Category Archives: Meteor

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

Meteor, Milky Way, Still Photos

Meteor or Satellite?

 

 

 

These 2 timelapse frames are from my latest timelapse “Huelux”. Go to 3:20 in the video to see the timelapse.

A bright Satellite flash or Iridium flare, can sometimes look like a meteor in a long exposure star photo. If you are shooting timelapse, it is easy to distinguish between a meteor or satellite flash in the frames. Most meteors enter the atmosphere at 25,000 mph or faster, and burn up relatively fast at a much lower altitude than satellites.

If you are shooting a 30 second exposure with a 3 second interval, the meteor would have to be burning up for at least 34 seconds for it to show up in 2 consecutive frames. I have caught dozens of meteors in timelapse frames and seen many with my own eyes. The longest I have seen with my own eyes has lasted maybe 3 seconds. Satellites are moving much slower than meteors and are much higher, so they take longer to travel across the sky. So they will always be visible, even a faint trail, in 2 or more frames, if they are within the frame. Satellites are an important part of our exploration of space and they are put together with incredibly detailed technology and equipment like transmitters, solar panels, LVDT’s (you can look here for more information on this), to name a few, so to see one traveling across the sky at night is a sight to behold and we can only hope that it is not falling or breaking down.

In these two consecutive frames, you will see the bolide Meteor in the lower center, and a Satellite in the upper left, and another one to the right of the Milky Way core. This was 25 second exposures with a 3 second interval between the two photos. Click image to enlarge.

Meteor and Satellites
Meteor and Satellites

The Meteor is gone from the following frame, because it was travelling so fast and burned up, both satellites still have a trail. I think it also missed a bright part of the flare on the upper left Satellite, during the 3 second interval between shots. Some satellites will show up in 5 or more frames and will take minutes to cross the sky. Click image to enlarge.

Satellite trails
Satellite trails
Aurora, Meteor, Milky Way, Still Photos, Uncategorized

Dakotalapse 2013 Top Photos

 

 

 

10 of my favorite stills from 2013. Most of these were taken from timelapse. Click arrows to navigate, click on photo to enlarge. Some of these are available as prints here.

See other stills from 2013 on this page.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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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Meteor, Milky Way, Still Photos

2012 – Favorite Photos

Some of my favorites from shooting timelapse in 2012. These were all frames from a timelapse. The timelapse will be out this winter.

Click on Photos to Enlarge

July storm and Milky Way in central South Dakota
July storm and Milky Way in central South Dakota

 

Near and Far – Frame from lightning timelapse in May 2012
Near and Far – Frame from lightning timelapse in May 2012
Late April Aurora in Badlands National Park
Late April Aurora in Badlands National Park

 

June Milky Way at Devils Tower in Wyoming.
June Milky Way at Devils Tower in Wyoming.
A crescent Moon sets under the Milky Way in SD.
A crescent Moon sets under the Milky Way in SD.
Meteor with persistent train – October 2012. One year earlier, I captured the same phenomena, in the same spot.
Meteor with persistent train – October 2012. One year earlier, I captured the same phenomena, in the same spot.
Aurora reflects off a pond in South Dakota.
Aurora reflects off a pond in South Dakota.
Sunset on the White River in South Dakota.
Sunset on the White River in South Dakota.
Late June Milky Way in Custer State Park of SD.
Late June Milky Way in Custer State Park of SD.
July sunset in South Dakota.
July sunset in South Dakota.
The Milky Way turns out better on some nights, this was one of them.
The Milky Way turns out better on some nights, this was one of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Meteor Persistent Train

 

 

 

Bad Astronomer on the Meteor and persistent train

While shooting a Moon set with the Milky Way timelapse near the White River in South Dakota. I caught a meteor with a persistent train. It lasted for 68 frames of the timelapse then moved out of frame to the left. In real time it was over a half an hour. It takes a real bright meteor to show up this well in a frame. The timelapse looks real cool, that will be on my next video. Click the images to view full size. The first image was taken at 9:05 pm on October 1.

See a slowed down timelapse of this on Temporal Distortion

You can see the start of it on the left of the flash.

2011 Meteor with persistent train
2011 Meteor with persistent train

The Persistent train lasted over a half an hour, then moved to the left out of the frame. It is the orange cloud where the meteor was.

Persistent train from meteor
Persistent train from meteor