How to create a TimeLapse with a GoPro and a Egg Timer.

A while ago i picked up a GoPro Hero 3 black edition just for the pure reason that every one had one. I found that it took some amazing video that gave me a different view that i could not have gotten from a large DSLR. So as a photographer at heart i played with it taking still images.  It takes images at 4,000x3,000 pixels (12 Megapixels) and does it just fine so this camera and lens set up its not that bad to start with.
     First things first, how to set up the camera. You go to the time lapse setting on your Gopro. Once you get on that menu it will ask you what setting you want the GoPro to take a image, what it mean is the interval on how often it will take a image.  Right now it will take a image every 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 30, 60 seconds.  here is a little cheat sheet that i use when i want to find out how often i need to fire the camera.

1 second
Moving traffic, Fast moving clouds Drivelapses

1 – 3 seconds Sunsets, Sunrises, Slower moving clouds, Crowds, Moon and sun near horizon (or telephoto) Things photographed with a telephoto

15 – 30 seconds Moving shadows, Sun across sky (no clouds) (wide) Stars (15 – 60 seconds)
 

Longer Fast growing plants (ex vines) (90 – 120 seconds) Construction projects (5min – 15min)

Once you select your time interval that you want. set the camera down and wait. You can also place the GoPro on a egg timer(something that move very even and slow) to create a moving time lapse.  So now you let your camera shoot for about 30 mins and you have all these files on the GoPro and you now need to get them into a video.  This video below will show you how to do it, Please watch and enjoy!

 

Big things to take away from this is that you need to make it smooth.  If you have done everything right and take the images at the wrong interval it will end up being choppy and that is not very pleasant to the eye.  So i try and keep this little set up in my bag so when i out taking still images with my main camera like this one.  I can still create something on the side that requires just me starting and stopping it.

 

So i hope you enjoyed this and i hope that you will go out and try this sometime. At the end of the day i love to have as much media that i can have from one location. Even if it never sees the light of day, i still have it for a later day to enjoy or even edit when i found a new way to edit things.  I leave you all with this video that i took with a GoPro and a Iphone 5s.