The Timelapse Machine!

The first full novel I read when I was kid was H.G. Wells' the time machine. Aside from figures of the Eloi and Morlocks, what stuck with me was the idea of the fourth dimension: time.

In photography, one can capture the first three dimensions: length, height, depth. These three are sufficient to present a simple story, painted in a thousand words as they say. But if one adds a fourth element the result can be a more complex story that can depict change in a plot or a character.

Taking a video with our camera phones, GoPros and even DSLRs is easy, but taking one that captures a change in a scene in less amount of time has more challenges. First, while the first three gadgets can make good quality photos, the video output won't be that good. Second, doing a fast forward feature on post processing results in even poorer quality videos. The timelapse machine will try to solve these challenges.

The goal of this project is to configure the Canon 70D to shoot a timelapse, a setting that is currently not available with the camera. The timelapse setting is available with other Canon models through Magic Latern and with an external intervalometer attachment. To fully control the timelapse settings, we decided to use a Raspberry Pi with Python programming. A horizontal rail will also be built to ensure that the primary subject in the photo remains in the center of the frame and to create a more dramatic effect on movement.

Here are the materials:
  Canon 70D
  Raspberry Pi 3 Model B
  Bipolar Stepper Motor (EM 295)
  L293D Driver
  Breadboard, batteries, jumper wires

I'll post a sample video once available. The complete how-to will be in another post.

Five Billion Stars

There are numerous posts in the internet showing photos of the milky way so to put a claim that this is an original composition, I'm showcasing the shot with us in the foreground.

A few technical details:

   Camera: Canon 70D

   Lens: Canon 18-135mn Kit Lens

   Exposure: 30 seconds

   Apperture:  3.4f

   ISO:  6400

   Location: Gulugod Baboy, Mabini, Batangas

   Date/Time: April, 8, 2016, 3:00am

I'm going to note that this was the first time we tried shooting the milky way - we are no experts - but here I learned what the phrase "up all night to get lucky" meant. We prepared for the hike a month ahead setting the date with the new moon phase. Apart from the city lights shining in the distance it was very very dark.

At 8:00pm the milky way was supposed to be visible in the South. However at that time it was very cloudy. We were able to take a good shot of the sky with a lot of stars but we couldn't make out the milky way. There were thin layers of clouds and the light from the other campers must have added to the noise.

Before we set camp earlier we overheard a fellow hiker mention that they usually wake up at 3:00am just to look at shooting stars. We took that as a cue, forced ourselves to sleep and awoke at that mysterious hour. When I went out of the tent it felt cold, about 10-15 degrees C. There was also a strip of cloud behind the summit. I was disappointed but we set up and started shooting. Waiting for the 30 seconds exposure, I was holding my breath almost thinking that if I said anything that would add up to the "noise".

Click. Post processing - another few seconds. Then there it was: the strip of cloud that I saw turned out to be the milky way! Five billion stars - these are things worth losing sleep for.