What I Write About

Time Lapse Logistics

If you want your organizations’ story told using time lapse as the format, for social media to engage, entertain and inform your followers, please read the following and consider the elements necessary for a successful outcome.

Putting cost aside for the moment…

Gear Up!

First off, time lapse photography at its’ core is documentary in nature. Time lapse photography is usually a straight forward process: one or more cameras diligently record a scene, event, process or phenomenon. It can be as straightforward as a single stationary camera set out for several hours, or it be exponentially more complex when cameras are placed in remote locations for weeks, months or years. Recording a variety of ambient sounds for use in the editing process is also a consideration. (Sometimes easier than trying to source it online after principal photography has been completed.)

time lapse camera mounts.
Camera rigs atop a forty foot light pole: a GoPro Hero 2 with a Bogen Magic Arm and a Canon T3i inside my custom made weatherproof housing. The shield below the housing was for blocking the night lights as both cameras were on a 24-hour schedule, recording an image every two minutes.

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Well Hung Hardware 2

In the previous post, “Well Hung Hardware”, I blogged and showed how I hang a variety time lapse rigs used for short and long term assignments. The reaction was very positive and I decided to add to the collection:

This one I call Spidey.

Gorilla Pods are great for the odd situation.
Gorilla Pods are great for the odd situation. But you have to rig it pointing down for stability. The sequence lasted about 45 minutes.

 

I really like my Syrp Genie and Lil’ Mule so why not put them together? The sequence is sweet but you’ll have to wait for the video to post….

That's a 12 volt lead acid battery for powering the 6 rpm motor. The weights add stability.
That’s a 12 volt lead acid battery for powering the 6 rpm motor. The weights add stability.

 

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Well Hung Hardware

Time lapse photography is very hot right now and I’m grateful for the amount of commissioned work that’s come my way on a steady basis. My clientele have been generous, supportive and appreciative of the stories I’ve produced for them.

On most set ups, I take BTS snappers of my camera rigs. These photographs are used for reference and for the many talks I give on shooting commercial time lapse assignments.

C-stands, Gorilla Pods, Magic Arms, adjustable A-Clamps, segmented tubes, sandbags, apple boxes and tripods are fair game, especially when I have to rig in odd, out-of-way places: on scaffolding, attached to structural beams, wrapped around tree trunks, setting on soft earth or resting on rocks and boulders.

So without further ado, here’s a rogues gallery of my hanging hardware…

Moving cameras along a vertical axis requires a 27:1 stepper motor.
Moving cameras along a vertical axis requires a 27:1 stepper motor. Real power for driving up and down in a controlled fashion.

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Experiment with Time Lapse Editing

I’m enamored with time lapse and all that is has offered me the past three years. Here’s a snappy little PIP project for you. (picture in-a-picture effect)

I was giving a talk at the Apple Store in Santa Monica a few weeks ago and since it was not practical to bring all the gear I wanted to for the talk, the next best thing was to time lapse my favorite motion control device in its’ place. The TB3 from eMotimo in combination with the Dynamic Perception Stage 0 Dolly, two mefoto tripods, a li-on battery from Anker and a sandbag are what I use to create my signature motion effects.

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Decisions That Drive The Time Lapse Narrative Forward

Dynamic Perception Stage 0 Dolly and the eMotimo TB3 Black
Dynamic Perception Stage 0 Dolly and the eMotimo TB3 Black

What should be your guiding principal when planning shots, especially when it comes to motion control time lapse sequences? The four keywords I keep in mind are: education, documentation, preservation and entertainment. Every decision I make rides on the backs of these four words.

I jumped into time lapse photography in ’03 and have been hacking away at it ever since. During this time, I realized I was developing a new specialty: the commercial time lapse narrative. Now I offer a boutique experience to my market in that I shoot time lapse projects with the mindset of a movie director. I offer and provide multiple camera set ups daily, weekly and monthly. In addition to the usual fixed or static camera that records all that happens in front of it I also place what I call rover units throughout a site in order to tell the complete story, whatever it may be…thus the decisions that come with this approach.

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