Time-Lapse Photography
Here are the steps to create a timelapse photography:
1. Choose a subject:
Select a subject that you want to capture in your timelapse. Shooting a subject without movement is useless because the whole essence of time lapse photography is capturing the change over time. This is why you can select any subject you want as long as it has a movement. It may be people walking on the streets, vehicles driving along the highway, waterfalls and rapids, or the movements of clouds in the sky.
Some ideas to consider for a good Time-Lapse would be the following-
Traffic movement
A busy walking street
Boats on water
Ice melting
Rotting fruit
Flower blossoming
Clouds moving
An artist painting
2. Get the right equipment:
You will need a camera with manual controls and a tripod to keep it stable during the shoot. A intervalometer or a remote shutter release can also be useful.
A camera -
While technically any point-and-shoot camera or smartphone can be used for time-lapse photography, the easiest ones to work with are DSLR or mirrorless cameras—some even have an in-camera intervalometer (often called a time-lapse feature or time-lapse mode), which means you’ll need less equipment to take great time-lapse photos.
A tripod -
A tripod is essential to time-lapse photography, because the camera needs to stay perfectly still in order to emphasize the steady movement of your subject and to avoid overly blurry photos.
An intervalometer -
An intervalometer is an external device (or, in some cases, software that you can download to your camera) that tells the camera to take photos at specific intervals for a specific amount of time. This prevents you from having to stand next to your camera and manually press the shutter button every few seconds.
Neutral-density filters -
Neutral-density (ND) filters are like sunglasses for cameras—they reduce the amount of light that comes through the lens without changing the color-temperature. While not strictly required for time-lapse photography, ND filters allow you more flexibility with your shutter speed, so you can use slower shutter speeds and still have the same amount of light.
High-capacity memory cards -
Time-lapse photography involves taking many high-quality images back to back—and that demands a lot of space. For the best results, shoot in RAW format, which takes images in the highest resolution with actual image dimensions. You’ll need to prepare for very large RAW file sizes, so bring multiple high-capacity memory cards.
3. Set up the camera -
Mount the camera on a tripod and set it to manual mode. Choose the desired frame rate, exposure time, ISO, and aperture settings.
Aperture. Choose an aperture that will keep your subject in focus and provide enough light. Experiment with your aperture to achieve the right depth of field for your subject.
Shutter speed. Choosing the best shutter speed depends on the look you want to achieve. If you want each shot to look sharp and clearly capture moving subjects, a fast aperture (1/100 or faster) will achieve that—but if you’re shooting in a busy area with lots of fast-moving subjects (e.g., a road or a crowd), the video can end up looking jumpy, since subjects will be captured every few seconds in a different position. If you want a smoother-looking video, experiment with slower apertures (1/50 or slower), which will capture moving subjects in motion and add a motion blur to their path. A good standard shutter speed for time-lapse photography is double your frame rate (e.g., if you’re shooting at 25 FPS, your shutter speed should be 1/50).
ISO. The best ISO setting will depend on your light. For time-lapse photography, a low ISO is best, since it will reduce photographic noise and graininess, but a low ISO requires a higher-light setting. If you want to shoot time-lapses in low-light settings, you’ll need a higher ISO to make your camera more sensitive to light, but your video will come out grainier.
Focus. Set your camera and lens to manual focus, as opposed to auto focus; this will maintain a consistent focus for each shot. If your camera were in auto focus, it would try to refocus on a new subject between each shot—which could be problematic in a fast-moving time-lapse like a crowd or busy street.
Time-lapse interval (speed). Think of the time-lapse interval as the number of frames per second (FPS) in your time-lapse movie. When you plan your timelapse, you need to consider the speed of the subject to choose your time-lapse interval correctly. Fast movement requires shorter intervals, between one and three seconds—too much space between each image and fast objects in a scene will appear to be skipping. Slower movement, however, can be captured with longer intervals (up to 30 seconds) without appearing jumpy.
4. Start shooting:
Start capturing frames at regular intervals, for example, every 2 seconds. Keep the camera in the same position throughout the shoot.
5. Process the images:
Once you have captured all the frames, transfer them to your computer. Use software like Adobe Lightroom or Premiere Pro to process the images and turn them into a video. There are many YouTube videos available to help you process your images in the software you use.
6. Create the timelapse:
Use the software to import the images, set the frame rate, and export the final timelapse video.
7. Edit the timelapse:
You can make further adjustments, such as color correction, stabilization the video or add music.
Note:
Experiment with different interval lengths and settings to find what works best for your subject and setup.
1. Choose a subject:
Select a subject that you want to capture in your timelapse. Shooting a subject without movement is useless because the whole essence of time lapse photography is capturing the change over time. This is why you can select any subject you want as long as it has a movement. It may be people walking on the streets, vehicles driving along the highway, waterfalls and rapids, or the movements of clouds in the sky.
Some ideas to consider for a good Time-Lapse would be the following-
Traffic movement
A busy walking street
Boats on water
Ice melting
Rotting fruit
Flower blossoming
Clouds moving
An artist painting
2. Get the right equipment:
You will need a camera with manual controls and a tripod to keep it stable during the shoot. A intervalometer or a remote shutter release can also be useful.
A camera -
While technically any point-and-shoot camera or smartphone can be used for time-lapse photography, the easiest ones to work with are DSLR or mirrorless cameras—some even have an in-camera intervalometer (often called a time-lapse feature or time-lapse mode), which means you’ll need less equipment to take great time-lapse photos.
A tripod -
A tripod is essential to time-lapse photography, because the camera needs to stay perfectly still in order to emphasize the steady movement of your subject and to avoid overly blurry photos.
An intervalometer -
An intervalometer is an external device (or, in some cases, software that you can download to your camera) that tells the camera to take photos at specific intervals for a specific amount of time. This prevents you from having to stand next to your camera and manually press the shutter button every few seconds.
Neutral-density filters -
Neutral-density (ND) filters are like sunglasses for cameras—they reduce the amount of light that comes through the lens without changing the color-temperature. While not strictly required for time-lapse photography, ND filters allow you more flexibility with your shutter speed, so you can use slower shutter speeds and still have the same amount of light.
High-capacity memory cards -
Time-lapse photography involves taking many high-quality images back to back—and that demands a lot of space. For the best results, shoot in RAW format, which takes images in the highest resolution with actual image dimensions. You’ll need to prepare for very large RAW file sizes, so bring multiple high-capacity memory cards.
3. Set up the camera -
Mount the camera on a tripod and set it to manual mode. Choose the desired frame rate, exposure time, ISO, and aperture settings.
Aperture. Choose an aperture that will keep your subject in focus and provide enough light. Experiment with your aperture to achieve the right depth of field for your subject.
Shutter speed. Choosing the best shutter speed depends on the look you want to achieve. If you want each shot to look sharp and clearly capture moving subjects, a fast aperture (1/100 or faster) will achieve that—but if you’re shooting in a busy area with lots of fast-moving subjects (e.g., a road or a crowd), the video can end up looking jumpy, since subjects will be captured every few seconds in a different position. If you want a smoother-looking video, experiment with slower apertures (1/50 or slower), which will capture moving subjects in motion and add a motion blur to their path. A good standard shutter speed for time-lapse photography is double your frame rate (e.g., if you’re shooting at 25 FPS, your shutter speed should be 1/50).
ISO. The best ISO setting will depend on your light. For time-lapse photography, a low ISO is best, since it will reduce photographic noise and graininess, but a low ISO requires a higher-light setting. If you want to shoot time-lapses in low-light settings, you’ll need a higher ISO to make your camera more sensitive to light, but your video will come out grainier.
Focus. Set your camera and lens to manual focus, as opposed to auto focus; this will maintain a consistent focus for each shot. If your camera were in auto focus, it would try to refocus on a new subject between each shot—which could be problematic in a fast-moving time-lapse like a crowd or busy street.
Time-lapse interval (speed). Think of the time-lapse interval as the number of frames per second (FPS) in your time-lapse movie. When you plan your timelapse, you need to consider the speed of the subject to choose your time-lapse interval correctly. Fast movement requires shorter intervals, between one and three seconds—too much space between each image and fast objects in a scene will appear to be skipping. Slower movement, however, can be captured with longer intervals (up to 30 seconds) without appearing jumpy.
4. Start shooting:
Start capturing frames at regular intervals, for example, every 2 seconds. Keep the camera in the same position throughout the shoot.
5. Process the images:
Once you have captured all the frames, transfer them to your computer. Use software like Adobe Lightroom or Premiere Pro to process the images and turn them into a video. There are many YouTube videos available to help you process your images in the software you use.
6. Create the timelapse:
Use the software to import the images, set the frame rate, and export the final timelapse video.
7. Edit the timelapse:
You can make further adjustments, such as color correction, stabilization the video or add music.
Note:
Experiment with different interval lengths and settings to find what works best for your subject and setup.