Time lapse from Lake Tekapo, NZ

[alexch (Alex)]

Hi All,

I haven't done wide-field work for a while and was recently presented with a good opportunity to break the drought.
I got involved in a very exciting project – a film crew from Japan invited me to participate in filming of a documentary about Lake Tekapo starlight reserve in New Zealand. Luckily, two nights on South Island were clear and I got some nice footage.

The time-lapse video I made from the footage recorded for BS Japan is here (I suggest full screen viewing in HD with sound):
http://vimeo.com/32815706

The sky there is seriously dark and the Lake Tekapo village manages to control light pollution nicely (being next to Mt John observatory).
You see lights from the village but no light dome even in long exposures. The lights are only noticeable when reflected by low clouds.

Night and day stills attached. Absolutely gorgeous scenery and I will definitely come back!

Cheers,
Alex

[Octane (Humayun)]

Lake Tekapo is magnificent.

Beautiful images.

H

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Some really nice results there Alex, you have this stuff down pat now

Mike

[h0ughy (David)]

lol its been 20 years since i was there - great pics and timelapse

[iceman (Mike)]

Beautiful images and stunning timelapse, nice work Alex.

It's a place I must visit one day.

The first sequence - is that a single panorama/360deg shot that you're panning in software?

And the second sequence, the transition from day to night is seamless. How did you do that?

Brilliant work.

[Liz]

Stunning images Alex.

[Derek Klepp]

Very nice. Any fish?
Derek

[DavidTrap (David)]

Way cool! The exposure transitions are perfect.

Is that an iridium flare in the last couple of seconds?

DT

[SkyViking (Rolf)]

That's magnificent Alex, thanks for sharing this
Lake Tekapo is one of my favourite places!

[gregbradley]

A masterpiece Alex. That Lake is a spectacular piece of scenery for sure.

Greg.

[Stevec35 (Steve)]

Excellent shots Alex. Absolute works of art! Having just visited the South Island myself it makes me want to go back again. It really is a lovely place.

Cheers

Steve

[Paul Haese]

Visually stunning view.

[paulF (Paul)]

Woow ! What a beautiful place and the darks skies look awesome!

[alexch (Alex)]

Thanks heaps for the feedback, very glad you liked it

[alexch (Alex)]

Originally Posted by iceman

Beautiful images and stunning timelapse, nice work Alex.

It's a place I must visit one day.

The first sequence - is that a single panorama/360deg shot that you're panning in software?

And the second sequence, the transition from day to night is seamless. How did you do that?

Brilliant work.

Thanks, Mike. It is definitely worth a visit and being surrounded by mountains Tekapo enjoys about 60% clear nights a year so bring your tripod.

You are right, in the first segment I experimented with animating a 3D render of 360 degree spherical panorama in Photoshop CS5 Extended. It took all night to render on my 8-core machine with 24GB RAM.

I haven't done anything special for the transitions, just set up the camera in manual mode for the night (30sec, f/2.8, ISO3200) and waited for darkness to come and go. I guess being behind the mountains helps to make that transition a bit longer.

Cheers,
Alex

[alexch (Alex)]

Originally Posted by DavidTrap

Way cool! The exposure transitions are perfect.

Is that an iridium flare in the last couple of seconds?

DT

Thanks, David. Yes, I think it was the Iridium flare.

[multiweb (Marc)]

That was awesome Alex. Well done. Bet it was cold there.

[Jen]

woah that is very nicely done Alex just brilliant your work is cheers

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Beautiful!

[Ross G]

Amazing work Alex.

Ross.