Typically the best time-lapse shots require a lot of patience and persistence to capture. What happens when you push those limits to the edge and try to shoot a time-lapse for 10 consecutive days?
The first thing you should expect is to run into a few bumps in the road when trying to accomplish an outdoor time-lapse over such a long period. When taking into account battery life, wind, rain, temperature, camera safety, and a few unknowns along the way, it might be too much. Morten Rustad, known mostly for his incredible time-lapses from Norway, has put together four behind-the-scenes episodes into what it takes to shoot a time-lapse for multiple days in a row.
- Preparing the time-lapse setup and building the camera housing
- Powering the camera for multiple days
- It's Working... Okay maybe not
- Editing and grand finale
If you have the time I would highly suggest watching each of these. To me this is one of the best ways to look inside the creative process behind such a large project. Even if you never plan on shooting a 10-day time-lapse, there is a wealth of information to gain throughout the videos. There were certainly quite a lot of problems to overcome throughout the process that Morten went through but the end result is something unique that his client may not have gotten from anyone else. The question is, was the end result worth it?
Personally doing so much work for such a short clip seems excruciating, but as I said in the beginning the best shots take the most patience. I also think there is some fun in challenging yourself to do something new and being able to do it for a client is even better. What do you think? Was all that time and energy invested worth it?