Lately I’ve been capturing time lapse sequences of sunsets here in Sedona, Arizona. And by photographing them I seem to have reprogrammed my brain for the way it sees light change. Almost as if by capturing and working with images that compress time into a shorter period I am extending my vision of light and time.
Let me explain.
Because of this new awareness I am now seeing the shadows slowly crawl across a scene as if I am becoming hyper-aware of the changes. Capturing a time lapse makes you take time to slow down because it takes a fair number of images created over a relatively long time period to have enough material. In a sense it becomes a meditation.
Now in this particular case it was a bonus to set the camera up then retire to the bar to observe the changes taking place which was a fun way to work/play on a personal project. My wife and I got to enjoy a glass of happy hour wine and one of their stellar appetizers. (it was the calamari, cooked perfectly and served with a sweet/spicy sauce over a bed of carrots and light greens)
Images captured with the Lumix GX8 & 12-35mm f2.8 Vario lens. Time lapse was processed in camera then imported to Adobe Premeire CC 2015 for processing slight movement. I was hoping that the clouds you saw in the beginning of the video would have hung around and colored up to spectacular… and they did as they moved out of the frame. Color was bright salmon to the south… Oh well, still nice movement of light on the red rocks.
Time lapse Photography – Sound Bites Grill & Snoopy Rock
aka – Snoopy Goes to Sleep
I get to spend quite a bit of time at Sound Bites Grill, being the house photographer. So I am very familiar with the view. And as many times as I see the sun set on the red rocks I am always amazed at how each sunset differs from the one before. On this day with no clouds to help I decided to concentrate on the comic feature built into the red rocks a Charles Schultz character called Snoopy.
Snoopy Rock Time Lapse Video
The initial images were captured with the Lumix GX8 with a 35-100mm f2.8 Vario lens. The settings were for an image captured every 3 seconds. The video was processed in-camera in the GX8 to 4K video with playback speed at 12 frames per second. I had previously processed the 916 images into a 4K 24 fps video and felt it was too fast.
One problem that I wasn’t aware of during capture (cause I was having dinner at the bar) was there were some very severe wind gusts shaking the camera. That’s not a good way to view video. Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2015 to the rescue. Opened the file in Premiere Pro then added the graphics and music. Even more important used the Warp feature to examine and fix the shaky wind buffeted footage to rock steady. Also added a slight Ken Burns effect zooming slowly into the image featuring Snoopy that is possible because of the 4K size files that still leaves you plenty of quality on an HD timeline.
As an added benefit to shooting time lapses there are individual images to choose from to create stills from the same scene. Here’s one with just a bit more color correction in Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop.
Snoopy Rock still photo at sunset.
I’m really enjoying the ease with which time lapse videos can be made with the Lumix cameras. You don’t need to take the subsequent video into and additional processing program but that enables the addition of information and flourishes depending on your final output.
The Imaging USA trade show put on by Professional Photographers of America is always a popular part of attending the annual convention, especially the first day…
This was captured hand held with the Lumix GH4 and the 7-14mm Lumix Vario f4 lens at the bottom of the escalator in the Georgia World Congress Convention Center. Time lapse was processed in camera. Then it was downloaded to Adobe Premiere Pro for some massaging. Video was smoothed out. A little color correction was applied due to the extreme lighting conditions. Titles, slides and music finished off the video.
Thanks to Eric Miller for the use of the music!
Time Lapse Video captured at Imaging USA in Atlanta, Georgia January 2016
Time Lapse can be a great way to tell a story ’cause that’s a pile of people!! Approximately 560 images, with a frame fired every 3 seconds, were captured and combined. Output at 12 frames per second in 4K video.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – See you at Imaging USA in San Antonio next year??
An interesting thought for today’s Photo/Art Quote from Freeman Patterson. It’s not really something I’ve thought about much over the years. I guess as I’ve been exploring photography as more of an artistic endeavor verses a realistic process I would be attracted to this thought.
“The camera always points both ways. In expressing your subject. You also express yourself.” Freeman Patterson
I’m going to guess that this is the reason if you give ten photographers the same subject to photograph you will end up with ten different images. I also believe that the story given when the subject is presented to a photographer can have a huge impact on the final outcome.
Witness Canon giving six photographers the same person to photograph who told each photographer a different story about his life and got six VERY different photographs in return.
Canon video of six stories and six results. One subject.
Spend some time thinking about this and please share your thoughts. This is one of those things that fascinate me.
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.
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.
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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!
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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.
