Time Lapse across dusk and into dark - how?

alexlyons

Just looking for a bit of advice. I'm planing on doing a time lapse of Dublin from late afternoon until dark, that would hopefully show all the lights coming on etc.

One minor problem, Time Lapses need to be shot in full manual, but obviously the exposure would need to be different from afternoon to dark. Also, if I mess it up, I can't just set it up again and do it, I have to wait for another evening when I'm free and try again.

So what is the best method of shooting like this and getting perfect exposure the whole way through??

Ghost Train

alexlyons wrote: »

Just looking for a bit of advice. I'm planing on doing a time lapse of Dublin from late afternoon until dark, that would hopefully show all the lights coming on etc.

One minor problem, Time Lapses need to be shot in full manual, but obviously the exposure would need to be different from afternoon to dark. Also, if I mess it up, I can't just set it up again and do it, I have to wait for another evening when I'm free and try again.

So what is the best method of shooting like this and getting perfect exposure the whole way through??

dont see why it would have to be shot in full manual, if it's over a long period might be easier to use aparture priority and let the camera adjust the shutter as the light drops off.

Promac

Some cameras require full manual in order to leave the shutter open longer.

alexlyons

I'm using a D90. I did a time lapse a while ago, and the clouds kept blocking the sun, and being on full manual meant you could really see how dark it got when the sun went in. Leaving it on aperture priority means the camera will always try to perfectly expose the shots, which isn't necessarily a good thing in Time Lapse photography

Ghost Train

alexlyons wrote: »

I'm using a D90. I did a time lapse a while ago, and the clouds kept blocking the sun, and being on full manual meant you could really see how dark it got when the sun went in. Leaving it on aperture priority means the camera will always try to perfectly expose the shots, which isn't necessarily a good thing in Time Lapse photography

know what you mean now, guess it depends on the type of scene you're doing

alexlyons

Here's the one I was talking about. I work in the yacht club on the crane and the boats etc, so on my day off I thought it'd make a cool time lapse to see it all happening pretty quickly! Near the end I had to change card and knocked the camera and dial, hence the exposure goes as well as the frame being a bit off. Bit devastated!

oshead

When it gets dark and your camera tries to expose the scene, it will try to give you an apparently correct exposure. This is not necessarily a good thing for time lapse. I presume you want to capture the transition to dark in a accurate way. Then I'd suggest leaving it on manual.

As far as trying to get this done in one evening. Why wait till the actual night concerned to try this. Should you not do a few dry runs in the mean time from your home, out the window or something. That way you'll be able to understand the parameters your camera will need a little better.

alexlyons

Cheers David, your right in your presumption, hence my desire to leave it on manual like the one in the link above!

Love the idea of trying it at home, really embarrassed I didn't think of it!!

Placebo

check out time lapse on this,
is this achieved the same way?

2:44 onwards only.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgoAgYR4584

alexlyons

The space ones are slick!!! I've got to try something like that! not sure I'd get quite the same result as 2:41

Slidinginfinity

Something that might help if you have a laptop is DcamCapture. It works great with my D90, it's free and has an intervalometer.

alexlyons

Thanks for that! I have an intervalometer, and I'm a major Mac head and Image capture which is built in to the OS does that Appreciate the thought.

Slidinginfinity

Ahh, macs...well here is a time lapse I did when I was experimenting with what my camera could do. Not the best but it was shot in aperture priority.

alexlyons

Looks good. You should speed it up so it runs more fluidly, I may give aperture priority a go out the window tonight!

Slidinginfinity

Just remember to turn off the VR (if you have it on the lens you are going to use) and the AF on the camera body. Both cause problems in timelapse.

alexlyons

Just tried it this evening, didn't quite make it to full dark as I noticed the reflection of the computer etc. Proves aperture priority should work!!

artyeva

alexlyons wrote: »

Just tried it this evening, didn't quite make it to full dark as I noticed the reflection of the computer etc. Proves aperture priority should work!!

it may not be exactly what you had in mind, but actually i like the reflections. i'd like to see it get brighter as it gets darker outside, you could do a series of you doing mad crap* inside once the sun goes down, lol.

*fnarr fnarr not intended

alexlyons

Ye I see what you mean, it is kinda cool! but not what I had in mind for that particular one!