Time-lapse photography has become very popular in the last few years. The ultimate point of time-lapse is to create a recording that shows a huge scale of movement in a short amount of time.
It is a great way to show processes on a frequency which we can never experience in real life. Hours in seconds. That’s why it is quite time-consuming to shoot time-lapse photography.
Read our complete guide to learn everything you need to know about time-lapse photography.
Time-Lapse Photography: What It Is and How To Get Started
The basic idea is that you take many photographs at intervals. You then stitch them together during post-processing.
What you get is a sequence that plays back faster than usual. It is the only way to show this sequence of images in succession.
This is a technique you can see everywhere. In commercials, title sequences and films like Baraka.
Here, they show cities going about their daily life in a sped-up manner.
These videos add a very high-production value to any project. However, they are complicated, time-consuming and need a lot of planning.
Best Tripod for Time-Lapse Photography
Tripods are a necessary piece of equipment when it comes to time-lapse photography.
This technique requires your camera to stay undisturbed for long periods of time.
Tripods allow the shot to keep the same frame. This retains that fluidity from one photograph to the next.
Your tripod needs to be of good quality, sturdy, and stable, but light enough for you to take on adventures with you.
Best Settings and Shooting Modes for Time-Lapse Photography
When it comes to modes on your DSLR for shooting time-lapses, you should have a basic idea of the possibilities. The four modes you need to understand are Av/A, Tv/T, B, and M.
M, which is Manual, lets you control every aspect of the camera. This is the setting we recommend for time-lapse photography.
It can be frustrating at first to learn through trial and error. But it is better for you and your photography in the long run.
When it comes to the exposure triangle, you want the lowest ISO possible, as this gives you the best quality.
You also want medium to narrow apertures, such as f/5.6 – f/16. These allow the biggest area of focus on your subject.
Master Motion Blur for Better Time-Lapse Photography
When creating your first time-lapse photography project, there will be challenges to overcome.
One challenge might be that you find some of the photographed subjects uneven or too jumpy. You want to create a smooth time-lapse motion. We can teach you how to do it.
Subjects like traffic or people are the most affected. This is due to the intervals between the photographs being too long.