Winter Milky Way Time Lapse - (Canon 5D MK II)

[zim]

WOW superb really enjoyed the vid thanks for posting! apologies for the dumb question but I have no idea about this sort of thing. Is the dolly moving constantly or just in the 5 seconds between each photograph?

 

[pj1974]

Awesome video, very well produced Harles99! The music and moving images match very well together.

I can appreciate the patience needed in getting to the final outcome. Well worth it!

Thanks for sharing.

Paul

 

[handsomerob]

Awesome indeed! Thx for sharing.

 

[squarebox]

Being a shutter-count paranoid that I am, I would have difficulty putting that much mileage on the body for 1 project. Nonetheless, truly nice work!

If you use magic lantern there is a way to take time-lapse with the mirror up the whole time so it doesn't hurt the shutter. Plus you can just replace the shutter box pretty easily. Just had mine die on me a few months ago and had my camera back after a week. Was covered under teh warranty too.

 

[Harles99]

WOW superb really enjoyed the vid thanks for posting! apologies for the dumb question but I have no idea about this sort of thing. Is the dolly moving constantly or just in the 5 seconds between each photograph?

The dolly moves between each shot, thanks

 

[RC]

Oh MY! That's fantastic ! How about a little Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon next time. :

"Dark Side of the Moon" would make it perfect! 8)

Awesome video!!

I've been meaning to try a time lapse myself but haven't gotten around to it. I'm assuming (and guessing) you used something like the TC-80N3 timer. With 5 second intervals, about how many shots did you have to fire per each sequence?

 

[Harles99]

Oh MY! That's fantastic ! How about a little Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon next time. :

"Dark Side of the Moon" would make it perfect! 8)

Awesome video!!

I've been meaning to try a time lapse myself but haven't gotten around to it. I'm assuming (and guessing) you used something like the TC-80N3 timer. With 5 second intervals, about how many shots did you have to fire per each sequence?

RC - I use a Satechi TR-A remote timer ( $50 on Amazon) basically with 5 second intervals I get a about 120 photos per hour. Each sequence is about 6.5hrs long (with the last 3 sequences being about 7.5hrs) giving me about 800-900 photos per sequence. I shoot more than I need to and trim out some so that each sequence isn't to long. A lot of the original files will be sold as stock footage later on.

I also had to cut out two separate shots because of the lens fogging up, which sucks . So with the two failed sequences that fogged up I was somewhere near 8000 photos in the making.

8000 photos is a lot to take for a video like this, but hey I bought my 5D MK II to use.

Thanks again everyone for your comments, I really appreciate it.

 

[vuilang]

AMAZINGGGGG.... ur patience/skills to top notch...
I always been try to take 1 shots of the sky like how you did in 1 of 8000s pics.. would you mind to share the setting? or give a couple of advices to follow you?

 

[alek35]

Great work, really enjoyed it.

Two questions:
1/ which mode did you shoot in (P, Av, Tv, M) ?
2/ What was the aperture?
3/ did you shoot in Raw or Jpeg ?

Best regards,
Thomas

 

[JR]

Wow really well done Harles99. I was wondering how this is done in another post just this morning and now realize it takes a bit more talent and patience then I originally expected! I will have to give this a try at one point...

 

[Harles99]

Great work, really enjoyed it.

Two questions:
1/ which mode did you shoot in (P, Av, Tv, M) ?
2/ What was the aperture?
3/ did you shoot in Raw or Jpeg ?

Best regards,
Thomas

I shoot Manual, @ f2.8 , in Raw.

Also to add: 30 second exposures, ISO 3200, White Balance 3400K. I don't think I mentioned those settings on here.

 

[kubelik]

Harley, that is a great time-lapse video (good job on the music pairing as well). I found the clouds that wafted through the field of view absolutely mesmerizing against the backdrop of the stars ... something surreal about that image.

 

[Axilrod]

Great work, really enjoyed it.

Two questions:
1/ which mode did you shoot in (P, Av, Tv, M) ?
2/ What was the aperture?
3/ did you shoot in Raw or Jpeg ?

Best regards,
Thomas

I would always do manual for these types of things, and you usually want to shoot pretty close to wide open. If you're in a place with very little light pollution you can get away with much shorter exposures. I've gotten some amazing results shooting at f/2, ISO 1600 for 5 seconds.

I saw the OP didn't like the DP dolly, but I LOVE it. It's super easy to set up and the intervalometer is built in to the controller. You can set it up to move anywhere from .12 inches per minute to 30 inches per minute, or you can put it in SMS (shoot, move, shoot) mode and that will give you the smoothest motion possible.

You can also mount it upside down and get some really cool shots (since the track is no longer visible). This is an example of that : http://vimeo.com/32800222

Sure it's kinda pricey for the money, but it's not that bad carrying it around in a ski bag. I'm just going to ship the rail to the west coast when I fly out there.

 

[spaced]

I shoot Manual, @ f2.8 , in Raw.

Also to add: 30 second exposures, ISO 3200, White Balance 3400K. I don't think I mentioned those settings on here.

Harles99 - I was blown away by your video - truly well done.

One question though... if you're taking 30 second exposures, how have you not got star trails?

Inspired by your pictures, I tried taking some images of the stars a few nights ago and found that above 15 seconds the stars start to trail :-\

 

[PaperTiger]

Looks awesome!

 

[Axilrod]

I shoot Manual, @ f2.8 , in Raw.

Also to add: 30 second exposures, ISO 3200, White Balance 3400K. I don't think I mentioned those settings on here.

Harles99 - I was blown away by your video - truly well done.

One question though... if you're taking 30 second exposures, how have you not got star trails?

Inspired by your pictures, I tried taking some images of the stars a few nights ago and found that above 15 seconds the stars start to trail :-\

It depends on the focal length, the wider you're shooting the longer exposure you can use. What lens were you using?

 

[stefsan]

Wow, well done! I love time lapse videos of the milky way and this one is particularly beautiful. Fantastic work Harley!

 

[spaced]

It depends on the focal length, the wider you're shooting the longer exposure you can use. What lens were you using?

thanks for the reply - now that you pointed it out, it does makes sense that a wider view would allow for longer exposures.

(For the record I was using the 24-105 - taking the photos at 24mm)

 

[ams2d]

Harley,

That is the worse video I have ever seen ... in fact I think you should keep making them until it is decided that you finally got one that is acceptable.



Obviously I am kidding was an amazing video and reading the time and effort you put into it only adds to the WOW factor of the video. Thank you for your effort and for sharing your work. I didn't read (maybe missed it) but what kind of post processing was done on the photos? Given the volume of photos am curious.

 

[Harles99]

Great work, really enjoyed it.

Two questions:
1/ which mode did you shoot in (P, Av, Tv, M) ?
2/ What was the aperture?
3/ did you shoot in Raw or Jpeg ?

Best regards,
Thomas

I would always do manual for these types of things, and you usually want to shoot pretty close to wide open. If you're in a place with very little light pollution you can get away with much shorter exposures. I've gotten some amazing results shooting at f/2, ISO 1600 for 5 seconds.

I saw the OP didn't like the DP dolly, but I LOVE it. It's super easy to set up and the intervalometer is built in to the controller. You can set it up to move anywhere from .12 inches per minute to 30 inches per minute, or you can put it in SMS (shoot, move, shoot) mode and that will give you the smoothest motion possible.

You can also mount it upside down and get some really cool shots (since the track is no longer visible). This is an example of that : http://vimeo.com/32800222

Sure it's kinda pricey for the money, but it's not that bad carrying it around in a ski bag. I'm just going to ship the rail to the west coast when I fly out there.

I do love the DP Dolly. Its a great piece of equipment.

Harley,

That is the worse video I have ever seen ... in fact I think you should keep making them until it is decided that you finally got one that is acceptable.



Obviously I am kidding was an amazing video and reading the time and effort you put into it only adds to the WOW factor of the video. Thank you for your effort and for sharing your work. I didn't read (maybe missed it) but what kind of post processing was done on the photos? Given the volume of photos am curious.

When Im done shooting I import to Adobe Lightroom and make color corrections or noise reduction ( if necessary) then use Quicktime Pro 7 to make a .mov file, then its off to Final Cut.


Thanks