Santana Row time lapses.

Two nights ago, I was sitting semi-reclined on a padded lounge chair next to the pool, on the fifth floor of Hotel Valencia at Santana Row. However, I wasn’t there to live it up. It was cold and dark, and I was hungry. My last meal had been sushi, around 2 PM, during my lunch break at work. But, these are the sacrifices a photographer must make.

Yes, there’s an explanation to all of this. See, I’m helping David on a video project for Santana Row. I can’t really get into all of the details here on my blog, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to ever post the finished product. Basically, we’ve been commissioned to create an internal video for the company that owns the property. Sort of like internal marketing, if you will.

That is why I was at Hotel Valencia, up on the fifth floor. I had my camera set up, shooting longer exposure frames, for a night time lapse of the cars and people below. This isn’t my first time lapse for this project, and won’t be my last. I created another one yesterday, from the Borders balcony. Well, the former Borders. Nobody can get in there, but we get clearance from security because of the project. Here’s the raw footage from that time lapse.

 

 

I think that it has a much better “flow” than my old time lapse from the same spot. There’s a better sense of motion, as you can see the blur from moving cars and people. The old video was way too jumpy. I’m getting better at this, folks. It involves a lot of experimentation, trial and error.

While I was up on the Borders balcony, I quickly captured some really long exposure photos using my neutral density filters. I love these kinds of photos, and I’m dying to experiment with it some more. I will post a few of those photos shortly.

The original goal for the Borders time lapse was for it to be a daytime and nighttime time lapse. However, my battery died partway through. Fortunately, this prompted the Hotel Valencia idea for a night version, and I’m so glad we took this route. This gives the the final video more visual variety, and the hotel is a key element at Santana Row anyway.

Here’s the raw footage from the Hotel Valencia night time lapse. This was my first real night time lapse video, and I’m especially proud of it. I only wish it started a little earlier and was longer. It’s fine for the project, but I’m definitely anxious to create more videos like this on my own.

 

Time lapse test.

I recently headed to campus to try my hand at some long exposure photos. I brought my new neutral density filters to fool around with them. None of the photos I took were particularly good, but I was only experimenting anyway.  Long exposure is not my forte, but I’d like to get better at it. It takes a lot of trial and error, but the results can be amazing.

My other purpose for heading out that night was to capture some photos for a short time lapse test video. I did this at the corner of 4th Street and San Fernando, in front of MLK Library. I pointed my tripod and camera outward, trying to capture as much as I could of the traffic flow and passerby. This time, I used longer exposure times in order to give the moving objects blur and give the increased effect of motion in the final product. This also gives a streaking effect to objects of light, such as headlights on cars. It’s still not exactly what I’m striving for, but certainly closer than previous efforts.

 

You can see Flames on the right, and Bank of America in the center. If you’re really good, you’ll spot a Mogo truck passing by a couple times.

Time lapse.

I’ve been fascinated with the concept of time lapse for a long time. Do not confuse this with long exposure photography, which is a common misconception. Long exposures capture a single frame, or photo. The exposure time is longer, thus you get items like streaked headlights and such. Time lapse is the opposite, capturing hundreds or thousands of frames, using a given interval. The photos are put together using software, and thus show movement of things over time, just like fast-forwarding a video.

Eventually, I was able to begin to creating time lapse videos of my own. I managed to produce a few that I was pleased with, but then my creative juices went mostly dormant for some time. Just as I started to get back out to create more time lapse videos, my camera decided to misbehave. My Canon 40D flashed an error 99 message on the screen, and was no longer unable to capture any images. I have since sent it in to Canon’s repair facility. I purchased it in December 2007, so I am not holding my breath that they will cover the cost. I am waiting for their response, which will decide the fate of my camera. The good news is that I have a large sum of money headed my way, thanks to tax season. I may end up purchasing a lower-end SLR and selling the 40D for whatever I can manage to get.

I recently purchased a Kodak Zi8 pocket HD camcorder to further my creative opportunities for time lapse. Combined with the suction cup mount I also purchased, I would be able to capture video with this little guy that I wouldn’t be able to pull off with my heavy, bulky SLR camera. The inexpensive little camera captures high quality video and allows for more creative risks. Should I get too crazy and end up destroying it, I’m only out about $100, which is far less than the cost of my SLR camera. In the end, each piece of hardware has clear advantages and disadvantages. I will strive to use both in ways that will showcase their strengths and create awesome time lapse videos regardless of equipment.

Now, for the fun part. Here are the videos you’ve all been waiting for. First, a couple older videos captured with the SLR.

(Sorry, you’ll have to watch the above video on YouTube, because Sony are jerks.)

And here are a couple short, experimental videos captured with the pocket camcorder.