South Point – Hawaiian Time-Lapse: Production Blog Pt. 3

Lance Page · February 16, 2012 · Production Blog · 3 comments

Channelling the excitement and success of Portland Nights I decided to infuse my annual winter vacation to the Big Island of Hawaii with an extremely condensed and challenging time-lapse production. The Big Island is where I was born and raised and as a Videographer and Time-Lapse Photographer, I owe much of my inspiration to the beauty and diversity of the Island. And diversity is the key word. Not many other places in the world allow one to hang out in the snow at above 13,000 feet and then go surfing in 80 degree weather a couple hours later. South Point – Hawaiian Time-Lapse is an expression of diversity, however, the video doesn’t focus on all the different weather patterns and landscapes of the island, it zeros in on one incredible location, South Point. It might come as a surprise to many people that there are no palm trees in this video, the weather is often ominous and dark and the wind and rain come through like a freight train just about daily.

My brother Troy and I spent a total of five days at South Point over the course of two different camping trips. We worked around the clock using two DSLRs, a tracking rig, a telescope head and a grip of various other gear that we hauled in the back of our rental truck. Time-lapse was the mission. We produced around 33 clips and a large majority of them made the cut. We hope you enjoy and please, if you like what you see and hear, share it with your friends and family.

Be sure to check out our other two photo blogs documenting our production:

Click here to view Part One: The Boys and Their Toys

Click here to view Part Two: Challenging Shots

Part Three: Flash Storms and Long Exposures

Shooting the Opening Time-Lapse
This was the only shot in the video where we used Troy’s 50mm lens to acquire a focused perspective of the iconic South Point sign.

Shooting the Opening Time-Lapse
Just about 20 minutes after this photo was taken it started dumping rain out of nowhere and we found ourselves scrambling to pack everything into the truck before our equipment got drenched. Fortunately the shot was completed just before this happened. And about 10 minutes after that the sun came out once again.

Shooting the Green Sands Bay Night Shot
This is near the beginning of the tracking/tilting night shot looking down at Green Sands Bay and up into the stars.

Shooting the Green Sands Bay Night Shot
Like most shots in this video, I had the MX2 controller on interleave or “Shoot Move Shoot” mode. This method stops the motor(s) between each shot to allow the camera to fire long exposures and produce sharp images while continuing with the tracking motion.

Shooting the Green Sands Bay Night Shot
“Shoot Move Shoot” mode was especially important for astro time-lapse as the shutter is usually open for 20 – 30 seconds. Here I am making sure everything is doing what I told it to do before I went into my tent and collapsed for a few hours.

Thanks for checking out our production photo blogs! Check back soon for more updates on upcoming projects.

-Lp-

3 Comments:
  1. I am obsessed. The way life is accounted for by time, every element is captured in this production… if I was blind this would be the first thing I would want to see. Stunning. – Zander

    Zander Beetge · June 13, 2012

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