Recent Time-lapse Articles

One Hour of Eye Retouching in Seven Minutes

When asking people what they hate retouching the most, usually the answer is anything hair related. It requires a tremendous amount of precision and a lot of time. Something retoucher Pratik Naik seems to have, at least according to this video in which he fixes eyelashes to perfection while keeping them natural looking. Have you ever wondered how high-end retouchers achieve such result? Then you should definitely watch this time-lapse.

'Seasons of Norway': A Next-Level Time-lapse

If you've ever dabbled in time-lapse photography, you know what an incredible amount of effort goes into making a very short video. From the prep work, to setup, shooting, and editing, you're often looking at a couple of hours for a few seconds worth of video. Well, Morten Rustad invests a bit more time than that: roughly 20,000 kms traveled, 200,000 photos on 20 terabytes of hard drives, and two years of time invested. The result is an incredible seven-minute video that puts Norway's beauty on full display.

'Voices of Jerusalem' Is a Stunning Video Tour of the City

Jerusalem is an incredibly historic city overflowing with people and culture, and successfully capturing and representing its many facets is not an easy undertaking. This amazing short film certainly pulls it off.

Create a Simple Time-Lapse Using Lightroom

Time-lapse photography has quickly become one of the most popular forms of creative expression in the past year. A ton of expensive gear and advanced methods exist to produce cinema quality videos like the opening sequence in "House of Cards," but this shouldn’t deter you from getting out and trying it on your own.

'Destination DC' Is a Time-Lapse That Captures the Vibrancy and Life of America's Capital

We've all seen impressive time-lapses before, but what really caught my eye with "Destination DC" was its human element. Washington D.C. is undoubtedly a historic city full of sites that are primed for capture, but that in itself means it's a challenge to create something that rises above the countless images and videos we've seen before. "Destination DC" does just that.

How To: Create Long Distance Cable Cam Motion Time-lapses with Morten Rustad

Morten Rustad’s a rarity, managing to make time-lapse photography his fulltime gig – and today he’s teamed up with New Zealand based company Syrp to share his expertise and host their latest Filmmaking Guide: “How to Setup a Long-Distance Cable Cam Motion Time-lapse”.

'Whispering Iceland' - Further Proof that Iceland is Disneyland for Photographers

If I'm brutally honest, I felt as if I'd become a bit numb to time-lapses. There's a sense in which the bar has been raised so high of late, that it's difficult to create anything that's likely to capture my attention (not that anyone's trying to). However, if there's one place that can deliver over and over again, it's the frozen tundra that feels as if it has been designed by a landscape photographer: Iceland.

Impressive Hyperlapse Video Shows Cappadocia in Four Seasons

Internationally acclaimed time-lapse film maker and photographer Rob Whitworth brings magical Cappadocia alive in his flow-motion hyperlapse film for Turkish Airways. The visually stunning clip, which highlights the tourist attractions in the region, took six weeks to shoot over the course of two months and two seasons. The effortless blending of multiple photography techniques and precise After Effects work culminates in a breathtaking finished product which pushes boundaries and leaves no doubt as to why Whitworth's videos have over 9 million online views.

How To Shoot A Milky Way Time-lapse

If you’ve ever wondered how the heck to photograph, much less create, a time-lapse of the Milky Way; this video by Rhino Camera Gear explains the process in great detail.

The Best Piece of Equipment To Improve Your Star Photography

Improving night photography is an ever closing gap riddled with tech-tips, tricks, and expensive gear. The Star Adventurer by Sky Watcher-USA seeks to be the reasonably, all-in-one option to improve your starscape photography. The built-in tracking head and accompanying accessories are the perfect companion to viewing and photographing the night’s sky.

U.S. Election Have You Down? Watch This 10K Panoramic Time-Lapse of L.A. Instead

What do you get when you combine over two years of shooting, extensive location-scouting, two Canon 5D Mark III cameras, and a very ambitious time-lapse photographer? You get just over six minutes of breathtaking panoramic time-lapse footage coming in at a remarkable 10K by 4K resolution. If this amazing time-lapse video from Photographer Joe Capra doesn't take your mind off of the election for a few minutes, nothing will.

A First Glance at the Syrp Pan/Tilt Bracket

I always enjoy a good time-lapse. Making them is a hobby of mine, as I love getting to relax and work at the same time. Leaving your camera stuck on a tripod or Gorillapod doesn't always give you the most dynamic shot I've found. Fortunately, there are ways to add some depth to your time-lapse film without having to lug around several backpacks worth of gear. One such device would be the Syrp Pan/Tilt Bracket.

Nature Meets Modern Architecture in Stunning Time-lapse

A transportive time-lapse is something that never gets old, particularly when it looks and sounds as elegant as a waking dream. Forcibly poetic diction to describe lengthy slider moves and dramatically shifting clouds, perhaps. However, it’s hard to ignore the feeling you’ll get when you take this trip to Døvrefjell, a mountain in Norway that never looked more serene.

Astro Core Makes Time-Lapse Photography Easy

When it comes to time-lapse photography, there are a great number of items available for you to do just that. In fact you can head over to B&H Photo to really see just how many options there are. Most are fairly simple to use and come with some sort of remote allowing you to set the path and duration of your pass. Some are intuitive, others aren't as simple between setting keyframes, setting durations, or in some extreme examples, using a different module for each axis and having to program each independently in order to achieve a multi-dimensional movement. How much simpler would it be though if you could draw your intended path for your time-lapse and have it up and running in a matter of a minute or two?

Stunning Stop Motion Film Is Out of This World With Handmade Cosmos

Lately, I've found myself watching lots of stop motion films. It's something I've always wanted to try (I've tried very simple things thanks to Vine), but never really dove into. Now, after watching "Infinitude," my head is spinning at the possibilities of what you can create with stop motion.

Kubo and the Two Strings: Behind the Scenes On How Stop Motion Animation Works in 2016

Stop motion animation is by far one of the most forgotten mediums for filmmaking, yet it holds high respect for what it is and how it's done in large motion pictures today. Those pushing the envelope in 2016 are the geniuses behind Laika Studios where they blended hand crafted puppets, CGI, and 3D printing to build a world filled with imagination and story.

The Prisma App and Time-Lapse Videos

Most of us are familiar with Drew Geraci’s work even if we don't recognize his name. Geraci is the owner of District 7 Media and is the man behind the time-lapse material seen in the opening sequences of Netflix’s House of Cards, PBS's Frontline, and three NFL's Superbowls. As one of the most talented and influential time-lapse producers in the industry, Geraci again pushes boundaries with “China: A Prisma Tale,” a motion time-lapse processed within the Prisma App.

Budapest Captured From Day to Night in One Shot

Photographer Greg Florent has made images that capture Budapest in a new light. The images are made by taking them at the transition of daylight into sunset and then nighttime until the lights come on and the city's evening starts. He spends around four hours at a location taking one shot, making sure he gets the whole transition and changes of light to produce the images in post.

A Time-lapse Cinemagraph Made With 12 Images

This Cinemagraph time-lapse was made using only 12 JPEG images. The software allows photographers to create motion within a static photograph. You need to upload each image to the website, and then you design the movement within each image. Once you get a moving image "flowing" you can render it out and import it into Adobe Premiere Pro to create the final time-lapse.

NASA Releases a Time-Lapse One Year and One Million Miles in the Making

NASA's aptly named EPIC (Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera) camera sits about one million miles from our planet, where it uses an array of sensors to monitor and provide observations of cloud heights, aerosols, vegetation growth, and the state of ozone in the atmosphere. It also provides some pretty neat images of Earth, which NASA has assembled into a year-long time-lapse.

Filming Documentary Projects: For Friends or Clients

Documentary videos have always been there to grab my attention. These short, yet powerful videos can really pull you in, making you want to know more about what you're watching. I have made a few videos like this myself but none that I have really liked until now. I don’t usually like to share my work or go into depth about it, but here I will go over a few things to do when shooting a documentary like this.

The Grand Teton as Never Seen Before in Glorious 8K and BTS of What It Took to Pull It Off

In the latest installment of the “More Than Just Parks” series, filmmakers Will Pattiz and Jim Pattiz journey through Grand Teton National Park and capture breathtaking visuals of the natural vistas and wildlife. Their video series aims to document all 59 national parks through beautiful imagery in order to promote the protection and enjoyment of these lands. After you check out the new video (it does not disappoint), the Pattiz brothers share with Fstoppers some of their experiences and challenges working on “Grand Teton” and the video series altogether.

A Stunning 12K-Resolution Time-Lapse of Los Angeles

Photography changes year after year, but it's a gradual evolution. However, one area of photography that has been accelerating faster than the others has to be time-lapses. The videos have been getting longer, the shots more dynamic where a dolly is more common, and the quality is getting to the point of staggering. It seems that every frame could be pulled and used in a landscape portfolio. Adding to this trend is photographer Joe Capra with his 12K-resolution time-lapse of Los Angeles.

10 Things to Keep in Mind When Stacking Time-Lapse Images

Shooting time-lapses can be a good skill to have as a photographer and as a video producer. I like shooting nighttime traffic. It gives me an urban energy, with the lights dragging over the shot to give an indication of motion, power, and electricity.

Time-Lapses That Wet Your Saliva Glands

Takashi Aizu is based in Japan and makes mouthwatering time-lapses of his baking. He sets up his iPhone 6s, and documents the process and reaction of the specific dough to become breads, croissants, or baguettes. We often take the beauty of the croissant we get at Starbucks for granted, but here we can actually see how much knowledge, patience, and effort goes into baking and what the process looks like when you get it fresh and hot out of the oven. It’s a simple process concept, but he has over 25,000 followers on Instagram, and his baking is obviously rated as very good in Japan.

'Patience' - The Power and Versatility of Time-lapse in One Video

Time-lapse videos are everywhere nowadays. You can see them in everything from Hollywood blockbusters, to educational documentaries, to that one weird guy's YouTube channel showing the most random things in a time-lapse format. Well done time-lapses should definitely be appreciated as, make no mistake, they are works of art in their own right.

An Explosively Paced Time-lapse Filmed Around the World

Now that so many camera manufacturers are building time-lapse functions right into cameras, there are countless time-lapse films floating around the Internet. There are two things that make or break a time-lapse: the visuals and the editing. There's not much else to worry about seeing as time-lapse is so easy to shoot now.

How Every Photographer Can Use Vertical Video to Their Advantage

Video is something I have begun to play with over the last few weeks in the form of a vlog on YouTube, but as you might know it's difficult to gain that organic reach you're used to on social platforms. That doesn't mean its impossible, but by using various other channels to advertise and push them to that new content is key in today's world. That is where vertical video comes in on Instagram! Yes, it might be annoying as hell to see yet another vertical video, but hold tight as I walk you through why this is a brilliant place to use it and also how you can do it yourself.

Introducing 3D Light Painting Called 'Holopainting'

Light painting is a rite of passage in photography these days, like landscapes, macro, or starting a shoot with your lens cap on. In fact, it has become such a trend in the photography world that it has already become jaded and stale to a large extent. That's not to say there aren't still fantastic light painted images, but rather that it has become so easy to do that there's an abundance of very similar results. A natural consequence of this is people trying to forge a derivation that's fresh and unique, which is exactly what FilmSpektakel has done.

'Game of Thrones' Intro Recreated Using Time-Lapse of Mold

How would you feel if photographer Nick Lariontsev took the "Game of Thrones" intro song and replaced the sequence with his own time-lapse footage of fungi and mold? Let me tell you it would be awesome. I can definitely watch this over and over again.

Setting Up a Motion Day-to-Night Traffic Photo Time-Lapse

Photographer Mark Thorpe has made a major course change with his move to Japan, replacing wide open spaces, wildlife, and amazing scenes for the bright lights and sometimes claustrophobic life of mega cities. He's replaced his award-winning images of mass migrations and underwater beauty with his new challenge to document vibrant cityscapes through time-lapse photography and shares his knowledge with other photographers in this new video tutorial.

Five Tips to Start Making Time-Lapses

One of the greatest ways to show the passage of time is with a time-lapse. A time-lapse is essentially a series of still images taken of a single subject over any given period of time (minutes, to hours, to even days), and then played back quickly to form a video. The usage of stills is really important. A common misconception is that a time-lapse is just sped-up video. While you could do this, there are issues with battery life, overheating, and storage space. With stills, you have the advantage of raw recording, better battery life, and far more storage space.

5 Tips for Shooting Environmental Portraits in Tight Spaces

One of the most exhilarating aspects of environmental portraiture, especially when out on assignment, is that you never quite know what your shooting environment is going to look like. If I had a nickel for every time I walked into an awesome location, only to be quickly shuttled off to a closet-like space to do my work... Well, I'd be able to buy a sandwich. But a really nice sandwich. Here are some tips that may save your sanity while trying to compose an interesting portrait in a postage stamp sized room.

A Visual Year in Under Two Minutes

This incredible year-long project by the 70 photojournalism students of Rochester Institute of Technology plays to the depths of photography in light, movement, emotion, and connection — Ideas laid out in short photographic bursts that create tangible emotions for the viewer to experience alongside the subjects in the photographs. In under two minutes we see nearly 100 stories, each on the screen for a second or less.

What Sets Sony Apart In The Video World

If you began shooting video within the last five to eight years, it's quite likely that you rode the "5D Mark II wave." Maybe you didn't own a 5D, and still don't, but that camera revolutionized the world of video production forever. Not only did that camera enable many "budget" filmmakers to make top notch content, it inspired almost every manufacturer to begin shoving video into every camera they could. No longer was it necessary to buy a dedicated video camera to create motion pictures. While I will certainly credit Canon with originally bringing professional video capability to the masses, I have to hand it to Sony for rocketing "DLSR video" to another level entirely.

The Quickest, Easiest DIY OSMO Tripod Mount for Less Than $12

The DJI OSMO is a great tool for stabilizing your footage in a cinematic way. It is sure to increase your video’s production value. It can shoot 4K at 30fps, and you can even increase the frame rate to slow it down quite considerably. You can also shoot time-lapses or intervals, and if you move through an area while doing so, you will get the a very smooth, esthetically pleasing footage.

An 8K Time-lapse of Patagonia

If there’s one thing you can rely on us photographers for, it’s bleeding every last drop of quality out of our work. We feverishly pursue clarity like a commission-only ophthalmologist and over the last couple of years, time-lapse photography has been the most blatant exhibition of this.

Hello Tokyo: How the Edits Were Done

I recently came across this video by Christoph Galep and was very impressed by the editing thereof. The transitions between shots and the slowing down and speeding up of the time-lapse provided a good energy to the video, something a simple cut edit isn’t able to do.

Star Trail Processing and Six Tips that will Boost your Night Photography Skills

You're about to become better at post-processing! Raiatea Arcuri, a landscape photographer from Hawaii, has an impressive portfolio. I was pleased to learn that he also shares some of his secrets to processing his landscapes. Arcuri teaches you how to process a stack of images shot at night to create a wonderful star trail nightscape using Lightroom and Photoshop, and I will share some additional tips to help you achieve stunning star trails.

Aurorae From Space: NASA Just Won the Time-lapse Game

I've been feeling pretty cool lately. I've been making some time-lapses and doing a lot of aerial work. It's hard not to feel cool when you're taking shots from 300 feet in the air. Then, NASA came along and made a time-lapse 250 miles up in space. I no longer feel cool.

New Intervalometer Allows for Auto-Ramping and Live Previews of Time-lapses

Capturing a good time-lapse requires patience and precision. Normalizing exposure in changing lighting conditions is an intricate task. Similarly, knowing how your final product is shaping up during the process is difficult. One company is seeking to solve both those problems with one device.

Syrp's Genie Mini Is the Best Time-Lapse Motion Control Device That'll Always Be With You

Helped by great design, marketing, and a superb product to boot, Syrp’s motorized time-lapse aid, the Genie, became incredibly popular with photographers. As the product that launched the company on Kickstarter three years ago, it was a premium offering, though. And sometimes, it’s useful to have something fantastic in a “light” version. Enter the Genie Mini.