DIY - How to Make 360° Time Lapse Photography

Friday, 6 April 2012

A cool technique i saw to make time lapse photos more interesting is actually really easy. While taking the photos, the camera is mounted on a kitchen timer; the timer rotates as the pictures are being taken.

I was going to originally use an old kitchen timer i had.



But it didn't seem like it would be very solid to attach a camera to and the spring didn't have a lot of torque.
So here's the timer i used. I got it from Ikea, it's called the Ordning. It's great for this because it is heavy and flat.
To attach a camera to the timer i used JB Weld and attached a 1/4-20 bolt to the top.

Then i also attached two nuts to the side. That way i can either take pictures on by setting the timer on a flat surface or attach to a tripod.
Here's what a time lapse video looks like using the timer. I actually posted earlier while making the Pine Beds.

http://youtu.be/l1BHDsWKuSI

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Phoenix Airport Time Lapse

Friday, 23 March 2012

While waiting for our plane to arrive in the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, i made this time lapse video of Terminal 4. I used my Canon S95 camera with the CHDK program running the intervalometer script. Here's my previous CHDK post.

I took a photo every 3 seconds over about 50 minutes. I then compressed the images, converted them to a video at 8 fps.

Then i used Adobe After Effects to add the intro, sound, motion and other minor effects.

http://youtu.be/NPjqRwPS5_0

I used After Effects once before to edit a compilation of time lapse videos i created. The video below took several days and lots of reading of how to do each step.

http://youtu.be/kIdaNc0MPOc

This time though, it only took me a few hours. It goes to show that the first time is always the most difficult, then every time after that goes faster.

Here's my Youtube Channel with all of the video's i have uploaded.
http://www.youtube.com/user/notitlerequired

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Mini Tripods

Tuesday, 11 October 2011

About a year ago, while checking either Slickdeals or Fatwallet i saw this mini tripod for $1. So i bought it. I didn't really use it much at first, but now that i'm doing more with the CHDK software, i use it all the time.
It turned out to be one of the best things i ever ordered for a buck. I use it a ton because it is so easy to carry around in your pocket. It's not perfect, but for time lapse photos or long exposures at night it a necessity.
Amazon has it for sale all the time for $2 with free shipping. It's definitely worth buying.
Then recently i bought the Joby Gorillapod.
It was $13 and it works a little better. It's definitely a lot more flexible for gripping.
They are perfect because of their small size.

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Bamboo - 2011

Tuesday, 24 May 2011

This was a tough winter on the bamboo, lots of leaves turned yellow, overall though they survived.

I'm still not sure exactly what type of bamboo i have. I think the small trees are Canebreak bamboo (the only native bamboo to the US) and the larger ones are Yellow Grove bamboo I'm only guessing from pictures i've seen. The Canebreak bamboo i got in Kentucky and the Yellow Grove i got in West Virginia.

I also have Moso bamboo that i grew from seeds i ordered online. After reading about the different types i've learned that as long as the roots stay above -10 degrees Fahrenheit they should still be alive in the spring.
In the summer i piled lots of grass over the root area and in the winter i made sure to pile lots of snow around the base of the trees to help insulate them.
Here's the shoots this year from the little Moso bamboo. This plant is only 1 year old and probably will never be very big. Down in Florida it could be 40 feet high and 6" in diameter. But here in Michigan it will never grow that size because of the cold winters.

I was happy with how well the Yellow Grove bamboo grew in 2010. I was really excited this year because of all of the roots i saw growing last year. This picture was taken early in the summer 2010.

Around Easter i noticed the new shoots coming up. Over 30 shoots from this one cluster of trees.

This is one of the bigger shoots, maybe 1/2" in diameter.

These pictures were taken over no more than 10 days. You can see the shoots on the left. They will grow sometimes over 8" on really warm days.

One day i was outside and saw ants chewing on the bamboo. I sprayed some insecticide but this is what they looked like the next day.
Because of the heavy rains and ants, not every emerging shoot fully grew to trees but overall this has been the best year for the bamboo.

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