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This is a continuation of my earlier blog post about timlapse photography that I did in the last couple of months. I strongly recommend to read Timelapse Photography, Part I (January, 2015), first so that you understand what I am trying to accomplish here.
Through trial and error, I think I have finally began to understand what is necessary to get a decent time stack. It doesn't have to be a particularly "spectacular" sunset (like when you shoot in a single frame or for high definition). You don't need a full cloud cover reflecting the sunset. In my experience, it is preferable that there are some clouds, kind of like foaming wave crests on a beach on a windy day. You need to adjust intervals between frames depending on how fast the clouds are moving. Typically, I put 2-3 seconds between frames, and it seems to work. I have seen a tutorial where someone used 10-second delay between frames and it worked too.
For sunsets, I start early, when the foreground is still light and I finish when the sky is dark. For sunrises, it is the opposite. As such, I end up taking somewhere between 450 to 800 shots in a single timelapse. However, I use only a small subset from that number. A good time stack could be made out of as little as 50 shots, but on average I use about 150-250 frames. Everything else is a waste. Yeah, I know, this procedure is not very efficient, but the result is fun!
Equipment: Canon 7D, Tripod, Intervalometer, EF-S10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM and EF17-40mm f/4L USM.
Software: StarTrails 2.3, StarStaX 7.0, Advanced Stacker PLUS 14E, Photoshop.
That's it. Enjoy!
Duck Pond (February 3, 2015) startrails stack of 180 photos. Had to stop the sequence earlier than I wished because the full moon that night (you could see a lens flare from the moonlight on the left side of the photo).
Download: 1800 x 1200
Duck Pond (February 3, 2015) sunrise stack of 300 photos. Just trying to capture timelapse flow in water reflection. Yes, you can capture time-stack reflection in the water but it is a bit more involved than just taking a straight time-stack. When I tried to stack the entire sequence the reflections got all washed out in water ripples. So, I did this: I separated 300 photos in 4 sets of approximately 70 photos each (80+80+70+70), and time-stacked each one of them. Then, I blended the 4 resulting photos. This is the result.
Download: 1800 x 1200
War Memorial (February 8, 2015) sunrise stack of 93 photos. Pretty straight-forward, not much to it. Camera, tripod, press-the-shutter!
Download: 1800 x 1200
Holtzman Alumni Center (February 10, 2015) sunset stack of 620 photos. I don't like this stack and I wanted to show you that too many photos in a stack are not necessarily a good thing. Also, I wanted to show you that I end up with many wasted efforts, so, if your timelapse doesn't go right first time, try and try again - eventually, it will.
Download: 1800 x 1200
Duck Pond (February 11, 2015) sunset stack of 400 photos. Most recent, from yesterday.
Download: 1800 x 1200
Anyway, I hope you like this little two-part series. If you happen to take a timelapse, feel free to share.
