I have always loved movies! And ever since I have been a professional photographer, I look at them differently. I notice angles, composition and lighting. So it comes as no surprise that I always wanted to learn video and even possibly make a movie someday.
We all know that you just cannot take a giant leap forward. But by taking some smaller steps, you will learn the craft and make the final result better. So I decided to try my hand at some stop motion or time lapse photography instead of just jumping in with a video camera.
Now I needed to prepare. I had to fiqure out the intervalometer (or Intvl Timer Shooting) on my D200. After a short test or two, I was set to really test it out on a final subject. I had to now figure out what to shoot, how much to shoot and then how to make the video. Figuring out what to shoot was pretty easy for me as I had some ideas. The sky is an easy subject by just putting the camera on a tripod and getting it set. How much was not too hard to figure out using some basic math. But I did not know how many frames per second to make it which would help me determine how much to shoot and how long the final project would be. This was something I now know by making 2 movies. Finally, what was I to do with the captured photographs and how to make it into a movie. Luckily, through the internet and friends, I learned of a very simple, easy and cheap solution…Quicktime Pro. If you are interested in making movies like this, I highly recommend purchasing this. A quick google search will give you all the information you need to use this program for this type of photography.
So I gave it a shot. My first effort turned out ‘ok’. Only problem was that I should have had a full battery or battery grip on my camera as the battery died. Rookie mistake!
Tree and Sky – May 2009 from Scott Bush on Vimeo.
I wanted the next effort to have a final product that was much longer. Luckily, the sky and wind again worked in my favor. Charged batteries and then some final post-processing (B&W and a vignette) added to the final video.
Sky Drifting from Scott Bush on Vimeo.
Now to move forward with this technique using story boards, multiple scenes in one movie and maybe even selective focus. All this while working toward a final goal of working with video!
