What is time-lapse photography?

Time-lapse photography is a photography technique that takes an image or video at a low frame rate and then plays the image at a normal or faster rate. The process of slowly changing objects or scenery is compressed in a very short time, presenting a strange and wonderful scene that is usually imperceptible to the naked eye.

It takes a group of photos or videos, and then through photo stitching or video frame extraction, it compresses the process of minutes, hours or even days and years into a short period of time and plays it out in the form of video. In time-lapse photography video, the slow change of an object or scene is compressed in a very short time, presenting a strange and wonderful scene that is usually imperceptible to the naked eye.

Time-lapse photography can be regarded as the opposite of high-speed photography. Time-lapse photography is usually used to shoot urban scenery, natural scenery, astronomical phenomena, urban life, architectural manufacturing, biological evolution and other topics. At present, in addition to cameras, mobile phones and driving recorders also have this function.

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Matters needing attention in time-lapse photography

Stability is overwhelming. Be sure to fix the camera firmly on a solid tripod to avoid the camera shaking due to wind and other reasons, which will lead to shooting failure.

Avoid unnecessary sundries from entering the screen. If shooting on the road, in order to prevent pedestrians from entering the picture, the camera must be placed away from the sidewalk.

Prepare enough spare batteries and memory cards. Time-lapse shooting usually takes several hours or even dozens of hours, so it is necessary to prepare enough accessories according to the length of the required material. If conditions permit, it is best to turn on the alternating current to shoot.

Pay attention to the protection of machines. Because it takes a long time, in order to protect the safety of the camera and avoid the damage caused by natural and human factors, we must pay attention to taking good care of the camera when shooting in time delay, and avoid exposure and low temperature at the same time.

application area

At present, because SLR can take large-resolution photos, time-lapse photography is widely used to record 4K standard video. Many TV manufacturers often use time-lapse photography to shoot scenery, food, utensils and so on. In order to show the advantages of 4K film industry and get the video effects of hundreds of thousands or even millions of cameras at a small cost.

Time-lapse photography is also widely used in TV and movies, and its method of squeezing space often shows the artistic conception of the rapid passage of time, which has become the first choice for many film and television works.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Time-lapse Photography