Take a Pitchure

Since purchasing my DSLR camera last year, I've been having a play with some different photography techniques, including long-exposure, light-painting, motion photography, and HDR composition. After an educational crash course in photography with a friend, Dennis Advani, who in a former life was a scientific photographer, I've been honing my skills and trying new techniques.

n<p> nAfter impatiently waiting for new kit that I purchased for the camera, which included an adjustable neutral density filter and a digital shutter remote, I stumbled upon the Canon EOS utility which can accomplish the same functionality as the digital shutter remote. Not wanting to leave my camera and laptop somewhere out in the wild, I decided to give it a try from the safe confines of our apartment balcony. A great idea for someone who lives on the top floor of a skyscraper, or perhaps on a mountainside, but not so much from our humble perch in Tribeca. Not to be discouraged, I positioned the camera to catch what little night sky we can see, and let the camera fire away for four hours. Below was the result:</p> n
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n<p> nAfter four hours of 13 second exposures every 3 minutes, the camera battery died, leaving me with roughly 80 shots to be tied into a stop-motion footage. I attempted to compose the clip first with iMovie, but due to Apple’s cut-rate bundled software, I couldn’t get it right; namely because when importing photos, you can’t reduce the clip duration below .1 second. I ended up relying on Adobe Premiere to acheive the final result. The clip is a bit rough due to the limited number of clips with which to work, but it was a good learning experince with timelapse, and I can take a more honed approach next time. I’m hoping once my new toys arrive, we can go on a camping trip out in the bush and with a little luck with the weather, capture a more picturesque shot.</p> n<p> nSHAMELESS PLUG: Check out Dennis Advani’s Android App PhotoSuitecase, which aggregates your photos from online providers for fast offline access!