My first time lapse attempt, what do you think

[Sheiky]

Alright, here is my first time lapse attempt. It is very grey boring wheater the last couple of weeks with more snow then I've ever seen in my life here in the Netherlands, Europe. So taking pictures didn't produce any good last couple of weeks so we decided to build an iglo and produce a time lapse. It's about 7 feet tall and the top could stand me and my brother on it, so it was stronger then we imagined []It's about 3 hours of work into 3 minutes. I know it is quite long, but else the video wan't really suitable for the epileptic between us. To flashy. Shots where fired every 20 sec, 50D 17-55 f2.8 is usm @ 35mm, aperture priority, iso400, f7.1, auto white balance in lightroom.


Probably shouldn't have taken so many shots, but I don't really know. It's also in hd, I upoaded as full HD


Please tell me what you think about it and how I can make a better one next time!





Jan and relatives []


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaepqPRtWro





BTW can I embed the video here? Youtubes embedding link doesn't work..


Some single frames from that afternoon:


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.34.48/Iglo-Bouwen_2D00_796.jpg[/img]


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.34.48/Iglo-Bouwen_2D00_756.jpg[/img]

[Old Ben]

Sheiky, interesting time lapse and good job overall.


I have no experience in taking time lapses, but I think it may be better to try using manual mode instead of aperture priority mode. One thing that seems to be missing is any substantial change to the ambient lighting, which would convey the passage of the day to the viewer. On a sunny day, the movement of the sun conveys the passage of time, but on an overcast day (like yours), changes in ambient brightness will do that. In aperture mode, the camera is compensating for changing light, i.e., increasing or decreasing brightness, and evening out the lighting.


Another artifact of aperture mode (I think) is slightly changing exposure in the picture that is especially noticable in the snow and the walls of the buildings. Again, if the camera were in manual mode with a set ISO, aperture, and shutter speed, the exposure should be consistent.


I am not sure how onewould go about setting the correct manual settings.My instincts tell me that it would be best to set the exposure to be perfect at midday when theambient light is the brightest and maybe underexpose on either side. However,if you are starting in the morning, you would have to guess at the noon lighting.

[crosbyharbison]

look pretty cool, I expect to see one a few months later when it is melting!

[Brendan7]

I honestly think that's fantastic. great job! You made building that igloo look so easy...


One suggestion: I would do it so you take a shot every time a block is added with everyone out of the frame, then once it's finished speed up the transition. It will seem like the igloo's building itself! (have a guy smiling in the corner of the frame once in a while)


again, nice work.


brendan

[Daniel Browning]

Great stuff! I'm glad Youtube is offering it in 1080p.

[Sheiky]

Thank you guys! []


Old Ben, I'll try manual mode next time. You're right concerning ambient lighting. Although it didn't get really dark at the end. The difference is still there. First pictures taken at 1/400 and the last ones at 1/10 of a second. So that's about 5 stops. I'll definitely try manual next time.


Haha crosby, yes i agree it would be AWESOME!! Buttt I'm afraid This thing won't melt in a day or two, so I have to set up some more serious gear then. I'm afraid I can't do it.


Maybe the weather will change rapidly, then I'll try it out...let's hope for that []





Brendan, you're idea is cool as well. Although it would probably take more than twice the time to build that thing. Mainly because we had to fill the gaps constantly. We were working with nice round blocks instead of the prefered prefab blocks.


This way it took almost to much time already...the younger ones became bored at the end [:P] You're idea would be nice for a serious build though. Good thinking.


Daniel....youtube ain't that bad. The quality isn't much different then the original file so you really don't hear me complain. Could have made it MAX Hd 15MP video, unfortunately my computer can't make that of my pictures [8-|]





Ps: All went great for my first time lapse I think, but there was one major downside. Canons in camera auto white balance. If I used that the video would be a lot nastier, thinking about colors.


Lightrooms auto white balance did a real good job though...through the entire collection. Color remains very stable.





Thanks again and I'm looking forward to see yours![]