“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is
the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is
a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is
as good as dead: his eyes are closed.” - Albert Einsten
I've recently been fascinated with time-lapse photography. That's right... photography. I literally just learned a couple weeks ago that many of the time-lapse videos I've enjoyed are actually individual still photos stitched together, not video played back at superfast speed. (As a disclaimer *some* of it is video, but much of it is photography). Maybe a simpler way to say this is "Wow. I didn't know my camera could do that."
So, with the same camera that took action shots at a high school
football game on Saturday, (and has taken wedding photos, baby
portraits, landscapes, macro shots, and more) I've started to dabble in
time-lapse photography. What a versatile tool.
Being able to take a whole scene for half an hour and compress it into about 15 seconds of footage makes for an interesting perspective. Like photography in general, it makes you view the entire world in a different way. "What would this look like in time-lapse?" The possibilities are literally endless, and I've only tried a handful of ideas. I'm excited to pursue more... but in the meantime, I thought I'd throw together a video of some of the shots I've done so far.
Being indecisive, I couldn't pick a song for the video, so I'll leave you with a couple options. They produce a very different feel to the video. (I guess, in a way, this post could be as much about the emotional effect of music as it is about photography).
Which are you drawn to?
Option 1:
Option 2:
As an aside, these videos compiled over 1,400 still images taken mostly with a wide-angle lens over the course of a few days. This is my single favorite still shot of the project:
I agree with all - great work! And I feel more drawn to the Sigur Ros song, also. I'm curious, as with Matt, the more technical side of it. How many photos per minute? The clouds in the shot over the intersection are beautiful and totally captivating.
hey dan - awesome job with the video. i agree with the others that liked the sigur ros song - i feel that it works so well with the photos you took. the song has this mystifyingly hopeful feel that gets to me.
Beautiful shots, Dan. Really. I agree with you that your camera can certainly do some stunning things.
I loved both videos and each song choice, but I must say I enjoyed the first more. The second song I love, but when I think of images to go along with it, I think of images of faces and people. The first song drew me in to the moving of the images, the changes that occur over time, allowed me, as the viewer, to decide more of the story.
Thanks for showing your art here.
planet earth written by Dan Nicholas , August 28, 2007
thanks guys. eric, i agree that "mad world" seems more... i don't know... interactive. (i feel more drawn into a/the story).
matt, i agree about that shot. i really like it, despite being "lucky" (as the camera was taking about 2 second exposures every 6 seconds). but, there was almost constant lightning that night (huge storm came through), so in a sense i was disappointed i didn't get even more. most of the storm was behind me and it was truly one of the most impressive lightning displays i've ever seen.
as far as planet earth, i am still BAFFLED at some of the timelapse shots in that series. mostly in how they move/pan the camera across a timelapse scene. it's truly awe-inspiring. i would bet that many of the shots are HD video, but some are probably still photos, as you suggested (especially ones that are over a longer period of time, and obviously all the satellite imagery... which is just unbelievable). i've watched almost every behind-the-scenes on the DVDs and have yet to find an answer on how they did some of those shots so well.
Seriously, that shot (at the end of your post) is amazing... and it's crazy to me that it was just "random" (to some degree) and that moments like that are happening all the time whether we are watching or not.
Is that how they do all the time lapse stuff on "Plant Earth", is that photography as opposed to video? That would make so much sense, as I always wondered why there were never animals walking through the shots or why it was never night...
Also... could you explain a bit of the more technical aspects of time lapse... like the exposure setting and how many pictures are taken per minute, etc.?
Where there any shots that you didn't use in the sequence?
The time lapse of the moon rising over the Chicago skyline blows me away.
dan - this is great stuff. for me it isn't about which song is 'better' b/c i love both of those tunes. but it was amazing how in the second option, the musical choice quickly made the shots feel like a story. that added depth for me.
I've recently been fascinated with time-lapse photography. That's right... photography. I literally just learned a couple weeks ago that many of the time-lapse videos I've enjoyed are actually individual still photos stitched together, not video played back at superfast speed. (As a disclaimer *some* of it is video, but much of it is photography). Maybe a simpler way to say this is "Wow. I didn't know my camera could do that."
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
