Stargazing with Time-lapse Photography

The result of an exhaustive four-month project, photographer and stargazer extraordinaire Michael Shainblum gives us EXISTENCE: A Time Lapse Project, an truly amazing accomplishment in time-lapse photography:

This video, set to music by Phaeleh, carries us across plains, over oceans, and  high atop mountain ranges, where  we gaze downward at the clouds and upward at all the stars the sky can offer. We see the movement of the clouds like waves on a violent sea.

Under the same dramatic skies we’re taken also through bright and bustling cities, a bizarre contrast to the serenity of natural world they exist within. With steady panning (possibly the most challenging part of the production) the slow movement of the camera glides with gentle fluidity as the world blows by at incredible speeds.

time lapse photography

One of those most striking things is the incredible prevalence of “shooting stars” – meteorites, comets, and satellites, perhaps even the International Space Station, flashing past the Earth with stunning regularity. The cosmos above shine down on natural scenes, on cityscapes, and human activity, and this video never takes its eyes from the skies, always holding focus to the stars – those in the vast heavens above, and those in the twinkling city lights which mirror them.

Like This Article?

Don't Miss The Next One!

Join over 100,000 photographers of all experience levels who receive our free photography tips and articles to stay current: