Time Lapse photography is a great way to show the passage of time to achieve a dramatic effect or to show a change at an accelerated rate so that it becomes noticeable. A time lapse can show the movement of clouds, the growing of a plant etc. Here is a timelapse I made on the highway a few days ago:
Shooting the pictures
The rate at which you want to shoot depends on what you are shooting, and how fast it is changing. For example, clouds may be moving slowly and it may suffice to shoot one pic every 10 seconds or so only. However, if you are, say, driving, and want to make a timelapse of the road (as shown in the video above), you may need to go as fast as the camera can. I teach you to do both here.
How Many photographs?
The number of photographs you need for a movie depends on the 'Frames Per Second' or fps at which your final result will run. In simple terms, fps means the number of photographs the video software will show one after the other, in one second.
A higher fps value means a smoother video. a lower value may result in a video that looks choppy. Normally a frame rate of 16 fps is considered to be the threshold, i.e., a value of 16 fps and above fools the human brain into believing that the action is continuous and not made of individual frames. Movies you watch on DVD or CD are generally in the range of 23 - 30 fps.
But really, a frame rate of 12-15 fps is quite sufficient. It depends on how fast the scene is changing. If the change is really slow, you may be able to get away with even less. The technique I tell you here gives you an option of 3 to 15 fps. The video shown above was originally at 15 fps.
So how many pictures do you shoot? Depends on the fps you will choose in the end, and how long you want the video to last. Multiply the two, and you get the required number of photographs. So if you want say a 60 second video at 15 fps, you need to shoot 15 x 60 = 900 photographs.
Case 1: Continuous shooting for very fast changing scenes
If you want to shoot at the maximum rate possible, this is how it can be done.
Put your camera in any of the four advanced shooting modes (P, A, S or M) from the mode dial above. For my Highway Time Lapse above, I used Aperture Priority (A) mode with the maximum possible Aperture Value (around 5). I focussed it on a car about 10 meters from us. The high aperture value caused nearby objects (the trees on the sides) to blur which gives an impression of greater speed.
Focus it on a some nearby object (depending on what you want to be clearly in focus) and turn-off Auto focusing from the left side of the lens (push that little slider switch to M). Keep the VR on (if you have it). Shoot in JPEG (not RAW). You can reduce the size of the image as the video will anyway not be equal to the maximum size available (picture size of 'small' will also work perfectly). Next you need to set the Release Mode to 'Continuous' (Menu > Custom Settings Menu > Release Mode > Continuous).
Now you need to keep the camera in a stable position so that there is minimum shake in the camera. A tripod can be handy. I kept the camera on the dashboard of the car for the above video. You will be keeping the shutter release button depressed at all the time, so a little camera shake is unavoidable. Other things to keep in mind is the light. It should be enough to allow for fast shutter speeds. Just check your batteries should be fully charged, and you are good to go.
Time to shoot. Keep the Shutter Release button (the shooting button) pressed. Your camera will take photos in rapid succession till the button remains pressed (or the batteries/ memory card run out). Shoot for as long as seems enough. Remember, 100 pictures will give you only about 6 seconds of video on 15 fps.
Case 2: Larger intervals between photographs to capture slow changes
A time lapse of a slower processes like budding of a flower or construction of a building require subsequent photographs to be shot after a particular interval of time. Say you want to make a time lapse of the movement of clouds from dawn to dusk. To calculate the interval after which you need to click the next photo, do the following:
Estimate the number of photographs you need. Say you want to show the whole time lapse in 2 minutes (120 seconds) and give the final result at 15 fps, you need 1800 (15 x 120) photographs. Now estimate the time between dawn and dusk. Say 12 hours. So you need to shoot 1800/12 = 150 photographs per hour. This will be equal to one photograph every 24 seconds (3600/150). Sorry, but you will have to do the math for this!
Now there are two options to shoot. One of course is that you keep a counter clock close to you and click every 24 seconds, 1800 times in 12 hours! The other option is to attach the camera to PC or a Laptop to do the same. A neat little software - DIYPhotoBits.com Camera Control helps you do the same. And it is Free!
Download and install. Attach your camera to the Computer using the cable that comes with the Camera. Turn the Camera ON and start the software. If it doesn't auto-detect the camera, click on 'Select Camera'. This should get the software to connect to the Camera.
Focus your camera on to some distant object and turn-off auto-focus from the left side of the lens (push that little slider switch to M). Keep the VR on (if you have it). Shoot in JPEG (not RAW). You can reduce the size of the image as the video can be a max. of 640 x 480 (hence, picture size of 'small' will also work perfectly). Select Either Shutter Priority (S) or Aperture Priority (A) via the Mode Dial. I will suggest using the camera in Aperture Priority, otherwise there may be changes in Depth of Field with changing light, which may not look good in the final result. Rest of the settings can be made from the software.
You can choose an appropriate value of Aperture (if using Aperture Priority) from the drop down in the software. I would suggest maximum, i.e. around f/3.5 (on wide angle), depending on your lens (I am assuming kit lens here). Keep your camera somewhere stable, like on a table. A tripod will be ideal. Do not touch the camera once you begin shooting.
Now feed in the calculated parameters in the Time Lapse section of the software. I would suggest that you increase the number of photographs a bit, just in case the sun does not go down as fast as you thought it would!
Make sure the batteries are fully charged. Hit the Shutter Release button (in the Software), when you are ready to begin shooting. Then go out, watch TV, do whatever .. come back in the evening to find a memory card full of 2000 images, ready to make into a video.
I'll cover the video part in the next tutorial. I'll even teach you the youtube bit.
Do let me know how you liked this one.
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