More people are experimenting with combining timelapse photography and motion control to create wonderful “videos” using still image cameras. One particularly lovely one is The Chapel by Patryk Kizny of LookyCreative. In addition to some of the nicest motion control timelapse moves I've seen (way beyond your typical horizontal slider bar movement) and a stunning setting (an abandoned, derelict Protestant temple in Zeliszów, Poland built at the end of the 18th century), Patryk also employed HDR (High Dynamic Range) capture and processing to pull details out of the interior of a building illuminated only by windowlight.{C}

HDR is a powerful tool that opens an entire new palette of artistic choices. Do you use it subtly to tame otherwise blown-out highlights and recover just a hint of information in the shadows, such as in the “dust in rays of light” scenes below:

Or, do you use it create an almost-synthetic, dreamlike rendition of a scene that sometimes goes as far as to look like a pencil or pastel rendition, as in the “flatly lit” interior shots below:

My personal preference is strongly for the former rather than the later; perhaps because I also have done 3D CGI, and am used to it being a pale imitation of rich reality – so I am less inclined to want to go in the opposite direction. But I'm not the artist on the piece; Patryk is.

In the “making of” video below, Patryk shares details of the techniques he employed – including the motion control work, HDR processing, and editing and finishing in Apple Final Cut Pro and Color:

Patryk has also generously created several tutorials on timelapse photography as well as post-production techniques such as image stabilization in Adobe After Effects on his web site.