Lift Your Eyes

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So, I’ve been pretty mum on blogging, and even doing daily photos. This little side project is the reason for that. I would entitle this “a vast learning experience” if I was trying to be more truthful than clever. The art of timelapse is something I have yet to master, but love learning more and more about. Newcomers to timelapse should definitely head over to the timescapes forum. You can check out my first timelapse video below.

Lift Your Eyes from Tom Baurain on Vimeo.

All of these locations were in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The only recognizable locations are the ones shot downtown. I didn’t set out with a certain “goal” or subject in mind- I just wanted to capture interesting scenery in timelapse form. When was the last time you sat out and just watched the sunset? Yeah, I’m with you there. A big part of my love of timelapse is it makes me feel productive while I’m watching a sunset, or just watching interesting clouds.

I’d say one of the biggest learning curves for me was just setting the right settings on Manual mode. A few of my first ones were complete throwaways. One huge eye-opener for me was how much of a difference using great glass really makes. Granted, I’ve heard and believed many much more experienced than me on this, but it’s not until you do it yourself that you truly have that “a-ha” moment.

I used a variety of lenses on this, including the infamous 18-55 kit lens, 24-105L, and Tokina 11-16. It’s painfully obvious to me which is which.

I rented the 24-105L and 11-16 from LensRentals.com, an online camera/lens rental service that I’ve been recommended on Twitter before. I had a commercial shoot this weekend I needed gear for, so I decided to try out LensRentals. I must say it was exactly as advertised. The gear arrived fast, and cost of rental was less than local camera rental shops here in Kansas City. I’m all for supporting local business, but if an online service gives me everything I’m looking to rent, plus great customer service, then I’m not going to support mediocrity and higher prices. If you read this and you’re a local camera rental shop in Kansas City, please, don’t be offended – you’re just not advertising in the right places because I haven’t found you.

That being said, I hope you enjoyed the video. Please comment even if you did not- if you’re seeing a newbie error or have good constructive criticism, chime in! Cheers.