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How-To
September 29, 2015

Time-lapse tips and apps for your Lumia



The video option on your Windows Phone isn’t the only way to capture the passage of time. Be creative and experiment with time-lapse photography.

Oxforddictionaries.com defines time-lapse as:

“the photographic technique of taking a sequence of frames at set intervals to record changes that take place slowly over time.”

There are several reasons why you may want to create a time-lapse—one is convenience. An hour-long video would be rather large in size and transferring it from one place to another could take up a lot of time. Because time-lapses are separate images and not videos, they’re much easier to handle.

Another reason is to show the movement of something that may move subtly, like the motion of the sun or the growth of a plant.

So whatever you’re reasons or subject matter, here are some top time-lapse photography tips:

Use a tripod

GorillaPod-Original

If you want a professional looking time-lapse, it’s imperative that you keep the camera still for the duration of the capture.

To do that, I use the GorillaPod Original and Camera Grip for the Lumia 1020. There are other alternatives, such as the UltraPod™ II and RetiCAM® Smartphone Tripod Mount, as well as many other combinations that may work for you and your Lumia.

Frame the scene correctly

If you plan on taking a time-lapse of the sun setting on the horizon, make sure you take that into account before hitting record and walking away. Realizing you should’ve moved the camera left or right a bit more won’t do you much good once the sun has already set–you’ll need to try again tomorrow!

So start with the sun on one side of the viewfinder, ensuring that you leave enough room for the sun to traverse the sky.

Stay focused

The best image is a focused one.

If you’re capturing a storm cloud rolling over distant hills, make sure you’ve set the camera focus on that area. If, however, you’re capturing a caterpillar chomping its way through your cabbage patch, zoom in for a focused close-up.

Timing is everything

Sunset-Calculator-Lite-and-Sunrise-&-sunset

Capturing an entire day of sunshine is relatively easy by creating a time-lapse.

Set up your tripod-mounted Lumia in an appropriate spot and check the sunrise/sunset times for your location. There are numerous websites that help you with those times, such as sunrisesunset.com and NOAA ESRL Sunrise/Sunser Calculator, or apps such as Sunset calculator Lite and Sunrise & sunset.

Time-lapse apps

We’ve found a couple of apps you should try to help you take terrific time-lapse shots with your Lumia. With these apps and tips in mind, head out and try it yourself.

ProShot – $2.99

ProShot has a number of great features that help you with photography, including an HD time-lapse feature.

You can set how often you’d like to take a photo (interval) and how long you want to take a photo (duration). You also have the option to adjust the ISO, shutter speed and white balance.

Willian Jukovski has created a good example of ProShot in action:

Timelapse Pro – free

Timelapse Pro also gives you a fair amount of control over your photographs, but focuses solely on time-lapses.

Decide how often you want to capture an image, select the resolution (up to 38.2 MP on supported devices), schedule a start and stop time, and add effects to your final video.

While Timelapse Pro is free to use, there’s a requirement to upgrade the app ($2.99) if you want to upload your time-lapse.

Here’s an example of Timelapse Pro in action shared by lewq:

Have you captured time-lapse moments on your Lumia? If you share them on your social networks, don’t forget to tag them #Timelapse and #Lumia so we can find them.

Tags:
photography