I enjoy making time-lapse videos.  It’s nice to see the things in life that seem to take a long time magically happen before your eyes.  I have experimented with a few of these things, but the world is full of time-lapse worth things:  Flowers blooming, Buildings being built, seasons changing, traffic going by, the list can go on forever.  There are many ways you can do time-lapse photography.  The one I have chosen to write about includes a remote timer.  My method for capturing the images for a video that defies time is a bit time-consuming, but in my opinion well worth it.

Because this is a multi-step lengthy process, I have decided to break it down into a few blog posts.  This post will focus mainly on the equipment used.

I shoot using a Canon 40d, with the Canon BGe2 dual battery Grip (for double battery life) or sometimes the Canon ACK-E2 Ac Power Adapter if an outlet is available.  I have left the camera shooting 1 shot every 30 seconds for about 12 hours while camping (see Timelapse – Camping Blog Post) with the dual battery set up with no problem.  That may vary in colder weather.  The remote of choice for me is the Canon TC80N3 Timer Remote.  This timer allows you to do interval shooting, long exposures, customer self-timer and exposure count.  Couple that with whichever lens suits your needs and you’re ready to start shooting.

When shooting where light will be changing, I trust the camera and put it on Auto White balance.    If the shot is shot all in controlled lighting, i will set the white balance manually so there is no change to the video.    I leave the camera on aperture priority for the most consistent results over long-term shooting.  You may be tempted to shoot RAW, but remember about the volume of images you will be dealing with.  Both card size, hard drive size and time will all be pushed to the limit if set on raw.  I have had excellent results shooting on medium or large quality JPEG.

Experimentation is the only way to find how often you want your camera to snap an image.  My standard time is 30 seconds, but experiment and see what works best for you.  Longer applications may need less shots:  buildings being built, seasons changing, etc.   Faster things, such as flowers blooming may need more frequent shooting.  I have not found a magical number that suits my needs.  Usually i do a bit of math by figuring what frame rate I should use (I guess around 25-30fps, though I have no video training), how long I want to the video , and how long I’m going shooting for.  In there somewhere I would find out how many shots i need  and what the duration would be.  Trust me I’m not a mathmagician.

So if what I’m going to shoot is 1 hour-long (3600 seconds), and i want to have the video be 30 seconds with a frame rate of 30 fps?

Multiply 30 (seconds) x 30 (frames per second)

30 x 30 = 900

I would need to take 900 pictures in that hour.  Divide the total time (3600 seconds) by the number of frames (900)   and you find out how many seconds apart the shots should be.

3600 / 900 = 4

So every 4 seconds my camera should snap a shot.   Again I’m not a math wiz, so this may be off, but it gives me a general idea.  your exposure times will throw this off of course, usually fast shutter speeds wont matter, but longer ones will.

(subject real-time in seconds) / (video length in seconds x frames per second) = interval between shots

I hope this helps set up your next time-lapse.  it will at least give you a frame of reference as to the metrics of the project.  In the next blog post i will show what I do with these photos.

As avid readers may know, my Jeep is my life. I am constantly working on it, upgrading it or repairing it. Recently I did a time lapse of myself putting on a new front end made by American Expedition Vehicles called the “Highline Kit“. This kit provides more room for larger tires without the need to mess with the suspension. Yet. This was an excellent kit that matched perfectly to every bolt hole already in the truck. Walking around the Jeep, one would think that it came from the factory with that awesome hood and fenders.

The Jeep is a 2004 Jeep Rubicon in Solar Yellow, with 35 inch Goodyear MTR tires, a Jeeperman front bumper, Warn M8000 Winch and lots of extras here and there.

The photos were taken using a Canon 40D with a Tamron 11-18mm Lens, and a Canon TC-80N3 Remote shooting at 1 frame every 30 seconds. Post production was done using Imovie.

My newest time-lapse was taken this past weekend while camping behind the Hudson River Rafting Company in North Creek, New York. I traveled up Saturday evening to do some light camping in preparation for an early day of riding the Hudson’s white water on Sunday. I used a Canon 40D with dual battery grip and and 11-18mm Tamron lens to capture the frames for the time-lapse. The exposures were spaced 45 seconds apart, using the Canon TC-80N3 remote set on aperture priority for approximately 11 hours. Unfortunately a storm came and splashed some water drops on the lens, but you cannot control nature. Luckily the camera was covered my a waterproof housing.

A few months ago my friend Courtney had a gallery opening at Kean University. Scott and I helped setup the gallery, and made a fun video in the process. It was made with both a Macbook Pro using Time lapse software, and a G10 on movie mode, then sped up. Combine in Imovie with some sound effects and transitions and this is what you get. The music is “My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors” by Moxy Früvous.

Here was my first attempt at a time lapse movie. The project was to swap out a cracked jeep frame for a new one. With all the preparations completed and the new frame prepared, I set up my Canon XTI on a tripod in the second floor window, and using the EOS Utility Software had my computer shoot 1 picture every 30 seconds. For the most part it ran for 3 straight days (the first night stopped shooting for a few hours for some reason.) Once the movie was completed, I compiled the 3000 plus shots in Quicktime, and then processed it in a movie editing program (windows movie maker maybe, I’m not sure) It was a tough project but the jeep, and the video, came out great with the help of some great friends! Enjoy~