Time Lapse 4

Time Lapse 4 from Alex Smith on Vimeo.

I decided to take a slightly different approach with this time lapse, I just got a new camera with video capabilities and wanted to try them out, I was visiting my Nan and she told me how the crocuses in her garden would open in the sunshine and close in the darkness. As it was a sunny day with a few clouds passing over I hoped to capture not only the opening flowers but also the change of colour as the sun saturated the garden.


I have mixed feelings about the result. I like that its quite different from my other time lapses which have all been one shot, silent and show cars and lights. This video is more natural with the flowers and insects. I also like the way the changing light as the clouds pass overhead changes the colour of the scene. I don't however think its as good as it could have been, I think a few longer shots shortened and sped up in editing would have worked better but as it was the first video I had shot with the camera I was unsure how much footage I would be able to capture.

Research - Wynn Bullock

I saw this image in a photo book and at first glance I thought that it showed the stars or a constellation map. After reading up on the photograph I discovered that the photograph shows a tidal pool. I really like the patterns that can be found in nature and although I feel inspired by this work I don’t think it will affect my work greatly as my work is moving away from nature, stars (which initially drew me to the image) and patterns. 

Research - Ansel Adams

I was given Ansel Adams’ landscapes book a few Christmases ago and was looking through it recently when I saw some of these photographs. I really like his use of composition with the majority of the image showing the sky, it reminds me loosely of my 2^nd time lapse; which shows a hotel as the sun goes down. 

I like the images and think that the high contrast black and white makes the photographs really strong. I don't think that the use of black and whit would suit my work as I feel that the colours are important and the saturation of my images makes them stronger. Adams’ work is based in west America, specifically California and New Mexico.

This photograph moonrise over Hernandez, New Mexico is one of my favourites. I really like that my eye is drawn straight to the moon, then the clouds and eventually down to the settlement bellow, its like I'm putting nature first. 

Time Lapse 3

This time lapse was recorded on a video camera from the top of the Fletcher building over a period of just over an hour. I sped up the footage and cut a small amount off the beginning and end to make it 26 seconds long.


When setting up the camera in the stairwell of the tower I realised that the lights in the corridor were reflecting in the windows so I asked Jade to sit on the steps blocking the light, I then sat next to her. I didn't realise until I was editing the footage that we needed to be sat a step down to completely block the light so you can see us both moving around a bit especially as the light outside fades completely and the reflections are stronger. 


Although they were a mistake, I quite like the reflections in the glass as they bring another point of interest to the film. I also like the small details in the time lapse, things like the changing traffic lights and the ripples in the river. I think will use the footage and pick out parts of the image that I find interesting to do a separate time lapse.


Unfortunately I was unable to upload the video. I tried several different websites to upload it and several different formats but nothing worked. So I have shown a screen shot of the video.