The Unseen Sea

By
Simon Christen
Format
Time lapse still photography on Canon 40D

A collection of time lapses I took around the San Francisco Bay Area roughly shot over the period of one year.

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Background

I always shooting in manual and adjust either shutter, aperture or ISO as the light changes. Any noticeable jumps in exposure I clean up in post production. I also use a plug-in to help me get rid off smaller flicker between frames. The exposure really varies depending on the shot. For example a bright city needs shorter shutter speeds than darker fog illuminated by the moon. The shutter speeds ends up being around 4-5 sec with the aperture wide open and high ISO settings. This way I take a picture every 5-6 seconds.

I often use a Canon 40D or 5D mark II with either the canon 10-22mm, 24-70mm or lately the 70-200mm lens attached. The night shots take a little while to capture all the light. For example the fog waves hitting the hills was shot at ISO 640, f/2.8 and I believe 4sec shutter speed. As the light changes I just keep adjusting either one of these settings. Usually it’s a compromise of “ok I guess I can tolerate a little more noise, but get to capture more frames… ”.

Analysis

The time lapses in this video have an otherworldly feel to me, and I reckon its the high ISO setting that allows extra light in to create this effect.