Time lapse and fade-to-clack

VideoEditor54321

Member Location: Las Vegas, Nevada Joined: Dec 25, 2010 12:19 Messages: 61 Offline

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Jan 01, 2011 00:51

This isn't really a PD9 question but you all have been fantastics thus far.
Tonight, I shot a mountain over the lake close by as the sun went down 180 degrees opposite of it. It was beautiful and I almost go it but one problem. As the shadows crept up the mountain, the apiture of the camera kept opening up to try to maintain even greyscale/exposure. In the end, I just ended up with a pixelated image that tried its best to keep it daylight outside even though it had grown dark.
Would it be best for me to just pick a manual apiture setting good for the beginning of this sunset shoot then hold that setting? or would it get too dark and exposure before the sun actually finished setting? I want to go back out tomorrow and try again. I live in an absolutely beautiful place; a photographers dream.
This is pretty much what I was shooting but it went sour as it got darker.

I want to catch the shadows creeping across the landscape and the cloud movement and the change in color as alpineglow sets in. Then I want it to simply fade to black as it gets dark outside. I have many places I can just leave a camera running in time lapse on a tripod while I go hiking. Pick it back up on my way in from the hike.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jan 01. 2011 00:55

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James Dotson

Senior Contributor Location: Tennessee Joined: Aug 24, 2009 20:40 Messages: 3066 Offline

Jan 01, 2011 01:22

I would use aperture priority, if it is available on your camera. Set the aperture as wide open as you can and still get a proper shutter speed at the beginning. This will reduce the depth of field, but at that distance that should not be an issue. If you have a single focal point telephoto lens, they are usually faster than a zoom lens. __________________________________
CORNBLOSSOM

VideoEditor54321

Member Location: Las Vegas, Nevada Joined: Dec 25, 2010 12:19 Messages: 61 Offline

Jan 01, 2011 02:40

This is what my thinking was but my experience is with dSLR and SLR. I wasn't sure if opening the shutter wider/for less time would add or reduce pixelation later in the clip as the sun goes away. My camera does alow manual aperature setting but there are only openings it will alow. Very cheap camera. Anyway, I'll give it a try. Dell Studio XPS 7100 Minitower:
Phenom II 6 Core 1075T 3.0GHz processor - Black . ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB GDDR5 graphics card . 12GB DDR3 SDRAM,1333MHz . 300GB 10,000 rpm SATA Hard Drive . 12X Pioneer BluRay Burner . 16X DVD+/-RW . Windows 7 64bit .

James Dotson

Senior Contributor Location: Tennessee Joined: Aug 24, 2009 20:40 Messages: 3066 Offline

Jan 01, 2011 02:59

The pixelation comes when the light gets too low for the shutter speed. By opening up the aperture, the camera can take images in lower light before the quality starts to suffer. You may also be able to change the ISO. Even the digital cameras should have this setting. Mine came set to ISO 100 by default. You can set it to 400 and probably still get good quality pictures. The don't enlarge as well, but are Ok at screen size. __________________________________
CORNBLOSSOM

VideoEditor54321

Member Location: Las Vegas, Nevada Joined: Dec 25, 2010 12:19 Messages: 61 Offline

Jan 01, 2011 03:24

I haven't run into anything where I can mimic faster film but I'l certainly look for it. Should help with pans as well.
You've been a great help.
I just watched the fireworks rising up from the strip in Vegas. Now it's bed time. Dell Studio XPS 7100 Minitower:
Phenom II 6 Core 1075T 3.0GHz processor - Black . ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB GDDR5 graphics card . 12GB DDR3 SDRAM,1333MHz . 300GB 10,000 rpm SATA Hard Drive . 12X Pioneer BluRay Burner . 16X DVD+/-RW . Windows 7 64bit .