<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAnd lastly a ND filter.<\/strong> This one is optional<\/strong>. An ND filter acts like sunglasses<\/strong> for your camera cutting out light so you can take long exposures AND makes the skies pop and gives a nice little bit of texture.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBest Time Lapse Settings for Clouds (No matter what camera) <\/h2>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nThis is broken down into two parts<\/strong>. First being the camera settings, and second being setting up the time lapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHere are what I think are the best time lapse settings for clouds that are also the easiest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Camera Settings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nShoot in RAW<\/span><\/p><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI like to shoot in RAW because it gives me full flexibility in post, it takes more time to edit and storage adds up so that\u2019s up to you! Every Black Friday I just buy one of these 16-24 TB harddrives. They\u2019re really cheap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nShooting Mode<\/h3>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nI like to shoot in Aperture Priority<\/strong>, around f8<\/strong> or whatever the sweet spot of your lens is. <\/p>\n\n\n\nFocus Mode<\/h3>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nOne of the first mistakes I made<\/strong> when starting shooting ANY time lapse was leaving autofocus on<\/strong>. This is bad because the camera will hunt for focus between shots<\/strong>. It looks weird and ugly and is super distracting.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe easiest way to focus<\/strong> for a time lapse is to turn on auto focus. Have it focus on something. Then turn it immediately off.<\/strong> If you have focus peaking use that to help you.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhite Balance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\nFor white balance I will put it in Cloudy<\/strong>. I don\u2019t recommend is leaving the white balance on auto<\/strong>, even when shooting in RAW.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMaybe that\u2019s just me but a couple of times I got white balance flicker. Even though I edit the white balance later because I shot in Raw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I err on the safe side and choose cloudy because it\u2019s pretty easy to twist the setting to that.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nISO<\/h3>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nI like to keep my ISO as low as possible<\/strong> because I\u2019m trying to do a long exposure. But also don\u2019t worry if your ISO is 1000<\/strong>. It\u2019s not as important as it used to be. <\/p>\n\n\n\nShutter Speed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nLastly is shutter speed, I recommend trying to have at least a half-second shutter<\/strong> speed when doing time lapse of clouds.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe reasons are two reasons. First is habit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You almost always want to have a long exposure when shooting a time lapse<\/strong> because it blends the exposures. But also because of this thing called the 180 rule.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nI don\u2019t want to get in the woods about it because it’s not needed. The 180 rule is a film rule that helps us get a look similar to what our eyes see. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe gist is we want our shutter speed to be half of our interval.<\/strong> We\u2019re never going to have an interval of less than one second, I recommend at least get a half-second shutter speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIf you can\u2019t do it don\u2019t worry it\u2019s not that important.<\/strong> It\u2019s more nice to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLet’s Talk About Birds!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nBirds exist, and until you start taking time lapses you never really realize how many birds there are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You have three options to remove birds<\/strong>, either decrease your shutter speed<\/strong> to get them completely blurred out and invisible. Or manually remove them <\/strong>by masking them out and keyframing everything. A total pain in the butt.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOr don\u2019t and just live with them.<\/strong> The power is yours!<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow to Choose The Best Time Lapse Interval for Clouds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nChoosing an interval is always the toughest thing<\/strong> for new time lapsers. Here\u2019s how I approach it.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFirst I just look at the clouds and see how quickly they are moving.<\/strong> If they look like they are stuck in the sky I might do anywhere from 5-10 second intervals.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut if they are moving really quickly I might do 2-4 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nIf it\u2019s a storm cloud, or a formation I\u2019ve never seen, I\u2019m doing one second just because I don\u2019t want to miss literally a second and I want the ability to see as much of the peak part of the storm I can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reason is you can always speed up your footage, but you can\u2019t slow it down without it looking choppy or jittery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That might require some bigger SD cards but in my opinion, it\u2019s worth it for that flexibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nHere are a couple of examples at 2, 4, 8, and 16-second intervals just so you can see the difference. I think my personal favorite on this was 8 seconds, but I\u2019d<\/strong> be curious to know what yours is!<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow Many Photos Should You Take?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nBy now you might be wondering how many photos to take, or how long will I be out here shooting?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most people do not watch a time lapse for more than 4 seconds<\/strong>. Unless it\u2019s really good, it just is kinda boring.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFor that reason, I always shoot a 10-second time lapse<\/strong>. Since I edit at 24 fps I just shoot 240 photos. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThen I\u2019ll just find the most interesting four seconds of the time lapse and show that bit. Or use speed ramps to create more interest on the last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nMost intervalometers will tell you how long until it\u2019s over, but if you want use the app Photo Pills. It\u2019s a powerful app for planning your shots and it has a time lapse calculator in it <\/strong>if you want to find out how long you\u2019ll be shooting for.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJust have it calculate event duration<\/strong>, and put in your interval and the number of photos and you can even put in your file size and it will tell you how much space it will take.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFinal Thoughts on Cloud Time Lapses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nShooting cloud time lapses are a great practice for beginner and advanced time lapsers. Simply because they are widely available, free, but also really unpredictable. Clouds take time to learn what the different clouds will do and what intervals to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe this guide will definitely help you on your time lapse journey and if you’re interested in learning how to edit your cloud time lapses here are some great guides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to Edit a ANY Time Lapse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n