Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
When you think about it, we’re surrounded by all sorts of chemical reactions, both in the outside world and inside our own bodies. And have you ever wondered what they looked up close?
Scott Portingale has, and he’s turned his curiosity into captivating, gorgeous videos. In his latest work titled Chemical Somnia, he captures the exciting process of various chemical reactions, in both still and video format.
Videos like this one from Jordan Wilson fascinate me. For one, having the foresight to start a project like this at the age of 13 is pretty impressive, but to see how our face and structure evolve over the years as we transition from a child into an adult is interesting to see. What’s particularly impressive about this one, though, is how well it’s shot.
Jordan started shooting a selfie a day at 13 years old, long before selfies were all that fashionable, and then repeated the process every day for 15 years in the same position, from the same angle with the same lighting. It makes for a much better and cleaner record than most of the other multi-year selfie timelapses we’ve seen.
Just last week, those based in the US and South America witnessed a total lunar eclipse, the last one until 2025. Many photographers took the opportunity for some great shots, and Jason De Freitas took it to the next level. He shot the entire eclipse on 35mm film. And then – he developed it and turned the photos into an epic timelapse.
When we look up into the night sky, it seems as if not much changes except for perhaps the phases of the moon. But our universe is more active than we can imagine, and certainly more active than we can see day to day (or should I say, night to night).
NASA’s NEOWISE mission aims to show us and of course, the astronomers, just how active and busy our universe is. Mission scientists have created a timelapse movie of the sky, revealing all of the impressive changes happening over the course of more than a decade.
A dizzying tour at top speed that takes you through art galleries, underground stations and historic monuments. Sports stadiums, the arctic circle, the Faroe islands: they are all here on this whistlestop music video created entirely from Google Street View.
Adam Chitayat began the project whilst confined by the Covid-19 pandemic. He says he was “desperate for the outside world beyond my doorstep, city, state and country” and so started using Google Maps Street View images as a means to explore and escape.
Timelapse is one of those rabbit holes you can dive down for days. The amount of different styles and techniques out there today is just mindblowing, as is the massive amount of actual timelapse content out there to be inspired by. But while there are a lot of amazing timelapses on the web, not all timelapse creators start out as experts from the first day. Even once you’ve got your shooting technique down, there’s still work that can be done in the edit to make it more interesting.
That’s what Matthew Vandeputte looks at in this video – five different ways to improve your timelapses and take them to the next level when editing within Premiere Pro. Now, his video does specifically mention Premiere Pro, but you can do these techniques in just about any editor. It might just be called something a little different or be accessed a different way, but you should be able to follow these in most editors.
MIOPS has today announced the new Capsule Pro motorised pan and tilt head for shooting timelapse and motion control video. Released four years after the MIOPS Capsule360, I’m not entirely sure what makes this different/better than its predecessor, except for the increased load capacity and it looks like some highlight features from the Capsule360 (such as subject tracking) aren’t even mentioned with the new Capsule Pro.
Like most of the other MIOPS gear releases, the MIOPS Capsule Pro is being launched through Kickstarter with pledges currently starting at $299. It also talks to and combines with other MIOPS gear, like the MIOPS Slider, giving you multi-axis motion control that you wouldn’t be able to get with just the Capsule Pro alone.
Edelkrone has announced its successor to the Edelkrone JibONE, announced in 2020. No, it’s not the JibTWO, it’s the JibONE V2. It offers all of the features of the original. In fact, according to the specs, it’s pretty much identical. It’s the same size, the same weight, has the same mounting options, same load capacity, same camera travel, same speeds, same power inputs and power consumption, same everything.
But it does have some new features, too. It comes with better wireless connectivity with a longer range, improved power management with auto power-off, an information screen with instant feedback for the user to see what it’s doing and can be fully wired when you’re shooting somewhere with a lot of interference. And right now, there’s a $300 launch discount that makes it cheaper than the original.
Photographer Mike Olbinski (previously) is best known for his spectacular timelapse videos. As he’s a passionate storm chaser, those videos show storms that just take our breath away. In his latest video, he brings us another treat.
Mike’s latest timelapse, Haboob: A Decade of Dust, is a compilation of haboob dust storms he captured over the last decade. Yup, that’s ten year’s-worth of magnificent haboob clouds – so I’m sure it will make your jaw drop.
It seems like there is never a week without some sort of reference in the news to the global climate emergency. In fact, just this week we are seeing reports of much higher than usual temperatures at both the poles. As photographers and filmmakers we are often in the unique position to be documenting the effects of climate change and have the potential to draw closer attention to the issue.
That is exactly what inspired photographer and filmmaker Christopher Dormoy to create this hauntingly beautiful timelapse film “Eternal Spring”.
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