As I said in my 52 Timelapse Project summary, I really like the idea of sharing with you individual timelapse shots, that are not a part of some bigger video. Just some random shots I came up with 🙂 Usually, those are the most interesting, because if I want you to watch just a one shot (or one type of shots) it has to be good. So, here’s the first shot of a new series: Random Timelapse Shot. Actually, it could be shots also 🙂 I’ll do quite similar things as in 52 Timelapse Project, but without any time requirements, like one shot a week. Also, as you’ll see later it doesn’t have to be just one shot. Sometimes I like to make more than just one shot with the same subject 🙂

I will regularly post some new timelapse inspiration on this blog, if you don’t want to miss that (everyone knows how Facebook works these days…), subscribe to notification and you’ll get a notification about every new awesome inspiration on this blog! Just click the little red bell in the bottom left corner.

So, check out the shots and read details below!

There are 3 shots in this ‘episode’, all static timelapses. Two of them are day to night shots. The ball on the shots is a crystal ball I bought for about 10$ about a year ago. For now I used  it once in my 52 Timelapse Project: Crystal Ball Timelapse [5 of 52 Timelapse Project] . Every shot was flipped in post, because the crystal ball gives an upside down image. For every shot I used Sony A6300 camera and Zenit Helios 44M-6 lens. It’s an old lens with M42 mount thread.

Overall I think the first shot of these is the most interesting so I’ll talk about it. I spent an hour on the location to made this shot. Of course, it’s a holy grail day to night shot. The basic interval was 15 seconds, however I speeded it up twice in post, so you see the equivalent of 30 sec interval. I took 260 frames. The exposure parameters were as follows:

  • Shutter speed 0.8″
  • ISO 100
  • Aperture f/8-f/2


As you know (or you don’t so check out my tutorial: Day to Night – Holy Grail Technique [19th of 52 Timelapse Project]] ), holy grail technique requires changing exposure parameters. There are some problems with A6300 that I didn’t solve yet – I can’t change the camera settings using the in-camera intervalometer. And I don’t have the external one yet. There is an automatic exposure in Sony Timelapse app, which I heard is pretty good. I didn’t make it work because I didn’t think, I have to be in one of the automatic modes – in M mode you can turn on the exposure tracking in Timelapse App, but nothing happens during the shot 😉 On the other hand you can lock the exposure in Shutter or Aperture Priority modes in Timelapse App… it’s just Sony.

In the shot I’m talking about, the background bokeh grows. That’s the effect of me changing manually the exposure with Aperture ring on the lens. When you focus your lens on the crystal ball image, the background of the ball is really blurred. Such heavy bokeh is very sensitive on the aperture number. So, when I was opening the aperture – the bokeh grows. I like this effect, however it could be smoother. It already has some After Effects work on it to make it smoother. The aperture ring on the lens let me change the values by 1/2 EV. During the shot I thought I could take another M42 lens with smooth aperture control, however it would be harder to compensate the exposure jumps.

I reminded myself about the crystall ball after I saw this post on my Facebook group: Refraction by Pete Stuart. This group is a great place if you’re looking for an inspiration. Fell free to join us! http://facebook.com/groups/timelapse.hyperlapse, Also, dont forget to enable notification on my blog 😉

See you next time!

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