00:00
65
Timelapse video of the Perseid Meteor Shower and the galactic core of the Milky Way as seen from Joshua Tree National Park.

These were taken between August 12 and August 15, 2010.

For more photos and words: photography.evosia.com/2010/08/13/under-the-milky-way-in-joshua-tree-national-park/

Website: evosia.com
Facebook:facebook.com/evosiastudios
Twitter: twitter.com/evosia

Gear: 5D Mk II, EF 16-35mm L. Settings: f/2.8, 6400 ISO, 20 second exposures.

Music is Samskeyti by Sigur Ros

Credits

Likes

  • This comment has been deleted.


  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks sunchaser! It was a great night.
  • cmerry plus 1 year ago
    truly stunning video
  •  
  • Erick James plus 1 year ago
    gorgeous!
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks Erick!
  •  
  • Drake Martinet 1 year ago
    watch at 31.5 sec in the lower left hand quadrant. I think you can see one exploding and breaking up. Incredible.
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Nice catch! It was incredible to see in person. Just this bright flash across the sky like lightning.
  • Drake Martinet 1 year ago
    Tell us a little bit about your capture rig, tripod, clock drive and the like.
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    It's actually a very simple setup I use for standard photography. Canon 5d2, 16-35mm 2.8 lens, manfrotto carbon fiber tripod with a pan and tilt head, and a timer/intervalometer I bought off ebay. I'm starting to play with light painting to help light up foreground objects. I brought a couple of lanterns with me but didn't use these as well as I'd like. Still learning :)
  • Zac C 1 year ago
    I just saw the explosion as well and was like WHOA! This video really looks great. I am working on a 5 min piece myself from my area. Can't wait to see more from you!
  • TeleK 1 year ago
    Amazing!

    what video software do you use? Also for the night shots, how long are your exposures?
  •  
  • Robin SC 1 year ago
    My chin is on the ground. Stunning. And thanks, E. Drake for pointing out the exploding meteor..wow. Outstanding.
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks Robin!
  •  
  • DilworthDesigns plus 1 year ago
    I'm really enjoying this. I'm headed out to shoot tonight near cuyamaca reservoir! Gonna mix some long exposure timelapse + painting with light.
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Good luck dilworth!
  •  
  • Stephen Lewis plus 1 year ago
    Really awesome!! What was the interval between shots?
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks Stephen. Interval was 1 second.
  • Stephen Lewis plus 1 year ago
    Wow, I would have guessed longer, thanks for the info!
  •  
  • James Ogle plus 1 year ago
    Amazing! I feel inspired after watching this!
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks James
  •  
  • What's that "explosion" in the left hand of the sky at 00:33?
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    A meteor exploded with a bright flash in the sky and smoke trails.
  •  
  • Don Hendricks plus 1 year ago
    Beautiful work! Beautiful!!
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thank you Don!
  •  
  • Hi Henry - beautiful, beautiful work. Currently dabbling in time-lapse as well. How did you get such great, fluid meteor movement with such long (20 second) exposures?

    Been wondering how to catch the same movement, but always shows up as a blip in one frame. Thanks for the tips!
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Each of the meteors only last 1 frame but with so many during the meteor shower, it looks like a lot going on. Wide aperture also makes the trails look wider/more visible. And I angle the lens so that it picks up as much of the trail as possible when a meteor goes across the sky. In this case, I pointed away from the source direction. So you see longer streaks. I only use 1 second intervals between exposures for smooth motion.
  • ah! wonderful, thanks for the info Henry! Again, beautiful stuff and keep up the stellar (pun intended) work!
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Stellar indeed! :)
  •  
  • Martin Beck 1 year ago
    Hi Henry,
    Very nice work. We shared it on the LA Times facebook fan page (facebook.com/latimes) where it's getting a nice response.

    Best,
    Martin Beck
    Reader Engagement Editor
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Nice! Thanks for the link, Martin.
  •  
  • Laurent 1 year ago
    very nice..
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks Laurent!
  •  
  • absolutely beautiful >.< i had tears of joy in my eyes while i watched your capture. can we get copies Henry? i know they would make beautiful gifts for some friends.
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Wow I feel honored that this video touched you in that way. I'm still working on refining the video in my spare time. once that's done, I may make it available for download. In the mean time please share the link! Thanks!
  •  
  • doncrowley 1 year ago
    Your time lapse videos, they are all amazing! Thanks for sharing!
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks Don!
  •  
  • BumKi Cho plus 1 year ago
    Stunning timelapse!!
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks BumKi!
  •  
  • XSportSeeker 1 year ago
    I missed the shower due to having an entire cloudy night... BUT I knew I`d eventually find an awesome timelapse video of it... so thanks Henry! Great composition and colors!
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Glad you found this!
  •  
  • Crimson & Floyd 1 year ago
    Beautiful. I wish I could see something like this in real time, I mean at this speed. :)
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thank you! Yeah having the milky way move at this rate would indeed be very cool.
  •  
  • Doug Webster 1 year ago
    Breathtaking. Amazing work.
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks Doug!
  •  
  • kloë 1 year ago
    this is sensational.
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks kloë!
  •  
  • Ugo Dufour 1 year ago
    I wish i could be this good, really awesome work.
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks Ugo. Just takes time, dedication, practice and a little craziness. If you look back at my past videos you'll see a progression.
  •  
  • rockgrrl 1 year ago
    Wonderful work! Thanks for the long exposure tips in the comments as well!
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    You're welcome!
  •  
  • Chris Cuttriss 1 year ago
    Amazed you were able to get the noise under control to produce such a smooth TL. What did you do to deal with the noise (if anything)?
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks Chris. Nothing really. But I shoot at 21 mp for each frame so sizing it down to 1080p makes the noise hardly noticeable. But it is there when you look closely. When I have time, I would probably go back and clean up the noise a bit.
  •  
  • Matthew Byori Mann 1 year ago
    What shooting mode did you use for the sunrise at the end? I've shot in aperture priority and had issues with flicker.
  • Chris Cuttriss 1 year ago
    Matthew --

    From my own struggle with flicker I bet he's locked it off at 20sec for the entire TL. If there were an additional few seconds at the end the frame would probably wipe completely white, even at the very beginnings of the sunrise (way before the sun is even visible).
  • Matthew Byori Mann 1 year ago
    Definitely possible. Sunrises have always been a big challenge and I've been trying to crack that egg for awhile. I know some people do a flicker removal in post and shoot in aperture priority.
  • Chris Cuttriss 1 year ago
    Yeah I haven't been able to get the flicker filters to work terribly well. I've been doing the DOF Preview / Twist Off trick to lock my aperture then shooting in Av mode with some pretty decent success. It took care of the majority of flicker I was experiencing at first.

    If you find a post-method that is really worth it I'd love to see it!
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    All the shots were in manual mode to prevent flicker. At the very end when the sky starts to light up, it was around 5am. Before sunrise. As chris said, if I left it on for a few more seconds, it was be totally over exposed.

    There is flicker removal software. Philip Bloom shoots his time lapses in AV mode and uses a plugin in Final Cut in post. Seems to work great for him.
  • Chris Cuttriss 1 year ago
    Henry -- do you have any idea what the name of that software might be?
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    He uses the "Long Exposure" plugin that's part of this set -- chv-plugins.com/cms/Fx-Script/Time-collection/Time-collection.php?navanchor=1010027

    It's $40. Seem pretty cheap. I'll probably check it out for my next shoot.
  •  
  • Shawn Reeder plus 1 year ago
    Those aren't really meteors in the timelapse though, are they??? At 20 second exposures, a meteor would only show up on 1 frame, and I'm assuming you put this together at like 2 frames a second, which means meteors would just show up as a scratch. I've been doing astro timelapse as well, and I believe they're planes and satellites.
  • Matthew Byori Mann 1 year ago
    I shot this meteor shower and had a similar result. My only explanation is some of the meteors pass through slower than others and the ones we see with our naked eyes won't read but slower moving ones will show up in the time-lapse. Of course you'll always get the occasional plane in there as well.
  • Shawn Reeder plus 1 year ago
    Interesting theory..... I still think its probably more planes and satellites, but thats a curious theory on slow moving meteors that aren't visible to the naked eye.... I wonder what others think????
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Yes there are some satellites and planes in the video. But the planes show up as red trails and you'll see it as a series of red dots in each frame. Satellites look like stars and move slowly. They don't leave the trails. Meteors leave the long thick white trails.
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Just to be more clear in terms of my response: Shawn you are correct in terms of the slower moving objects. Anything lasting for more than 1-2 frames are not meteors. Slowing it down frame by frame you'll see those are a series red dots. But if you watch this in full screen, frame by frame, you'll see a ton of meteors. In the opening 15 seconds alone, I was able to count 30 meteors.
  •  
  • Chris Cuttriss 1 year ago
    Just a note for everybody... at 0:32 there is a really awesome explosion/smoke from what I'm assuming is a meteor.
  •  
  • Oli Trussell 1 year ago
    Awesome! Anyone know what music that is?
  • Andrew Laparra 1 year ago
    Music is Samskeyti by Sigur Ros
  • Oli Trussell 1 year ago
    Thanks!
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Yes it is! Thanks Andrew!
  •  
  • Josh Huskin 1 year ago
    good video.

    music sounds like it's Sigur Ros.
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks Josh! You are correct.
  •  
  • I just watched your video on my iPhone and I am totally inspired by your work Henry. I love it.
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks Margo! Glad it inspired you:)
  •  
  • Andrew Laparra 1 year ago
    Yea great show! And indeed, it is sigur ros. Don't forget to credit them!
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    I just updated my description. Thanks for the reminder!
  •  
  • Eric Hines plus 1 year ago
    Amazing, amazing, amazing... So jealous of your 5D, my 7D would never be able to do this.
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    The 7D is a great camera too. But yeah, Full Frame is awesome. :)
  •  
  • Greg Jordan 1 year ago
    This was awesome. Excellent work. Shared it with others.
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks Greg!
  •  
  • Chris Marino plus 1 year ago
    Henry-

    I have gathered from reading the posts that you did NOT apply any NR in post. You said you simply scaled the 21MP stills down to 1080p? Did you shoot RAW? Process in Lightroom? Im curious because 6400 ISO on the MkII is pretty noisy. Also you said you set your lens in manual mode. Since you have the 16-35 L did you just slide the lens to manual focus? There was very minimal flicker as well. How did you accomplish this? I am just stunned at the results. I have tried this setup many times with horrible results, hence the probing questions. Overall awesome work. Any Q's you can answers would be great. Cheers!
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Hi Mook,
    Yes at 100% it is fairly noisy. I definitely wouldn't make large prints from it.

    I did shoot all raw and that helped a lot. Processed in Photoshop. Shot in full manual, including lens in manual focus.

    If you look at my past videos, you'll see I had my share of flicker issues. I haven't had time to narrow down what changes I made this time around to eliminate it: shooting in raw, shooting in manual mode (instead of bulb and let my timer set the exposure time), and very little light interference from passing cars, etc.
  • Chris Marino plus 1 year ago
    Thanks for the heads up.
  •  
  • Luke Cahill plus 1 year ago
    Amazing Timelapse! So crisp even for 6400. What software do you use to process the photos?
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    All the original stills were shot in raw and processed in Photoshop. Thanks!
  •  
  • Joshua Gunther 1 year ago
    About how many frames per location did you shoot? It looked like you moved around a lot each night.
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Between 270 to 350. Took between 1.75 hours to 3 hours per location.
  • Joshua Gunther 1 year ago
    Dude thanks, Thats really helpful! I'm always not sure how many frames to capture, but I like the pacing of this so it gives me a good place to start
  •  
  • Jon K 1 year ago
    Awesome dude!
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks Jon!
  •  
  • Derek Gunnlaugson 1 year ago
    Beautiful.
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thank you Derek!
  •  
  • Michael Henry 1 year ago
    dude, rad.
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks Michael. Love your facial expression. lol
  •  
  • Katie Barnes 1 year ago
    this is really, really beautiful. i love the idea, and i love the music. do you mind if i share on my blog - katiebarnes.blogspot.com

    amazing.........
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Of course! Please go ahead. Here's my blog page with some photos as well: photography.evosia.com/2010/08/13/under-the-milky-way-in-joshua-tree-national-park/
  •  
  • Jeff Handy 1 year ago
    Awe inspiring - nice choice of music, too. :D
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks Jeff. I'm a huge fan of Sigur Ros.
  •  
  • Vlad Litvak 1 year ago
    this is incredible! really amazing...
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks Vlad!
  •  
  • Andrew Barton 1 year ago
    Really nice work Henry. I was out at a similar time and wish my results were half as good as yours. Thanks for sharing some of your technique!
  • Henry Jun Wah Lee plus 1 year ago
    Thanks Andrew! Practice makes perfect. Lots of practice and trial and error! :)
  •  
Showing 100 of 269 comments. Want to see the rest?
This conversation is missing your voice. Take five seconds to join Vimeo or log in.

Advertisement

Statistics

Date Plays Comments
Totals 675K 3,143 271
Mar 4th 61 1 0
Mar 3rd 134 0 0
Mar 2nd 182 0 0
Mar 1st 121 2 0
Feb 29th 127 1 0
Feb 28th 150 2 0
Feb 27th 152 1 0

Related lessons from Vimeo Video School

Check out these lessons to learn more about how you can make videos like this one!