Category Archives: Motion Control

8K Timelapse, comet, Milky Way, Motion Control, Timelapse, Uncategorized

The Astrum

This is a short trailer of the 30+ minutes of timelapse I shot in 2020 at locations in South Dakota, Wyoming and Arizona. It was shot with Nikon D850 cameras in still mode and rendered at 8K resolution. My past features have aired on the DirecTV 4K channel, a few are on Stingray Naturescape on Youtube.

The Astrum feature may be available as a download in the future.

:30-:49 is Comet Neowise

Music “The Trailer” by Jeffrey Peterson. Licensed through Audiojungle.com 8K footage available for licensing.

SpaceX Starlink satellites are visible in parking orbit right after the Feb 17, 2020 launch in several of the shots. They look like scattered stars that aren’t moving across the sky. Normally satellites will streak across the sky in timelapse, Starlink do too once they are in operational orbit.

1:40 to the left of the saguaro

2:27 to the left of cactus.

2:43 lower left 1/4 of the frame

4K, Aurora, Milky Way, Motion Control, Timelapse

Field Of View – 4K UHD Timelapse

 

2016 Badlands Night Sky Workshops Join me this summer in the Badlands of SD and learn how to shoot stills and timelapse at night.

Field Of View is a compilation of timelapse I have shot in the last year. The first shot of the sunset supercell was done on July 23, 2015. That storm dropped multiple Tornadoes in eastern South Dakota, I was shooting it from central SD.  Other locations in the sequences are Aurora in central, western South Dakota and the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. The Red Desert in Wyoming, Bandlands and Buffalo Gap National Grasslands area of South Dakota. Bighorn and Teton Mountain areas in Wyoming.

You can see the rest of the 100+ full length sequences, on the 30+ minute “Field Of View” feature, which you can download here or the link below. Music on the feature is by Simon Wilkinson at http://www.thebluemask.com

Available in 4K UHD, up to 4096 X 2304, for licensing.

 

Boars Tusk, Wyoming timelapse
Boars Tusk, Wyoming

Photography and Editing – Randy Halverson
Produced by Randy Halverson – Dakotalapse, LLC
Opening Dakotalapse graphics – Luke Arens
Music – “Uplifting” by Nick Perrin – licensed from Audiojungle

Flagstaff Micro Lite Camper while shooting timelapse in Wyoming
Flagstaff Micro Lite Camper and Aurora

Sponsors:
Cheyenne Camping Center – They gave me a great deal on a Flagstaff Micro Lite camper, which worked great while shooting timelapse in remote areas. They also have a great service department.

 

Camera Gear Used
Nikon D810
Sony AR7II
Canon 5D Mark III’s
Canon 6D

Lenses
2 Nikon 14-24
Rokinon 35
Zeiss 21
Sigma 15mm Fisheye
Canon 70-300

Contact for licensing footage, shooting rates or anything else.
Randy Halverson
dakotalapse@gmail.com

Follow:

Facebook 

Instagram

Twitter

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4K, Airglow, Aurora, Gravity Waves, Meteor, Milky Way, Motion Control, Sprites, Still Photos, Timelapse

Trails End UHD 4K Time Lapse

Trails End is a compilation of some of my favorite timelapse shots from 2014, with a few Aurora shots from early this year. On many of the locations, I used my Palomino SS-1251 truck camper from Cheyenne Camper Center, often ending up near the end of some remote trail.  It was shot in Wyoming, Utah and South Dakota. You can see the rest of the 100+ full length sequences, on the 30+ minute “Trails End” feature, which you can download here or the link below. Available in 4K UHD, up to 4096 X 2304, for licensing. 2016 Badlands Night Sky Workshop schedule

 

 

 

Canyonlands Utah Sunset
Canyonlands Utah Sunset

 

Some events to watch for:

The slower moving light streaks are airplanes, the fast ones are satellites. I also caught many meteors which are only 1 frame or 1/24th of a second on the timelapse.
:56 Bolide Meteor
1:01 Aurora at Devils Tower and throughout video
1:33 Two Bolide Meteors
Meteors With Persistent Trains 2:29 very fast and short persistent train to right of the Milky Way, a better one at 3:20
2:43 Final Boost Stage of GSSAP and ANGELS satellites
 2:55 Owl sitting in tree
3:00 Pink Aurora in the sand dunes of Wyoming’s Red Desert
3:14 Sprites and Gravity Waves

 

South Dakota Aurora
South Dakota Aurora

 

Photography and Editing – Randy Halverson
Production Assistant – River Halverson
Opening Title graphics – Luke Arens
Music – “The Last Stand” licensed from Audiojungle
Title and Credit Music – Simon Wilkinson at TheBlueMask.com

Palomino Truck Camper
Palomino Truck Camper

Sponsors:
Cheyenne Camping Center – They gave me a great deal on a Palomino Palomino SS-1251 camper which worked great, they also have a great service department.

Camera Gear Used

2 Canon 5D Mark III’s
1 Canon 6D
Nikon D810

Lenses
Nikon 14-24
Rokinon 35
Canon 16-35
Zeiss 21
Sigma 15mm Fisheye
Sigma 8mm Fisheye
Canon 200mm
Canon 70-300

Contact for licensing footage, shooting rates or anything else.
Randy Halverson
dakotalapse@gmail.com

Follow:
Facebook facebook.com/dakotalapse

Instagram instagram.com/dakotalapse 

Twitter twitter.com/dakotalapse

4K, Aurora, Milky Way, Motion Control, Timelapse

Huelux

7 Comments

 

Storm over Farm time lapse frame 4K
Storm over Farm

 

Huelux from Randy Halverson on Vimeo.

Huelux is also on Youtube below, in 4K Ultra HD resolution.



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I shot Huelux from April-November 2013 in South Dakota, Wyoming and Utah. The weather in 2013 made it difficult for me to get some of the shots I wanted. There were many times I planned to shoot the Milky Way or Aurora, and the clouds would roll in. But that also allowed me to get more night storm timelapse than I have any other year. I was in Utah for 6 nights, it was clear only one night, it was also 95F at midnight that night. So I couldn’t shoot as high of an ISO as I wanted because of noise, but I still pulled off a few good shots in Zion Canyon.The weather was much the same while I was in Wyoming, it was cloudy 2/3 of the nights I was there. But I did get some of my best Milky Way shots of the year in Wyoming, see 1:45-2:05 in the video. The clouds did make for some good sunrise and sunset shots.

On the Milky Way shots you will see a lot of slow and fast moving satellites, a few meteors and planes. The meteors are hard to see in timelapse, but you may see a quick flash because they only last one frame. If you see a light moving across the sky, it is either an airplane or satellite, not a meteor.

Some of the Aurora I shot were unexpected with no advanced notice. Several nights I was setting up Milky Way shots, when I noticed the glow in the sky to the north. In one case an hour before I got any Aurora notification on my phone. The storm shot at 2:57 has Aurora behind it, which was quickly covered up by the storm. The low Aurora on the horizon were often yellow, while closer (higher in the sky) Aurora were green. If I adjusted the yellow Aurora on the horizon green, it threw the rest of the colors way off.

Aurora behind a buidling storm. Frame from Huelux timelapse
Aurora behind a building storm.

I came up with the title Huelux, which comes from hue (a color property), and lux which is latin for light. Some of the Aurora and Milky Way were difficult to color correct, so I spent a lot of time with the hue settings, white balance, etc. during the month and a half edit.

The end credit backgrounds are 10 second timelapse exposures of Andromeda Galaxy and Orion shot with a 200mm lens on an Ioptron Skytracker. You will see some satellites moving through the sequences.

Photography and Editing – Randy Halverson
Production Assistant – River Halverson
Music by Peter Nanasi – peternanasi.com
Buy the soundtrack to Huelux here.

Dakotalapse opening title – Luke Arens

Camera Gear Used

2 Canon 5D Mark III’s
1 Canon 6D

Lenses
Nikon 14-24 with Novoflex adapter
Rokinon 25 and 35
Canon 16-35
Zeiss 21
Sigma 15mm Fisheye
Canon 200mm
Canon 70-300

Available in 4K Ultra HD for licensing, in 10 and 35 minute features.

Contact for licensing footage, shooting rates or anything else.
Randy Halverson
dakotalapse@gmail.com

Follow:
Facebook facebook.com/dakotalapse
Twitter twitter.com/dakotalapse

Still Photos Below, click show picture list to enlarge.

 

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Motion Control, Timelapse

eMotimo TB3 Motion Control

6 Comments

eMotimo TB3

eMotimo TB3 video music by Simon Wilkinson

In 2012 I had been looking for a new pan/tilt solution to replace the buggy Merlin or Orion head I had been using. I spoke to the creator of the eMotimo TB3 Brian Burling about the TB3, and it sounded like what I was looking for. In December 2012 I received a TB3 Orange and I was impressed with it right away.  I didn’t do any real shoots with it for a few months. Then I packed it with me when I went to Australia, a few months later, and it performed flawlessly after traveling more than 11,000 miles (one way) to Western Australia. The small size of the unit is great for travel and it will fit in a camera bag easily. My camera bags were full of cameras and lenses, so it had to go in another larger bag with tripods and Dynamic Perception dollies. So it rode in the belly of the planes throughout the flights.

I liked the TB3 so much, when I got back from Australia I ordered a TB3 Black, which has a few more features than the TB3 Orange. In the Spring-Fall of 2013 I used both of them on dozens of shots. The setup is extremely simple and it can be set up in minutes. It takes me longer to frame the shot than it does to set up the TB3. Setting up a 2 axis move with a TB3 on a tripod, will take 5 minutes or less. You plug the power in, set the start and stop points, set the interval, move duration, static time and ramp if needed.

In the fall of 2013 I also upgraded my TB3 Orange, so it now it has the same features as the TB3 Black. You see my upgraded Orange TB3 in the video above.

For 3 axis moves, I also use the TB3’s on my Dynamic Perception Stage Zero dollies. For that, you will need to get a geared stepper motor from eMotimo. Setup is the same, except now you also move the dolly from end to end when setting the start and stop points in the setup menu. It will take a few more minutes to setup with a dolly, only because it takes a few minutes to move the dolly from one end to the other, then back to start it. I haven’t had any major issues with the TB3’s, only a few minor ones, and the company was quick to get them fixed, or send replacement parts.

The playback of the timelapse I have shot on the TB3, or a combination of Stage Zero Dolly and TB3, have all been smooth. It will add a new range of shots, to your setups.

If you are looking for portable, smooth and easy to set up motion control for timelapse, I highly recommend the eMotimo TB3’s!

Below – Photos of the TB3’s – You may see gaff tape on the TB3’s, I cover the lcd’s and led’s for night shots, and I usually leave it on them so they are ready.

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4K, Aurora, Meteor, Milky Way, Motion Control, Timelapse

Horizons

18 Comments

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Horizons from Randy Halverson on Vimeo.

If you have ever been in a wide open landscape the most interesting thing isn’t necessarily the landscape itself, but what you see coming over the horizon. Growing up in South Dakota the landscape itself can be beautiful at times, but that doesn’t compare to what the sky can do, especially at night. Combine that with the landscape, and it makes for great photo opportunities.

Get the 30 minute long Horizons feature here

Bear McCreary (The Walking Dead, Defiance, Battlestar Galactica, etc) once again helped me with some original music for the video. This time he suggested adding vocals to the mix. Brendan McCreary and his band (Young Beautiful in a Hurry) did just that. They came up with “I Forever” The single is available on iTunes, Amazon and other online sources.

I shot Horizons from April – October 2012 mostly in South Dakota, but also some at Devils Tower in Wyoming. From the rugged Badlands, the White River valley and the Black Hills of South Dakota, the horizons seem to endlessly change. I edited Horizons in 4K resolution and the feature is available in 4K.

_____________________________________________________

tower

Photography and Editing – Randy Halverson
Production Assistants– River Halverson
Color Correction – Jeff Zueger – Spectrum Films 

Equipment Used
Canon 5D Mark III, sometimes with a 2nd from Borrowlenses
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 60D

I used a variety of lenses, many from Borrowlenses

Canon 14, 16-35, 24-70, 50 F1.2, 70-200mm lenses

Zeiss 21, 25, 35mm lenses

Nikon 14-24mm with Novoflex Adapter

Available in 4K resolution for licensing.

_________________________________________

Contact for licensing footage, shooting rates or anything else.
Randy Halverson
dakotalapse@gmail.com
Follow:

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/dakotalapse

Twitter http://www.twitter.com/dakotalapse

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4K, Aurora, Meteor, Milky Way, Motion Control, Timelapse

Horizons Feature

10 Comments

 

 

 

Above: Preview the first 2 minutes of the Horizons Feature.

Opening Scene from Horizons 30 minute long feature film.
Opening Scene from Horizons 30 minute long feature film.

The Horizons feature is 30 minutes of new and never before seen Milky Way, Aurora, Clouds, Sunrise and Sunset timelapse. Set to the music “Frozen White Light” composed by Simon Wilkinson at http://www.thebluemask.com

If you have ever been in a wide open landscape the most interesting thing isn’t necessarily the landscape itself, but what you see coming over the horizon. Growing up in South Dakota the landscape itself can be beautiful at times, but that doesn’t compare to what the sky can do, especially at night. Combine that with the landscape, and it makes for great photo opportunities.

I shot Horizons from April – October 2012 mostly in South Dakota, but also some at Devils Tower in Wyoming. From the rugged Badlands, the White River valley and the Black Hills of South Dakota, the horizons seem to endlessly change. I edited Horizons in 4K resolution and this feature is available in 4K upon request.

_____________________________________________________

Equipment Used
Canon 5D Mark III
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 60D

I used a variety of lenses

Canon 14, 16-35, 24-70, 50 F1.2, 70-200mm lenses

Zeiss 21, 25, 35mm lenses

Nikon 14-24mm with Novoflex Adapter

Available in 4K resolution

__________________________________________

Contact for licensing footage, shooting rates or anything else.
Randy Halverson
dakotalapse@gmail.com
Follow:

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/dakotalapse

Twitter http://www.twitter.com/dakotalapse

 

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Aurora, Milky Way, Motion Control, Still Photos, Timelapse

Horizons Teaser

A few short clips from my upcoming timelapse film titled Horizons. The online short will feature an original score by Bear McCreary. http://www.bearmccreary.com 

There will also be an extended cut, available for download at https://dakotalapse.com

Music is “Nebula Drift” by Simon Wilkinson http://www.thebluemask.com

Sponsors:
Borrowlenses http://www.borrowlenses.com
Dynamic Perception dollies http://www.dynamicperception.com

4K, Aurora, Meteor, Milky Way, Motion Control, Timelapse

Temporal Distortion Extended Cut

4 Comments

 

Temporal Distortion Extended Cut

 

See the Temporal Distortion short with Bear McCreary’s music here.

This extended cut excerpts video, features Simon Wilkinson’s music. Buy and download the 23 minute extended cut below.

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What you see is real, but you can’t see it this way with the naked eye. It is the result of 20-30 second exposures edited together over many hours to produce the timelapse. This allows you to see the Milky Way, Aurora and other phenomena, in ways you wouldn’t normally see them.

In the opening “Dakotalapse” title shot, you see bands of red and green moving across the sky. After asking several astronomers, they are possible noctilucent clouds, airglow or faint Aurora. You can also see the red and green bands in other shots. This video has Milky Way, Aurora, Meteor and Moon lit night timelapse.  This was shot entirely at night.  If it looks like daytime, it is actually the moon lighting up the landscape.

This was shot with Canon DSLR’s as stills, and consists of over 33,000 stills shot in RAW format, at the highest resolution possible, on each camera.

Music on the Video

Featuring two original scores by Simon Wilkinson http://www.thebluemask.com  and also some from his Royalty Free Collections.  This does not have Bear McCreary’s music on it, his music is on this video.

Order Prints and Gallery Wraps

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South Dakota residents must pay 4% sales tax.

All downloads are for home or personal use only.   May not be incorporated into a production, altered or uploaded to other web sites.  For those uses contact.

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The Temporal Distortion feature is 23 minutes of night timelapse featuring the following segments

Milky Way Segment 8+ minutes

Aurora Segment – 2+ minutes

Desert (Colorado/Utah) – 2+ minutes

Moon Light – 6 minutes

Deer Lapse – 1.5 minutes

Fall Skies – 2+ minutes

Behind the Scenes (timelapse of timelapses)- 1 minute

You will see the same scenes as the online Temporal Distortion video. But this was a completely different edit, with the shots seen at full length, and you will see a bunch of new ones.

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The Aurora were shot in central South Dakota in September 2011 and near Madison, Wisconsin on October 25, 2011.

Most of the video was shot near the White River in central South Dakota in September and October 2011, but there are other shots from Arches National Park in Utah, and Canyon of the Ancients area of Colorado during June 2011.

Canon 5D Mark II and Canon 60D
Canon 16-35, Tokina 11-16

Shot in RAW format. Manual mode, Exposure was 30 seconds on most Milky Way shots, 15-30 seconds on Aurora. ISO 1600 – 6400 F2.8.

Thanks to Dynamic Perception for their support, and for making the Stage Zero Dolly, which I used on most of the shots.

I used a Kessler Crane pocket dolly and KC Lite Crane on a few shots as well.

Photography and Editing – Randy Halverson

Music – Simon Wilkinson

Additional Photography – River Halverson

Production Assistants – River Halverson and Kelly McIlhone

Opening title by Gus Winkelman // Winkelmedia LLC  // Contact Guswinkelman@gmail.com for creative solutions

Available in 4K Ultra HD for licensing.

Contact for licensing footage, or anything else.
Randy Halverson
dakotalapse@gmail.com
Follow:
Google + https://plus.google.com/115274420552571826637/posts

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/dakotalapse

Twitter http://www.twitter.com/dakotalapse

Still frames of some additional shots on the extended cut.

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4K, Aurora, Meteor, Milky Way, Motion Control, Timelapse

Temporal Distortion

7 Comments

Temporal Distortion

[add_to_cart item=”1011″ quantity=”user:1″ ]

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Featuring an original score by Bear McCreary (Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead, Eureka, etc) Bear wrote about composing Temporal Distortion here. Thanks to Bear for taking the time to do this!

Download an MP3 of Bear McCreary’s Temporal Distortion on Amazon or on Itunes

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There is a 23 minute long extended cut, available for digital download here.

The extended cut is 23+ minutes of Milky Way, Aurora and other night timelapse, it has two original scores by Simon Wilkinson, as well as some from his Royalty Free collection.

________________________________________________________________

What you see is real, but you can’t see it this way with the naked eye. It is the result of 20-30 second exposures edited together over many hours to produce the timelapse like taking . This allows you to see the Milky Way, Aurora and other Phenonmena in a way you wouldn’t normally see them.
In the opening “Dakotalapse” title shot, you see bands of red and green moving across the sky. After asking several Astronomers, they are possible noctilucent clouds, airglow or faint Aurora. I never got a definite answer to what it is. You can also see the red and green bands in other shots.

Order Prints and Gallery Wraps

At :53 and 2:17 seconds into the video you see a Meteor with a Persistent Train. Which is ionizing gases, which lasted over a half hour in the cameras frame. Phil Plait wrote an article about the phenomena here.
There is a second Meteor with a much shorter persistent train at 2:51 in the video. This one wasn’t backlit by the moon like the first, and moves out of the frame quickly.

Watch for two Deer at 1:27 (look for a quick flash in lower left)

Most of the video was shot near the White River in central South Dakota in September and October 2011, but there are other shots from Arches National Park in Utah, and Canyon of the Ancients area of Colorado during June 2011. The Aurora were shot in central South Dakota in September 2011 and near Madison, Wisconsin on October 25, 2011.

Canon 5D Mark II and Canon 60D
Canon 16-35, Tokina 11-16

Shot in RAW format. Manual mode, Exposure was 30 seconds on most Milky Way shots, 15-30 seconds on Aurora. ISO 1600 – 6400 F2.8.

Thanks to Dynamic Perception for their support, and for making the Stage Zero Dolly, which I used on most of the shots.

Production Assistants – River Halverson and Kelly McIlhone

Opening title by Gus Winkelman // Winkelmedia LLC // Contact Guswinkelman@gmail for creative solutions

Contact for licensing footage, or anything else.
Randy Halverson
dakotalapse@gmail.com
Follow:
Google + https://plus.google.com/115274420552571826637/posts

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/dakotalapse

Twitter http://www.twitter.com/dakotalapse

 

Behind the scenes of Temporal Distortion from Randy Halverson on Vimeo.

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