Tutorial : timelapse photos and d & rsquo; stars

Several of you have asked us what miracle we managed to lay night shots like those we have posted on our Facebook page. Based on this observation, it m & rsquo; appeared consistent to write this small article, which should enlighten you on the subject.

One of the first prerequisites, which is as common to the picture that & rsquo; in timelapse, is to choose the & rsquo; location and timing. According to the criteria of & rsquo; Hello World Bike, the requirements are as follows :

• No light pollution (city, routes, etc…)
• A time certainly cleared (no clouds or haze)
• An air cleared, which ensures maximum visibility
• In the case of & rsquo; d & rsquo a presence; a lake, minimum wind to enjoy d & rsquo; a beautiful reflection
• No moon
• A sacred dose of motivation for s & rsquo; root out of the tent in the cold

Camera

So often it is customary to consider it n & rsquo; is the & rsquo; camera but the photographer who makes a good photo, there is in the case of night shots minimal hardware requirements. A smartphone will not know how to answer that kind of perilous scene, due to the small size of its sensor.

In our opinion, so you have to provide yourself with d & rsquo; a device with d & rsquo; at least one sensor″ and d & rsquo; one the brightest possible optical. In our case, l & rsquo; apparatus behind these pictures is a Fujifilm XT2 (APS-C) with d & rsquo; a 12mm f2.0 lens fixed. The wide angle is ideal for a scene like “camp under the Milky Way”.

Camera settings

The issue of & rsquo; a night photography is having to work with extremely low light. To capture a sufficient amount of light, applicable d & rsquo; use a maximum aperture, but also to choose a time & rsquo; sufficiently long exposure. Not too long either, the risk that the stars “stretch” (and yes, the earth has a tendency to turn on itself, did & rsquo; forget !). The magic formula to determine the time d & rsquo; maximum exposure before seeing the stars deform as follows :

d & rsquo time; maximum exposure : 500/(equivalent focal)

In our case, a focal length of 12mm gives us an equivalent of full sized 18mm, due to its 1.5x crop factor. So, time d & rsquo; maximum exposure would be 27 seconds.

On setting ISOs, it is based on other parameters (opening, time & rsquo; exposure) and must be adjusted to obtain a sufficiently bright picture. The lower value is the best, to limit noise. For our Photo, a value of 3200 ISO was enough.

To & rsquo; get image sharp, we can only recommend d & rsquo; s the self-timer & rsquo; sure not to move at the outbreak of the & rsquo; shutter.

Tente

To & rsquo; get a picture a little more personal that & rsquo; a simple Milky Way, we recommend & rsquo; add the tent to your composition & rsquo; Image. Some tips for successful integration :

Do not keep your lights headlamp for the duration of the & rsquo; exhibition, the tent appear completely exploded. For a photo 15 seconds, it n & rsquo; is not necessary & rsquo; light the lamp more & rsquo; one second (according to the power of & rsquo; lighting).

To & rsquo; achieve homogeneity over the entire surface of the canvas, scan all the walls with your lamp (in less than & rsquo; one second, c & rsquo; is sporty !). So, the tent will appear in its most beautiful form, with the right exposure.

Another solution is d & rsquo; use an extremely small light source, as pictured below :

Right here, a small candle was placed on the middle of the truck, thereby making this hot, warm light while n & rsquo; not bright colors thanks to its low light.

Timelapse

The first technique of & rsquo; on-off of the front of a second can not s & rsquo; applying to a timelapse, unless you really want to spend the night at his lamp switcher. It is therefore necessary to cover his lamp d & rsquo; a fabric order & rsquo; get weakened lighting. Test multiple up & rsquo locations; to obtain & rsquo; more diffuse lighting solutions.

Once you are satisfied with your photo, you can start your interval timer for the night and see the result tomorrow:

A final detail can cause you a nasty surprise upon waking : the duration of the battery.

Drums

While most reflex cameras widely held battery level road, d & rsquo; others can not stand all night without stopping by shooting. D & rsquo; other, cameras may not necessarily be charged with operating, it is necessary to turn off the power to recharge the battery (especially via USB). So, how to do ?

Once again, Hello Bike World is there for you ! That's our trick (the figures depend on your model & rsquo; unit) :

1. Connect your device to an external battery, you carefully cling to your tripod.
2. Select Sleep programmed 45 seconds after tripping.
3. Choose an interval of & rsquo; one minute (minimum) between each photo for your timelapse.
4. Let the magic happen !

explanations: By choosing a larger interval than the time standby, l & rsquo; device will have time to s & rsquo; off between each shot. Once the & rsquo; camera in standby, recharge s & rsquo; operates, up & rsquo; that the & rsquo; standby unit so, in the & rsquo; case 15 Seconds later. This cycle is more than enough to keep the battery has a stable level of charge, and thus to hold the full night, despite the 600 clichés request a timelapse 20 seconds.

 

retouching software

After importing your photo on your computer, free your creativity to bring out the stars or your subject (ex: try) according to your preferences. In our case, an increase in the brightness of the sky and that & rsquo; a slight touch of color helped make more & rsquo; glow photo.

There you go ! C & rsquo; is (almost) that simple ! You now have the technical tools, you shine with a composition of & rsquo; original and poetic image !