Learning Time-lapse Photography

Over the years I have always seen and been interested in beautiful landscapes and architecture in film and documentaries.  Often times in documentaries these shots incorporate a time lapse to add to the beauty of the shot, visually show the passage of time,  or to just add to the film's aesthetic.  Recently I decided that I wanted to learn how to do time-lapse photography/motion sequences.

Although it is possible to create a "time-lapse" using a camera's video mode and speeding it up in post it is not the most professional way.  I have found that in order to observe motion blur and to perform in low light areas taking still photographs creates a better end product.

What You Need:
-A Camera
-A tripod
-An external timer

Once you find a location you want to shoot you must set up your tripod exactly the way you want it and make sure it does not move.  Next adjust you're camera settings.  (since you are in photo mode you can adjust shutter speed below 1/30 to allow for motion blur).  Next set your external timer to the interval or rate you want your pictures to be take.  The interval you set should be directly related to the style you are interested in shooting as well as the speed at which what you are shooting is moving.  Some general guidelines for hows long of an interval to set are as follows:

1second intervals for moving traffic, fast-moving clouds, and driving.
1-3secs intervals for sunrises and sunsets, slow moving clouds, crowds of people
15-30secs intervals for shadows, the sun moving across the sky (with no clouds), and stars in the night sky
90-120seccs intervals  for fast growing plants
5mins-15mins  intervals for building construction

How long these intervals last should be related to how long you want the finished product to be.  In order to find out how long you need to shoot for to achieve your finished product there is a simple calculation.

How long you want your final product to be (in seconds)

X(multiplied by)

The rate you want to play the clips back (fps)

= the number of shots you need to take

then take this answer ^ and multiply...

 The number of shots you need to take

X(multiplied by)

The time interval between each shot you set

= how long you need to shoot for

An example:
If you want a 15 second clip played back at 30fps with an interval of 2seconds between each shot. How long will it take you?

15 x 30 = 450
450 x 2 = 900seconds (the time it will take to shoot this scene)
900/60= 15mins

So it will take 900seconds or 15mins of shooting to get the end result you want.

After learning the basics for time-lapse photography I look forward to employing what I have learned in order to make more powerful and dynamic shots for future projects.