After plenty of research and a few experiments, I have put together my first “real” time-lapse video. I recently purchased a wireless intervalometer and have been experimenting with some time-lapse photography!
I call it the “first real time-lapse” because I discovered in my research that I was not compiling the exposures properly in previous videos!
What you will see in this very brief article are five videos. Three of them of time are actual time-lapse videos, one video is a close attempt, and the remaining video is what I considered to be a time-lapse a few years ago. I’m sure you’ll be able to discern which is which if you decide to watch!
VIDEO #1: “TIMELAPSIN’ SEATTLE”
I created this video during the weekend of August 23rd & 24th. This time-lapse features the transition between sunset and nightfall in two different, popular parks in Seattle. Even though it’s only 45 seconds in length, it took a combined duration of two hours to get the exposures needed! When I last counted, that was approximately 1,000 images! I am now considering what I can do to minimize the impact of my camera’s sensor, as that’s a lot of photos to take over a short period of time. (Does anyone have any suggestions?) I can’t wait to do some more of these, as this has unleashed an entirely new way of looking at my subject matters.
VIDEO #2: “CLEARING MY HEAD”
I was just having some fun with an impromptu time-lapse video conducted from the backseat of my car while cruising around the streets of Seattle in July 2014. This was a promo to relaunch this blog, and I realize, almost two months later, that I never featured the video on this blog. How very absent-minded and comical of me to defeat the purpose of the objective.
VIDEO #3: “THE RHYTHM OF SEATTLE”
The next video is my very first video compilation I created back in 2009, called “The Rhythm of Seattle”. It is the first video I have ever made to feature my favorite subject matter of cityscapes. This video showcases a series of scenes from Seattle in what was not quite time-lapse format. If you remember Corona’s massively popular and catchy hit dance song, “The Rhythm of the Night” from the mid-1990s, you might like this video. I look at this video five years later with some humor, nostalgia, and some cringes, as in “What was I thinking?” Nevertheless, what I love most about seeing this video now is acknowledging how much more I have learned, and the numerous skills I have acquired in photography, since 2009. Progress.
The fourth and fifth videos are what I aspire to achieve sometime in the future, but not immediately as I currently execute my brand awareness campaign strategy. Even with social media venues all about and abuzz, it’s still quite a challenge to get the attention of a specific market niches — but that’s a different story for later.
VIDEO #4: “MOSCOW 2014: TIMELAPSE IN MOTION”
The third video is probably one of my all-time favorites that my friend, colleague, and previous Feature Photographer, Jörn Braasch of Anek-Artwork in Hamburg, shared with me. (Check out some of Jörn’s time-lapes on his official website. His work gave me plenty of motivation to engage in this subset of digital photography).
This video, by Kirill Neiezhmakov, features the City of Moscow, and when you take the time to view it, you may wonder how we didn’t notice how beautiful the Russian capital actually is. This is a phenomenal portrayal of the city.
VIDEO #5: “BARCELONA GO!”
The fourth video will take you to another well-known location far, far southwest of Moscow, down to Barcelona. Another friend and Feature Photographer, Steve Rosset, introduced this video to me. This particular video, by Rob Whitworth, is mesmerizing because I cannot imagine how long it took to create and produce. Also, the video crosses the borders of photography, videography, in addition to so many marvelous video effects, that I cannot deduce where one magnificent art form ends and the other commences. I have no doubt you will enjoy this video as well!
By the way, I would highly recommended watching all these videos in full-screen or else you will miss about a hundred (to a thousand) different details. Truly! Go full-screen on these!
If you would like to learn more about creating time-lapse photography videos, here is an excellent and resourceful tutorial that informs you of the basics, and gets into more specific details as well!
If there is a favorite time-lapse video you have of a particular location, please feel free to share. I find so many of these videos immensely inspirational, and they also reignite my quest for travel, learning about different cities, and fostering international multiculturalism!
Totally dig this!
Thanks, Kirk! I hope to do more time-lapses, but as we discussed, probably not frequently!