Improving Time-Lapse?

[daveShorty]

Hi,
I've been tinkering with some time-lapse and hoping to be able to improve.

Here's a still I shot



And the video can be found here;
Adelaide Sunset Time-Lapse on Vimeo

My main problem at the moment (as I see though I hope to have more pointed out) is adjusting the exposure smoothly. There are quite a few pops in exposure when I chose to adjust it, I can think of ways around it but none are as hassle free as I'd like.
I'm not shooting raw, or even 4k, just 2k jpegs and then using the image sequence right out of the camera (optimistically lazy I know).
Ideally I'd like to be able to ramp the exposure time up by finer increments than my nikon D90 will allow, -I'm yet to find a way how.

Other things I'm thinking;
-Bracket 3 jpegs renumber and fade between sequences.
-Adjust exposure and adjust in post, if done at one clean point to match one frame onto the other I could ramp up to it or out of it.
-Accept that shot as over reframe, remeter and start a new shot.
-Allow the auto iso to have a shot at it, not really reliable enough.
--Any of the above in raw and accept having to mess with then afterwards.

Has anyone more brains on this?

Thanks,

-Dave Short

[Edsport]

I used Lightroom "Fill" option and a bit of dodge in photoshop.

Click on image...

[BBenson]

Some nice shots, but yes the sequence hiccups a bit. A few suggestions.

Cut your movie into 2, 1 for each scene, until you've got longer sequences. In the initial sequence, don't shift view part way thru - frame it up as you want for the whole sequence (or shift it smoothly throughout, not just once, much harder).

As for exposures, you've got some choices. With a DSLR I usually shoot time lapse on manual, no changes during the sequence, darkens things out sooner. Have shot a couple with a P&S that auto fixes from shot to shot, darkens things out later, maintains detail a bit longer. There are of course choices in between, make any changes smoothly so they aren't visually obvious shot to shot

To get rid of the visual jumps in the sequence, watch a couple of things. Either shoot uniformly (above) or change settings smoothly. If you post any of the shots, post them all using exactly the same settings, no Auto fix stuff.

Remember the objective is to control the light. And in time lapse you have to control its visual perception from frame to frame to tell whatever story you're after. Have fun working thru the possibilities

Bob

[daveShorty]

Thanks for the thoughts and the touchup.
I was shooting full manual, the pops are me adjusting the exposure, nothing automated, unfortunately that's the finest incraments I can do on camera. The move I knew was dodgy, but was more interested in getting some more sun and seeing how it looked, first attempt sunset and all. I hadn't scouted the area, just went for a drive to see if I could find a good spot.

Thanks again,

-Dave Short