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Snap Shots: by Harry Flashman
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Time Lapse!
Have you ever stopped to ponder on just what a photo is - or better, just what
it represents. In actual fact, a standard photograph is merely one moment in
time, 1/60th second frozen for eternity. The famous French photographer Lartigue
(1894 - 1986), was particularly good at this. So was Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908
- 2004), who coined the phrase “the decisive moment,” showing photography can
give an air of longevity perhaps?
In time lapse photography, you record a series of these decisive moments, one
after the other, all related to each other. This kind of photography will show
such things as the development of a flower, or the butterfly emerging from the
chrysalis. You know the sort of thing - all very National Geographic or Disney
World. Any of you who have seen the film “A Zed and Two Noughts” will also
remember those scenes of bodies decomposing, all done by time lapse photography.
Time lapse should not be confused with time exposure photography. Time lapse is
multiple exposures, while time exposure is one long exposure.
Time lapse photography is probably the easiest, yet most spectacular form of
wall art that any photographer can produce. And you do not need fancy equipment.
In fact you and your point and shoot auto-everything compact can do it.
Now while all this style of time lapse photography sounds expensive and even
time consuming, it does not need to be so. You can produce your own time lapse
shots with any old camera. It just needs a little planning.
There is one photographer who on her birthday used to take a photo of herself in
the nude. This she has done for the past 30 something years and has produced a
time lapse record of human aging. This series of shots has been studied by the
medical profession, as it is the only such record that has been undertaken in
the world. So, if it doesn’t depress you too much, there’s an idea for you!
No, for me, I want more instant gratification than that. I believe you should
pick on something that can allow you to produce a finished product in the sort
of time frame that you could sit with comfortably (and not lose the photographs
taken previously). So let us look at some items that you could do easily, with
just a point and shooter.
Here is one suggestion - buy a rose (they sell them in all bars every night) and
place it in a vase by the window and shoot it at lunchtime. Leave it exactly
where it is, and take one lunchtime shot every day for the next week. In that
time, it will have spread its petals, begin to die, the petals will shrink up,
the stem will bend over, the water will have gone cloudy and other attributes
that will only become obvious when you study the shots. However, to capitalize
on this you must mount the seven shots, side by side, in order from the left.
You have just produced a work of art in a week!
So you haven’t got the stamina for a week. What else can you do? Well, there is
always the record of one object in daylight. Take six shots, one every two
hours, of your house, for example, starting at 6 a.m. You will see how the
different time of day produces different light, the sun’s movement produces
different shadows and again, by mounting them side by side, in order from the
left, you will have produced a work of art in one day!
So you don’t want to spend a day getting your definitive time lapse shots, so
look at taking one hour. In that time you can document the progress of a snail
along a wall, or serial shots of people walking down the street, or the way your
beer glass empties. Just light it from behind with natural lighting to get the
best effect. Probably repeat this a few times over a Sunday, with the final shot
being a glass of water and two headache tablets.
No, time lapse photography can be very rewarding, is not difficult and does not
require special equipment and the end result can be spectacular. Get to know
your local picture framer!
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