Show the life-cycle of a flower in a time-lapse film.
Time-lapse photography is the art of taking many photographs over a period of time and arranging them in movie format. The result is a film that shows the progress of a long event, such as a seed growing into a flower, compressed into a few seconds or minutes. Learn the basics of time-lapse photography to create a special project for school or work, or simply to enjoy.
Instructions
1. Select the subject matter for your time-lapse project. Consider photographing weather changes, stars in the desert sky, the remodeling a house or the life cycle of a plant. Plan how much time you will need for your film. For example, you may need one month for a remodeling project or twelve hours for a weather-related project.
2. Decide how frequently you will photograph your project based on how long you want your film to be. Shoot once a day for a growing pregnant belly, every 15 seconds for a lightning storm or a few times a day for a building project. Figure out exactly how many frames, or photographs, you will need to shoot for your film. Keep in mind that the average movie has 20-30 frames per second. Multiply the number of frames, like 25, by the desired length of your film, in seconds, to figure out how many photographs you will need to take. For example, if want a 90-second film, you will need 2,250 photos.
3. Decide if you want a smooth finish to your final movie or a blocky finish. Shorter intervals between shots will yield a smoother finish and longer intervals between photographs will yield a blocky finish. Determine the length of the intervals you will need between frames by dividing the length of the actual event, in seconds, by the number of photographs you will take (determined in step 2.)
4. Mount your camera on a tripod or set up your web cam. Program the camera to shoot at specific times and intervals. Set the exposure and white balance to the manual setting to prevent fluctuations in the photographs. Set the camera to a long exposure for a blurry, smooth scene. Take photographs with a point-and-shoot camera when you only need to take one or two pictures per day.
5. Download the photos to your computer and edit them if necessary. Assemble them into a movie using your computer's movie-maker software. Add music, titles and special effects to add your personal touch to the film.
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