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Time lapse digital photography
Time lapse photography is a technique that allows to quickly and visually convey
processes that take a long time in real life. For example time lapse photography
can shrink the complete process of building a new bridge into 10 seconds. Although
primarily used in videos, the time lapse technique can also be used in still digital photography.
The idea behind time lapse is simple. You want to capture a change that usually
takes a long time in real life. In order to accomplish that you take photos
either every fixed period of time or every time there is some change in the real
life process. For example you can take a photo once a week to document the
building of a new bridge, or you can take a photo every time a new floor is
built in a new skyscraper. When viewing these photos in sequence the feeling of
the actual real life process and its magnitude is very effectively conveyed.
Time lapse photography is mostly known for such scenarios as the process of
building bridges and buildings or the process of flowers growing. There are
however other usages to time lapse photography that are more relevant to the
amateur home photographer. Here are a few examples:
- Moving to a new home: You can document your moving to a new home using time
lapse techniques. In this scenario it is best to take photos based on events and
not every fixed period of time. For example start with a photo of the house you
are moving from. Then as you start packing take a photo every time you pack a
box. When the movers show up take photos as furniture are moved away from your
house.
Do the reverse in the new place. Take a photo of it being empty. Then
start taking photos as furniture move in and finally take photos as each single
box is opened and put in its new place. Taking the time to take such photos can
be a great way to capture memories for years to come.
- Renovating your house: Similar to moving, renovation can be documented using
time lapse techniques. Take photos as significant changes are made to your
house. Take the first photo before any work is done. Then continue taking photos
as renovation progresses, for example when a wall is taken down. Take the last
photo when the renovation is completed and the house is ready.
- People and kids: You can use time lapse techniques to document how your kids are
growing up or other changes in people you care about. One way to accomplish that
is by taking a photo of your kids every 6 months or a year. It is a good idea to
take the photos in the same place and in the same position as it will intensify
the effect of the changes happened to them over that period of time.
- Your garden: If you are working on your garden, maybe planted a tree or some
special flowers you can use time lapse techniques to document the progress of
your work. Take a photo every fixed period of time, depending on the time it
takes for the tree or plant to grow this can be a few days or a few weeks.
Professional photographers sometimes use special equipment that can
automatically take photos every certain period of time. For most amateur usages
manually taking the photos is good enough. Some things to care about when taking
time lapse photos: try to take photos in the same time of the day and with the
same lighting – this will intensify the effect as the difference between the
photos will be mostly the changes that you care about and not other external
factors like lighting that can draw unwanted attention.
Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran and writes about practical technology
and science issues. You can find more information about photo album printing and
photography in general on Ziv's
photo printing website.
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