Time-lapse photography can be used to stunning effect. The often-dreamy vistas passing by the camera allow the viewer an amazing insight to a location beyond what a still image may offer. I have spent more time than I care admit to watching videos on Vimeo and YouTube of amazing time-lapse productions of places far away that I may never visit myself.
While I admire these productions any chance I get, I have never taken the plunge into finding out how to create them for myself. Jay P Morgan from over at The Slanted Lens shares a guide and some tips on how to capture the images needed to create a stationary time-lapse at night.
Firstly, you need your location. Keep in mind you want somewhere with little-to-no light pollution. Do a little research and find out when your desired star patterns will be travelling past your scene, and plan to be shooting at the appropriate time.
Since the goal will be to capture the stars at night, you’re going to have to travel to somewhere without much light pollution. So, jump in your car and go out to the country, or strap on your boots and prepare for a hike.
The Slanted Lens suggests a nice list of things that are essential to bring along to your shoot. Some, I admit, I’d not think about taking until it was too late. Example, the chair. Been more than once when I’ve been out waiting for a landscape photo and I’ve sat on a cold rock, instead.
Jay also goes through his process of selecting the correct exposure, using two cameras with different focal lengths to obtain the right image, and his preferences on what tools to use to perform the actual time-lapse. Oh, naturally, you will need a sturdy tripod.
In the end, Jay P Morgan creates a gorgeous time-lapse of the band of ‘cloud’ of the Milky Way passing by the tufas in the Mono Lake area. I highly recommend that you watch the video above and try it out for yourself some time.
Have you ever create a time-lapse video? How about you share them below!
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