Holly looked over my shoulder and said, “Oh my, she’s going to have a hard time choosing images! There are so many good ones.” I’d like to think it was mostly my skill, but Valerie is a skilled performer and is extremely photogenic!
Here are a few selects from the outdoor session…
The Path leads right to Valerie and Bell Rock is pointing right to her also…
With Courthouse Butte in the Background.
This is a pose idea I picked up from Peter Hurley (The Head Shot: Secrets to Creating Amazing Head Shot Portraits)
For the outdoor photo session I used my workhorse camera the Lumix GH4 with either the Lumix Vario 12-35mm or 35-100mm f2.8 lenses mounted. We had nice light a little after sunrise supplemented with a Paul C Buffmono light powered with a Vagabond Mini Lithium battery. Having power to take studio lights easily on location gits you enough flash power to control the scene. This was fitted with a 35″ foldable Octabox. In order to keep shape and form the flash was placed on the same side as the sun to not flatten out light.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – Images from the Main Stage performance will be posted tomorrow
For infrared conversion of my cameras I use LifePixel. Infrared allows you to put an older camera to use and opens up a new time time of day for productive image creation.
Fotopro tripods are well worth checking out. You can learn about the ones I use and recommend by clicking on the Fotopro Tripods link at the top of this page. If you want to see what other tripods might fit your needs check out the Fotopro.com website. Check back with me before you buy as a Fotopro Ambassador I’m able to get you discounted pricing including complementary continental USA shipping for my followers that you won’t find through retail outlets.
Learn Photoshop in a fun environment. Aaron Nace applies the right amount of fun with easy to understand and follow tutorials. Actions and brushes are included with lessons!
Lightning, waterdroplets, sound, time-lapse, HDR sequences, smiles and much more control for your camera!
Cameras Get Smarter -
A High Speed Smart Camera Remote
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Platypod has become a great resource for being creative in getting your camera gear easily into unusual places. As an Platypod Pro I get to work/play with the gear even before it comes out. Head over to Platypod, subscribe to the newsletter and you will get special discounts reserved only for subscribers.
Screen Capture of still files in Adobe Bridge.
Time Lapse Assembler window. I like it because it’s pretty simple and straightforward!
