my second project
I decided that this project was going to be on time lapse digitally and then a flipbook so that there are two ways of looking at my work. The pictures that I am going to do a time lapse on are going to be done on the app "OSnap".
This app can be set to automatically take a picture at intervals so that I don't have to touch the camera to take the image as it would make the images all be in slightly different places which would ruin the time lapse.
This app can be set to automatically take a picture at intervals so that I don't have to touch the camera to take the image as it would make the images all be in slightly different places which would ruin the time lapse.
researching photographers
I decided to research a variety of different time lapse photographers so that I would become more inspired with what I should do for my time lapse and how the photographers present their time lapses and the view it is taken in.
MATTIA BICCHI
Mattia Bicchi is a time lapse, hyper lapse, architecture and landscape photographer.
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I have watched his time lapses and hyper lapses and I think they are really cool and show what happens in the world in a short clip. I think it is good how it shows things at a higher speed and that nobody in the images look like they are doing anything just for the camera. Some of the time lapses I prefer better than the others in this video, I think my favourite one was the sunset at the end as it was very effective and I love sunsets and how beautiful they are. I like how the images are telling a story.
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Chad gordon higgins
Chad is a time lapse photographer, one of his time lapses that caught my eye was a time lapse of Tower Bridge. This was a 24 hour time lapse and involved taking over 12,000 images.
I really like this time lapse and it really caught my eye with how busy it is and how the image is distorted and changed as the scenes change. I also like how it is zoomed in at some points and not at others and I like how the view sometimes changes slowly. I think it is very good how the time lapse starts by firstly explaining the location as it has the sign of "Tower Bridge" and how at the end it is the sun setting over tower bridge and then into complete darkness. I like how it ends in darkness as it is quite conventional and is also signifying the end to the day.
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Rob whitworth
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Rob Whitworth is also a time lapse photographer, the video to the left is of a flow-motion. It is quite cool how it changes from one destination to another through the sky however I find it quite weird at the points where the camera is following the people. There is also plenty of bright colours.
I think it is quite a good idea however it is not right for my project. |
After looking at all of the photographers above in depth, it has made me think more about where the location of my time lapse will be and whether I would like to change the location of the time lapse whilst it is still shooting so that there is more variety and to show that the camera can move as well as everything behind it.
equipment used
The first thing I needed for my time lapse was a picture producing item- in this case it was and apple product as I was using an app called "OSnap", this app can automatically take pictures in the time intervals that it has been set at and take as many photos as it has been told.
I found it so helpful and it shows that you can do a time lapse at a low budget as you don't have to have an expensive camera to be able to make time lapses. The second thing that I used which was extremely helpful was a gorilla stand which is a tripod. I added a phone holder onto the top to hold my phone in place- this was a great piece of equipment as it meant it was easier to leave my iPod doing a time lapse knowing it won't move. |
Experimenting with timelapses
This is the first time lapse that I did using the app "OSnap".
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Christmas Tree Timelapse from kirsty lewis on Vimeo. |
I was quite happy with the result considering I had to decide where to put my phone so that the tree was in shot, I also had to decide how many second intervals to set it to take the pictures so that it didn't look too jumpy when it is in a video form however I did want it to be obvious that it was a stream of images being shown at intervals. Overall, I think that the video is a bit too jumpy as one second I am on one side of the tree crouching down, the next second I am on the other side standing up. I did this time lapse with images set to be taken every 10 seconds. In hindsight- I now think I would have the images be taken every 5 to 7 seconds. This was quite an easy time lapse to begin with as I didn't have to decide how long to take the images for beforehand. I started the time lapse when I was about to decorate it and finished it once I'd decorated the tree.
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Sun Melting Frost from kirsty lewis on Vimeo. |
I am quite content with this time lapse as you see the frost melting off on the summer house however I started the time lapse a bit too early as quite a lot of it is of just cars and people passing in the background before the sun has even started melting the frost off the roof of the summer house.However, under later inspection I realised that you can see the shadow of the house onto the house at the bottom of the garden changing shape and slowly getting smaller and smaller. Although I don't think there is enough happening to make the first 12 seconds worth being there as people may loose interest before anything is happening. Next time, I will have to make sure that the sun is starting to melt the corner of the summer house so that there is not a big gap between at the beginning when nothing is happening. The first 12 seconds are not needed for this time lapse. I now know that I should be careful with how long it takes and bear that in mind for next time.
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Sunset Timelapse 1 from kirsty lewis on Vimeo. |
I was quite happy with this time lapse and thought that this one could be used for my final piece as it was a really good sunset as it was quite orange and there were also some clouds going past which in my opinion gives it more of a bearing on time, however someone did turn a light on which means three quarters of the way in there is a line down the centre of the images from where the light reached one side of the image and not the other. In the future I will make sure that I inform everyone in my house that I am doing a time lapse so they should not turn any lights on upstairs as it ruins the image. It also has an image at the end which is completely out of focus which I should not have added into the video for the time lapse as it ruins the ending but as this is only a trial so I can learn from that in the future.
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Sunset Timelapse 2 from kirsty lewis on Vimeo. |
I am also extremely happy with this time lapse as it was not disrupted however I did not leave it long enough as it was not completely dark when I finished it. It was also going quite well as nobody has turned any lights on or off and it had not moved. I did not leave it for as long as I did the last time as the app takes a lot of battery power so I didn't want my phone to go flat and lose all of the images that it had just taken. If I had left this longer then it would have been a very good time lapse.
For my final piece I am going to attempt to take another time lapse of the sunset however also try to keep my phone constantly on charge so that it can be left there for a very long time and take around a thousand images. This would be quite interesting as I would have to start it at an earlier time like 2pm so that it is running for 4 to 5 hours as the sun sets at around 6pm.
For my final piece I am going to attempt to take another time lapse of the sunset however also try to keep my phone constantly on charge so that it can be left there for a very long time and take around a thousand images. This would be quite interesting as I would have to start it at an earlier time like 2pm so that it is running for 4 to 5 hours as the sun sets at around 6pm.
Sunset Time lapse from kirsty lewis on Vimeo. |
This was going to be my final piece video however when the app turned it into a video it put an advertisement at the end which they have never done before for the other time lapses which meant I had to change the pictures into a video myself. |
This is the time lapse that I am using for my final piece, I decided not to use this one as I edited it on iMovie and I should have sped it up a bit more as I don't think it flows as well as it should do. If you compare this to the one above, it shows how slow the time lapse to the right is. |
Time lapse 1 from kirsty lewis on Vimeo. |
My final piece
I like how the time lapse finishes on complete darkness to signify that it is the end, the only other light in the images are from the street lights that are always on at night.
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Sunset from kirsty lewis on Vimeo. |
Sunset Time lapse 2 from kirsty lewis on Vimeo. |
The time lapse to the left is the time lapse above however it was edited on iMovie and has the "Vignette" effect. I decided that it looked quite good and that it is good enough to be another final piece. If I had more time the only thing I would do would be to make the time lapse faster. |
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The Weather Change from kirsty lewis on Vimeo. |
I was quite surprised that I decided to use "The Weather Change" time lapse as it is completely different to the other time lapses that I have already done, it reflects a completely different mood and is much sadder. It is still a time lapse of the day changing to night. It also has varying weather conditions which makes it look better as I think the rain on the window gives it more depth as everything is changing at different times and seems to change the depth of field.
presentation ideas
I have realised that this project is going to be harder to come up with presentation ideas. The first idea that I came up with was that I just present it as a vimeo as a proper time-lapse and maybe have it projected onto a wall.
My second idea is to turn the images into a flip book which is A6 as I think flip books will only work properly if they are under a certain size, however this would entail printing around 500 images- this would use over 100 pieces of paper and I am still not sure how I would put them all together into the form of a flip book. I could possibly hole punch the paper and thread string through it to hold them all together in the form of a book.
I finally decided that I was going to leave it as a time lapse otherwise it won't look as good.
My second idea is to turn the images into a flip book which is A6 as I think flip books will only work properly if they are under a certain size, however this would entail printing around 500 images- this would use over 100 pieces of paper and I am still not sure how I would put them all together into the form of a flip book. I could possibly hole punch the paper and thread string through it to hold them all together in the form of a book.
I finally decided that I was going to leave it as a time lapse otherwise it won't look as good.
My evaluation
To conclude, I am quite happy with my final piece and how the time lapse has come out. I started this project with a simple thought about what I could do that had more of a deeper meaning and something that I really liked and I came up with it being a sunset, this is because I absolutely love sunsets and think although they are quite normal and people photograph them a lot I thought a time lapse would be a bit different. I like how sunsets are a part of daily life however most people take it for granted and don’t think about how important they are and how the sun being in or out can really influence someone’s mood.
I found that the project got more difficult as it went on, at the beginning of the project I was just experimenting with time lapses however as the time passed I downloaded the app on my iPod as well however on my iPod it advertises the app at the end of the video of the time lapse which made it quite difficult as it meant that I had to make the images into a video using software, to begin with I made it with iMovie, however the only issue was that the quality isn’t very good, I also made a time lapse on iMovie using an effect called “Vignette”, it does not make much of a difference from the unedited copy however it is darker around the edges making the sunset look more effective. I also looked at multiple time lapse photographers throughout the project, the first one I looked at was Mattia Bicchi, I thought this was a really cool time lapse as they are all areas within London that I recognise as it makes you realise that it is something that can be done locally and that you don’t have to visit different places to get a great time lapse. The next time lapse was by Chad Gordon Higgins who took a time lapse of Tower Bridge from all different views and put it in one video, I found this time lapse quite interesting however I didn’t want to do something too similar and it is also quite difficult to do a moving time lapse. The last photographer that I looked at was Rob Whitworth, this time lapse is completely different to the previous ones as it is always moving or “following” people down walkways. It is completely full of colour and light which brings it to life. All of these time lapses also have music which I find quite weird as I didn’t really think the music went that well with the time lapses which is why I have not put any music with mine.
Before I took my main time lapses I experimented with it plenty of times, the first time lapse that I did was of me and my mum putting up the Christmas tree, I quite liked this as a first attempt however I should have made the time intervals between each shot shorter, I think it was set on 10 second intervals. The next time lapse was of the sun melting the frost in my back garden in the morning, I wasn’t that happy with this time lapse at first as I started it too early and hardly anything is happening for the first 10 seconds however I should have left it longer than I did so it showed the entire gardens frost melting. After that I did my first Sunset Time lapse and I thought it was going so well as it was a great sunset however someone in my house then turned a light on causing a line to form down the middle of the time lapse and ruin it. It was quite annoying as I thought it was going to be my final piece as I thought it was going to turn out really well. The next sunset time lapse that I did was not for long enough as I was worried that my phone would go flat however if it was for longer it could have been my final piece.
I think I made this project quite personal to me as I absolutely love sunsets and look forward to a good sunset, whenever I see them I have to take a picture as some sunsets are really unique with all of the different colours that you would never see anything like it again in your life. I also like the fact that in a way a time lapse is like playing with time and making the time go faster by however much you like, it is kind of like being in power. It also makes me feel quite calm as it is watching back over something beautiful that has just happened.
Overall, I am not completely happy with my end result. This is because the last time lapse that I managed to do was not a very good sunset which means it is not as effective as it could have been. The best time to take a time lapse of the sunset is when it is not cloudy and it was slightly too cloudy at some points, the sun also wasn’t as bright and colourful as it was in previous time lapses however this was the best one overall for the time it was on for and that there were no interruptions. I also decided to do another time lapse of the sunset however it was extremely cloudy so you couldn’t see the sun very much but it did rain which I think made it look really cool as you saw it start and then saw the water slowly run down the window whilst time is moving faster in the background.
I found that the project got more difficult as it went on, at the beginning of the project I was just experimenting with time lapses however as the time passed I downloaded the app on my iPod as well however on my iPod it advertises the app at the end of the video of the time lapse which made it quite difficult as it meant that I had to make the images into a video using software, to begin with I made it with iMovie, however the only issue was that the quality isn’t very good, I also made a time lapse on iMovie using an effect called “Vignette”, it does not make much of a difference from the unedited copy however it is darker around the edges making the sunset look more effective. I also looked at multiple time lapse photographers throughout the project, the first one I looked at was Mattia Bicchi, I thought this was a really cool time lapse as they are all areas within London that I recognise as it makes you realise that it is something that can be done locally and that you don’t have to visit different places to get a great time lapse. The next time lapse was by Chad Gordon Higgins who took a time lapse of Tower Bridge from all different views and put it in one video, I found this time lapse quite interesting however I didn’t want to do something too similar and it is also quite difficult to do a moving time lapse. The last photographer that I looked at was Rob Whitworth, this time lapse is completely different to the previous ones as it is always moving or “following” people down walkways. It is completely full of colour and light which brings it to life. All of these time lapses also have music which I find quite weird as I didn’t really think the music went that well with the time lapses which is why I have not put any music with mine.
Before I took my main time lapses I experimented with it plenty of times, the first time lapse that I did was of me and my mum putting up the Christmas tree, I quite liked this as a first attempt however I should have made the time intervals between each shot shorter, I think it was set on 10 second intervals. The next time lapse was of the sun melting the frost in my back garden in the morning, I wasn’t that happy with this time lapse at first as I started it too early and hardly anything is happening for the first 10 seconds however I should have left it longer than I did so it showed the entire gardens frost melting. After that I did my first Sunset Time lapse and I thought it was going so well as it was a great sunset however someone in my house then turned a light on causing a line to form down the middle of the time lapse and ruin it. It was quite annoying as I thought it was going to be my final piece as I thought it was going to turn out really well. The next sunset time lapse that I did was not for long enough as I was worried that my phone would go flat however if it was for longer it could have been my final piece.
I think I made this project quite personal to me as I absolutely love sunsets and look forward to a good sunset, whenever I see them I have to take a picture as some sunsets are really unique with all of the different colours that you would never see anything like it again in your life. I also like the fact that in a way a time lapse is like playing with time and making the time go faster by however much you like, it is kind of like being in power. It also makes me feel quite calm as it is watching back over something beautiful that has just happened.
Overall, I am not completely happy with my end result. This is because the last time lapse that I managed to do was not a very good sunset which means it is not as effective as it could have been. The best time to take a time lapse of the sunset is when it is not cloudy and it was slightly too cloudy at some points, the sun also wasn’t as bright and colourful as it was in previous time lapses however this was the best one overall for the time it was on for and that there were no interruptions. I also decided to do another time lapse of the sunset however it was extremely cloudy so you couldn’t see the sun very much but it did rain which I think made it look really cool as you saw it start and then saw the water slowly run down the window whilst time is moving faster in the background.