Timelapse...

I had a thought of trying some timelapse photography with my Canon 6D, catching the open scene when the eclipse occurs (not the eclipse itself.). Anyone have any thoughts on the right timelapse software to use?

 

Thanks!

Tom McCabe

New Bern, NC

It will take a little planning. In Chicago, the eclipse will start at 11:54 am, peak at 1:19 pm and end at 2:40 pm. The sun will travers from a bearing of 180 degrees to 242 degrees in that period, at an elevation of 60 degrees, peak at 64 degrees and end at 43 degrees. I used the NOAA website to calculate the sun's position, and PhotoPills to determine the times based on my GPS position.

 

You could just capture the entire sequence, about 62 degrees wide, with a 35 mm lens, but I'm going to use a 24 mm lens for a safe cushion. The elevation is so high, I won't get more then tops of trees as foreground. The sun traverses it's own diameter in about 5 minutes. I'm going to use 1 minute intervals, then choose the images which provide the best composition.

 

I'm using a Sony A7Rii, with Sony "Time Lapse" app loaded into the camera. I will need the USB port for an external power supply. I haven't decided yet how to make a composite. (First make it work, then make it pretty.)

 

Sorry, but I have no idea what you need for an intervalometer with your Canon. As for stacking and compositing, I'll share my results. I'm sure there will be many other examples too.

I have had success in making time-lapse video with my Canon 5D II using an inexpensive (less than $15) intervalometer obtained on eBay, although it probably too late to order one and receive it before the eclipse. For software, I used Apple Quicktime Pro to stitch together the large stack of jpeg images. There was an old Pnet discussion on the topic at: Time lapse and canon 5D II .

 

For compositing a stack of images, as Ed is describing, you could just take one photo every five minutes or so manually and use Photoshop layers for compositing.

Edited August 19, 2017 by Glenn McCreery

One way to shoot time lapse on a Canon 5D II or 6D, and is available quickly, is to load Magic Lantern software, which is free and available at Magic Lantern | Home . There are several tutorials for using it for time lapse on youtube. I have installed Magic Lantern on my 5 D II, and it works as intended, although I have not used it for time lapse. Of course, practice using the software before the eclipse. Edited August 19, 2017 by Glenn McCreery

PhotoPills is a very useful app to have. It is available for most mobile operating systems. I noticed that all of the azimuth and elevation data is visible on my iPad, but not on my iPhone. There must be a way to see it on the iPhone, but I haven't found it yet. The data is different than calculated from the NOAA site. I suspect NOAA assumes you are "shooting the sun" for navigation at sea level, and Chicago is about 580 feet.

 

PhotoPills will give you the bearing and time of the sun and moon at sunrise and sunset from your GPS position, That helps you to frame the sun against a particular landmark. There are many other features as well. I highly recommend PhotoPills.