My First (real) Time Lapse

I purchased a Timer Remote Control for my Canon Rebel XS DSLR yesterday and thanks to Amazon Prime, it arrived today!

I could hardly wait to rip open the box and attempt to decipher the instruction manual (poorly translated from a foreign language into Chinese in many parts). I managed to figure it out enough to set up my first-ever time lapse shot tonight using my DSLR (all previous time lapse videos have been shot using a simple webcam connected to a laptop or actual video sped-up!) Time lapse on DSLR = MUCH higher quality!

So here it is – my first-ever DSLR time lapse:

I learned a few things while filming my first time lapse:
1. Don’t move! After I flipped the timer it was quickly apparent that I didn’t want to sit and watch the 15-minutes-or-so of the red gel pouring into the bottom half of the timer while my camera shutter went off every 1-second, so I didn’t. I left the room, shut the door and tried to forget what amazing sorcery was taking place just 30-feet away. It’s noticeable in the beginning of the video that I moved and when I did, the tripod/camera shifted ever-so-slightly and changed the framing of the shot ever-so-slightly. Not enough to make me cry, but my perfectionist mindset knows how to fix this next time. (add a short delay to when the shooting begins to give me ample time to get out!)

2. Use better lighting. This one is enough to make me ill. As you’ll notice (if you watch the video), there is a sort of strobe-effect near the end of the video due to the horrible desk-lamp I was using to light this scene. I will never use that lamp for anything other than bedtime reading again.

3. Compiling takes time. Compressing 1644 images into an HD-friendly video via QuickTime took longer than I expected. The original file size of images was 7gb, the final video – 4mb. That’s a lot of compression, so it makes sense. I need to plan for that better next time.

So, what would YOU like to see a time lapse of? I’m thinking my next shot will be of me driving – I have an hour+ road trip coming up on Thursday morning – could be the perfect opportunity to give this another shot! Now I just need to figure out how to mount my camera securely to my dashboard.