Contents

Forward ............................................................................................................................................................................ 5
Introduction: Why Time-lapse?................................................................................................................................. 8
The Wager and the Beginning of Time-lapse Photography...................................................................................... 12
The First Time-lapse..................................................................................................................................................... 13
What is Time-lapse Photography?................................................................................................................................ 14
Show Me an Example................................................................................................................................................... 15

Time-lapse Gear from Basic to Advanced....................................................................................... 18

What is the Minimum Amount of Camera Gear Required to Begin Time-lapse?.......................................................... 19
A Quick Overview of the Advanced Gear Market......................................................................................................... 20
Tripods.................................................................................................................................................................. 21
How to Choose a Good Time-lapse Tripod............................................................................................................... 21
How to Make Any Tripod More Stable...................................................................................................................... 22
Renting and Starting Point Recommendations.......................................................................................................... 23
Intervalometers..................................................................................................................................................... 24
Prebuilt: Does Your Camera Already Have One?....................................................................................................... 24
The External Intervalometer World in Five Segments......................................................................................... 24
How to Get an Intervalometer Cheap Through Third Party Manufacturers............................................................ 25
Name Brand Intervalometers, Love them, But the Price...Ouch............................................................................. 25
Finding Amazing Features in Advanced Intervalometers......................................................................................... 26
Where to Learn More About Homemade and DIY Timer Devices......................................................................... 27
What Options Exist for Tethered Computer and Smartphone Time-lapse Control ................................................ 27
DSLR Cameras..................................................................................................................................................... 28
Is There Such a Thing as a Good Time-lapse Camera?............................................................................................... 28
Evaluating Your Options: Features, Research, and Renting........................................................................................ 29
ND Filters............................................................................................................................................................. 30
ND Filter Selection: Demystified.............................................................................................................................. 31
Lenses................................................................................................................................................................... 32
Helpful Time-lapse Gear Extras............................................................................................................................ 33

Balancing Time-lapse Image Settings: Size, Quality, Space and Speed.................................36

Is There Still a RAW vs JPEG Debate? With Time-lapse There Might Be..................................................................... 37
Why Shoot Time-lapse in RAW?.................................................................................................................................. 38
Megapixels and the Advantages of High Resolution Images.......................................................................................... 39
Dont Let Your Movies Get Squished! Aspect Ratio and HD Resolution....................................................................... 41
Fitting All These Images on Your Memory Card........................................................................................................... 41

Shooting Time-lapse............................................................................................................44
The Basic Time-lapse Process: An Overview ................................................................................................................ 45
What Makes a Good Time-lapse Good?....................................................................................................................... 46
1. Selecting a Good Composition: The Art of Walking Around............................................................................. 47
What is The Magic Hour?......................................................................................................................................... 48

Anticipating Change: Time to Polish the Crystal Ball................................................................................................ 48

2. How to Select and Program a Time-lapse Sequence........................................................................................... 49
Common Baseline Time-lapse Intervals..................................................................................................................... 49
How Long Should Your Time-lapse Be...................................................................................................................... 50
How Many Shots Will It Take to Make and How Long to Shoot.............................................................................. 51
All About Programming Your Intervalometer............................................................................................................ 52
3. Understanding Time-lapse Exposure Settings................................................................................................... 53
Time-lapse Flicker: A Quick Introduction................................................................................................................. 54
Why Shooting in Manual Mode is Best For Most Shots............................................................................................ 54
The Time-Lapse Exposure Triangle..................................................................................................................... 55
1. Manual ISO....................................................................................................................................................... 55
2. Manual Aperture................................................................................................................................................ 56
3. Manual Shutter.................................................................................................................................................. 57
How to Drag Your Shutter and Why Motion Blur is a Good Thing....................................................................... 57
Avoiding Dropped Frames...................................................................................................................................... 58
Manual Lens Focus................................................................................................................................................... 58
White Balance and How to Prevent Color Shifting................................................................................................... 59
Final Time-lapse Preflight Check.......................................................................................................................... 59
Take a Test Shot......................................................................................................................................................... 59
Record a Mini Test-lapse, Trust Me Its Worth It....................................................................................................... 60
Exposure Settings Overview Checklist.................................................................................................................. 61

Preventing Time-lapse Flicker..............................................................................................64

Two Main Sources of Flicker and Our Three Front Attack............................................................................................ 65
1. Exposure Settings.............................................................................................................................................. 66
Manual Mode vs Priority Mode: What to Do When The Light Changes................................................................... 66
Configure Evaluative Camera Metering..................................................................................................................... 67
2. Mechanical Inconsistencies............................................................................................................................... 68
How to Minimize Shutter Flicker.............................................................................................................................. 68
How to Minimize Aperture Flicker............................................................................................................................ 69
Manual Lenses and the Lens Twist Trick................................................................................................................. 70
Flicker Prevention Overview................................................................................................................................. 71

Create the Time-lapse Movie................................................................................................74

An Overview of The Time-lapse Rendering Process............................................................................................... 75
Tips for Importing Your Images................................................................................................................................. 76
Tips for Batch Editing............................................................................................................................................... 78
Standard Batch Editing vs Transitional Editing.......................................................................................................... 81
Deflickering Your Time-lapse: What Are Your Options?............................................................................................ 82
Its all About The Movie........................................................................................................................................ 83
Containers vs Codecs................................................................................................................................................ 83
Frame Rates, Bit Rates, Resolution, Aspect Ratio...................................................................................................... 84
Software Workflows................................................................................................................................................. 85
A Quick Overview of All Three: Which is Best for You?............................................................................................... 86

LRTimelapse and Adobe Lightroom Workflow.................................................................................................. 88

Previewing and Cropping....................................................................................................................................... 89
Transitional Editing With Keyframes...................................................................................................................... 91
Adding Ken Burns Effects (Movement).................................................................................................................. 92
Deflickering........................................................................................................................................................... 93
VirtualDub Software Workflow [FREE/Donationware] (Windows Only).......................................................... 95
Installing................................................................................................................................................................ 96
Importing JPEGs and Resizing............................................................................................................................... 96
Selecting a Frame Rate and Configuring Compression Settings.............................................................................. 97
Deflickering Using MSUDeflicker......................................................................................................................... 99
Time Lapse Assembler Software Workflow [FREE/Donationware] (Mac Only)............................................... 100
Adobe After Effects Software Workflow............................................................................................................ 101
Importing Your Images as A Sequence.................................................................................................................. 102
Configuring and Creating Your Composition....................................................................................................... 103
Adding Ken Burns Effects (Movement)................................................................................................................ 104
Deflickering Using the GBDeflicker Plugin.......................................................................................................... 105
Choosing Render Settings and Creating Your Movie............................................................................................ 106
Using NLEs to Really Add Creativity to Your Movies: Combine Scenes, Add Music, Etc.................................... 107
Where to Find Free Music for Your Videos................................................................................................................. 108
Sharing or Maybe Even Selling Your Time-lapse Work............................................................................................... 108

Time-lapse Challenges: Test Your Understanding...............................................................110

Astrophotography Time-lapse: An Introduction.................................................................................................... 112
Resources for Finding Dark Sky and Coordinating With the Heavens........................................................................ 114
Tips for Long Exposures............................................................................................................................................. 114
What is The Rule of 600 and How You Can Use it To Prevent Streaking Stars........................................................ 114
Example Long Exposure Astrolapse Workflow......................................................................................................... 115
Thoughts on Post Processing Your Night Shots........................................................................................................ 118
The Time-lapse Holy Grail (Flicker Free Day to Night Shots): An Introduction.................................................... 119
Its all About Bramping, Both Physical and Simulated................................................................................................ 120
Solution 1: Using GBTimelapse.............................................................................................................................. 121
Solution 2: Using Advanced Intervalometers........................................................................................................... 122
Solution 3: Using LRTimelapse and Lightroom (correction vs prevention).............................................................. 124
HDR (High Dynamic Range) Time-lapses: An Introduction................................................................................. 125
Multiple Exposure vs Single Exposure (pseudo) HDR................................................................................................ 126
How to Shoot Multiple Exposure HDR Time-lapse................................................................................................... 128
Single and Multiple Image Batch HDR Processing with Photomatix.......................................................................... 132
Time-lapse Motion Control Devices: An Introduction.......................................................................................... 134
Dolly Movement and Linear Motion.......................................................................................................................... 135
Pan/Tilt Movement.................................................................................................................................................... 137
Examples on the Frontier of Time-lapse Movement.................................................................................................... 137
Conclusion: Where to Go From Here........................................................................................................................... 138

Learn More: Time-lapse Resources and Links....................................................................139

Printable Reference Summaries..........................................................................................142