Settings
This timelapse was taken with a f8 aperture / 200 iso / 1.3" exposure / 4" interval / custom WB in Lightroom / ProMaster Polarizer (1.5 stops) / RAW format / Nikkor 18-55mm lens set to 51mm
Technique
I wanted to capture the buzz of Christmas shopping. Initially I went to the West Towne mall, there were a few prospective vantage points but after a few test photos I wasn't happy. If the goal is to show a parking lot changing overtime the key is going to be height. The timelapse needs to be high enough so you can see the depth of the cars and movement in the back. This took me to our outdoor Greenway mall on the westside. Immediately when I came in I saw the large employee parking ramp for the insurance company nearby. 4 stories up and it is much easier to see the depth of the parking lot. During the beginning of this shoot it was about 3pm and still bright out so I used my polarizing filter to bring out the blues in the sky. I also lucked out because there was a very large and visible day moon rising over the mall. My first 2 attempts were not turning out quite right because I was trying to rush as the feeling in my hands was quickly going away. The weather channel app was telling me it was 4 degrees out so my hands were numb to say the least. After the 2 failed timelapses I landed this and was very happy with the outcome!
Thoughts and What's Next?
As I was uploading the pictures for editing I knew it was going to turn out great. I actually edited the first 2 "failed" timelapes to see how they turned out. The first failed attempt had some pretty cool shadows that were changing as the sun set, the second had all of the lights slowly turning on which would have been a good addition to this but the settings and framing were way off and I couldn't use it. A huge problem in going from day to night is obviously the changing lights. If I set my camera up to capture a timelapse during the day my settings will be far different than they would be if I'm in a dark environment. This means when it starts during the day and turns to night my night will be much too dark to view.
After I edited this I researched how to correct for this which led me to learn about aperture priority mode. This will let the camera choose the correct ISO and shutter speed for the light. So why wouldn't I use this all the time? First if the camera is choosing the shutter speed I cannot "drag" the shutter or keep it open to get a motion blur like you see the cars doing in this video. Secondly every time it takes a picture it will change the settings slightly to properly expose the picture. This means if a cloud casts a shadow over the camera the lighting it captures will be vastly different. The negative side effect of that is called a flicker, and there are many programs to correct flicker in timelapses. Before I begin to use aperture priority mode I'll need to study up on these deflickering programs.
Overall I'm very happy with how it turned out, the sky is very clear with a good clean moon. The lights of the outdoor mall are not over exposed and the motion of the cars was captured correctly. The 2 failed timelapses in the beginning left me with little juice in my camera so it was not quite as long as I was hoping but after the problems last week I'm much happier with this result. I honestly am not sure what type of timelapse I would like to try to shoot yet so we will have to see what comes up. Or......if anyone has an idea you can post it in the comments. I'd love to hear what everyone enjoys seeing or would like to see!
Still balding but not bald,
-Kyle
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