Next month, I’m heading out west for a photo-centric holiday including a brief road trip to Death Valley with fellow muse Debra. As you can imagine, we’ve been messaging back and forth about the details: which equipment to bring, how many lenses,  what clothes to pack…and the list goes on. So When a fellow flickr contact’s pictures from Death Valley popped up in my stream, I had to check them out. In the set, was this video (by spieri_sf), introducing me to the TimeLapse App from xyster.net for iphone. Selling for $1.99, here’s what iTunes has to say:

With TimeLapse Express creating an HD time lapse video has never been easier. Set the duration of the shoot, the length of the final video, an audio track from your iPod library, frame your shot, sit back and relax. TimeLapse Express will automatically create a complete silky smooth HD video with captions and a soundtrack, ready for sharing. Really, it’s that easy!

…and it was. Over the weekend I purchased the app, shooting in both the EXPRESS and CLASSIC modes. Since I don’t have music on my iphone (photo freaks like me use every available smidgeon of space for pictures) I added it afterwards in iMovie. Join me as I share several hours of my life condensed down to mere seconds. As you will see, not only was it a snap to create time lapse videos, the entertaining results were well worth the wait! After seeing my results, I hope you’ll consider abreviating your world too!

In my first attempt, I set myself up In the Kitchen while preparing for the arrival of friends. I used the CLASSIC mode to shoot 1500 frames every 3 seconds over 1:15 minutes of time. To avoid getting your audience dizzy, it helps to have the camera in a fixed location. I placed my phone on top of the microwave anchoring it between the salt and pepper shakers (we’re super hi-tech in my house) and hit start. Of course, you could always use a tripod if you have one. The rest unfolded as you’ll see below!

After making jalapeño poppers In the Kitchen, I thought it might be fun to shake things up a bit, and move from a static location to something more dynamic. I created my next video while heading to a cafe where I’ve had an exhibit up for the past month recording both the drive and disassembling of my show. I chose the “Dark Display” option to save on battery time making my screen dimmer, however, this meant I was shooting blind for my setups. In hindsight, probably not the best idea. Note to self: when making a time lapse video and driving a car, it would help to have some type of holder in place for the phone, otherwise you see a whole lot of sky. To spare you 25 seconds of shaky clouds, I edited down the driving portion of our next video.

For my final video, I arranged my iphone outside in our garden early in the evening. If you’re anything like me, you often learn by doing things and figuring them out along the way. Apparently my iphone and I have different interpretations of darkness because half-way through the shoot, my flash began firing! Translation: learn from your mistakes. I should have turned my flash off instead of leaving it on auto. For this video, I used the EXPRESS option setting the final video length to 16 seconds from 25 minutes of actual recording time. You can tell when the flash began firing from the haze that obscures the end of the film.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my first attempts at making time lapse videos, and it has inspired you to make your own. I know I’d love to see them! Share your links in the comments once you get started. If you’ve already made some using the TimeLapse App, or any other time lapse video app, please share those in the comments too. Android user might find this article helpful in choosing a similar app. Finally, I want to leave you with a few tips to keep in mind when you’re getting started:

To Set Your Titles
1. Under the Main Menu, go to “Create Video”
2. You will see a CAPTIONS Section
3. Select ENABLE
4. Set your TITLE

To Set a Delayed Start Time (giving yourself time to get your camera in place)
1. Under Settings in both CLASSIC & EXPRESS mode
2. Choose: “Start XX Seconds After Tap” – CLASSIC
3. Select arrow on menu
4. Choose number of seconds from “Immediately” up to 1 minute

To Set Your Flash
1. Select “Frame and Start”
2. On the right side of your screen in the grey bar, click the “Flash” button
3. Choose “Off” or “Auto”

One last thing to consider, you’ll want to turn your phone to silent mode so that you don’t hear the camera clicking every few seconds. If you have any other questions about the app, you can check out the forums here.

Thanks everyone and I’ll see you in a few weeks!
Holly ~ Soupatraveler