time lapse photography

Time-Lapse photography seems harder than it really is. All that you have to do to produce a time-lapse photograph is keep the camera's shutter open for an extended amount of time while the subject has a chance to move. With a manual camera, the shutter speed should be set to B (Bulb). On this setting, you can simply hold the shutter open as long as you want to while taking the picture. The key is to steady the camera. I suggest using a tripod.

In bright sunlight, holding the shutter open for more than a second or two (even with a narrow aperture) might overexpose your image. Some of the best time lapse photographs are taken in dusk or ver low light situations. The subject that moves is then represented as a streak while the background has a chance to burn itself on the film over the duration of a few seconds.

Some photographers have even taken pictures over the course of an hour or more. The image to the left of the night sky shows the rotation of the Earth in relation to the stars. The camera and the shrubs at the bottom of the image were both on the surface of the Earth, so the shrubs remain in perfect focus, while the stars seem to streak due to the rotation of the Earth. This exposure was roughly 1.5 to 2 hours if not more.