A Few Queens, Some Dragons, and Time-Lapse Photography (Fantastic Photo Blog)

Queen of the Night

Hi Everybody!  I invite You to come in for a well deserved Nature Break! If You are interested in time-lapse photography, then tonight is your lucky night! I have collected some great information and wonderful examples from public posts on the web (You Tube/Wikipedia) for your viewing pleasure.
If You are amazed at Grand Openings of flowers, then I have the Queens of Grand Openings! One of my most favorite flowers, the Queen of the Night-You just have to see it to believe it!
If You are hungry, I have Dragonfruit for You!!
And, I threw in a couple of Dragons. Enjoy!

Nightblooming cereus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Night-blooming cereus is the common name referring to a large number of flowering Cereuscacti that bloom at night. The flowers are short lived, and some of these species, such asSelenicereus grandiflorus, bloom only once a year, for a single night.^[1] The night-blooming cereus is also referred to as princess of the night, Honolulu queen (for Hylocereus undatus), and queen of the night.

Varieties

Most night-blooming cereus refer to flowering cacti of the Cereus genus. While many cacti referred to as night-blooming cereus belong to the Tribe Cereaae, other night-blooming cacti in the Subfamily Cactoideae may also be called night-blooming cereus. Cacti called cereus include these genera and/or species:

• Cereus
• Echinopsis (usually Echinopsis pachanoi, San Pedro cactus)
• Epiphyllum (usually Epiphyllum oxypetalum, Gooseneck cactus; grown as an indoor houseplant throughout the world, and the most popular cultivated night-blooming cereus)
• Harrisia
• Hylocereus (of which Hylocereus undatus is the most frequently cultivated outdoors, and is the main source of the commercial fruit crop, dragonfruit)
• Monvillea
• Nyctocereus (usually Nyctocereus serpentinus)
• Peniocereus (Peniocereus greggii, the best known, is strictly a desert plant which grows from an underground tuber and is infrequently cultivated)
• Selenicereus (usually Selenicereus grandiflorus)
• Trichocereus

[edit]Description

Cultivation and uses

Regardless of genus or species, night-blooming cereus flowers are almost always white, often large, and frequently fragrant.^{[citation needed]} Most of the flowers open after nightfall, and by dawn, most are in the process of wilting. The plants that bear such flowers can be tall, columnar, and sometimes extremely large and tree-like, but more frequently are thin-stemmed climbers. While some night-blooming cereus are grown indoors in homes or greenhouses in colder climates, most of these plants are too large or ungainly for this treatment, and are only found outdoors in tropical areas. Some night-blooming cereus plants produce fruits which are large enough for people to consume. These include some of the members of the genus Cereus, but most commonly the fruit of the Hylocereus. Hylocereus fruit have the advantage of lacking exterior spines, in contrast to the fruit of cacti such as the Selenicereus fruit, being brightly colored, and having a pleasant taste. Since the late 1990s, Hylocereus fruit have been commercially grown and sold in tropical locations like Australia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Hawaii.^{[citation needed]}

Around 2000, the name dragonfruit was created for promotional purposes in English-speaking countries, undoubtedly influenced by the very successful renaming of "hairy gooseberries" as "kiwifruit" earlier in the 20th century. The unusual exterior of a Hylocereus fruit, with its protruding growths, inspired the reference to dragons. Hylocereus fruits are also called pitaya. Increasing commercial cultivation and the hybridizing of new varieties is occurring for this fairly new crop. However, dragonfruit are usually somewhat expensive during their season (summer) and are still a specialty for most consumers.

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http://www.desertusa.com/mag99/july/papr/nbcereus.html Night-Blooming Cereus Queen of the Night ~ Deer-Horn Cactus Peniocereus greggii (Cereus greggii) One of the strangest plants of the desert, the Night-bloomiing Cereus is a member of the Cactus Family that resembles nothing more than a dead bush most of the year. It is rarely seen in the wild because of its inconspicuousness. But for one midsummer's night each year, its exqusitely scented flower opens as night falls, then closes forever with the first rays of the morning sun. Range Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts of southern Arizona, east to western Texas and south to northern Mexico. Habitat Desert flats and washes between 3000 and 5000 feet, often in the shade of desert shrubs like Creosote. Flowers These very fragrant trumpet-shaped flowers, which bloom for only one night in June or July, are up to 4 inches wide and as much as 8 inches long. The waxy, creamy-white, many-petaled flowers are followed by a red-orange, short-spined ellipitical fruit about 3 inches long. Description The Night-blooming Cereus has sparse, angular, lead-gray, twiggy stems about 1/2 inch in diameter. Extremeley small spines grow along the 4 to 6 ribs of these woody stems, which can easily break. It can be erect or sprawling, reaching a length of up to 8 feet, but is usually half that length. The Night Blooming Cereus has a tuberous, turnip-like root usually weighing 5 to 15 pounds (but in some specimens weighing over 100 pounds), which Native Americans used as a food source.

The Queens:  Time-Lapse Openings (very fast)!

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DRAGON

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.crystalinks.com/dragon.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.crystalinks.com/dragons.html&h=318&w=356&sz=23&tbnid=NNY7T-tm8bUUSM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=106&zoom=1&usg=__ok8s1JUuCtrRSxGhm7yF0DX6vl4=&docid=QCQuE46Sto9XKM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qWzNT-eEMuig2AXt0qHvAg&sqi=2&ved=0CF8Q9QEwCA&dur=1705

Dragonfruit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitaya

Pitaya

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A pitaya ( /pɨˈtaɪ.ə/) or pitahaya (/ˌpɪtəˈhaɪ.ə/) is the fruit of several cactus species, most importantly of the genus Hylocereus (sweet pitayas). These fruits are commonly known as dragon fruit – cf. Chinese huǒ lóng guǒ (火龍果/火龙果) "fire dragon fruit" and lóng zhū guǒ, "dragon pearl fruit", Vietnamese thanh long meaning "blue dragon", Indonesian and Malaysian buah naga, "dragon fruit", Lao mark mang gohn(ໝາກມັງກອນ) for "dragon fruit", and Thai kaeo mangkon (Thai: แก้วมังกร) "dragon crystal". Other vernacular names are strawberry pear or nanettikafruit.

If not otherwise stated, this article's content refers specifically to the pitayas ofHylocereus species, or "dragon fruit".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pitaya_cross_section_ed2.jpg

This is a featured picture, which means that members of the community have identified it as one of the finest images on the English Wikipedia, adding significantly to its accompanying article. If you have a different image of similar quality, be sure to upload it using the properfree license tag, add it to a relevant article, and nominate it.

This image was selected as picture of the day on the English Wikipedia for June 5, 2012.

Description	English: A red pitaya (Hylocereus undatus) fruit, also known as dragonfruit, together with a cross section.
Date	11 October 2010
Source	Own work
Author	SMasters
Other versions	original

Description	English: By Etsai from en: The pitaya, also known as dragonfruit or dragon pearl is the fruit of a pitaya cactus. Native to Central and South America, the vine-like cactus is also cultivated in Southeastern Asian countries such as Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The fruit comes in three types all with leathery, slightly leafy skin: Hylocereus undatus, white flesh with pink skin Hylocereus polyrhizus, red flesh with pink skin Selenicereus megalanthus, white flesh with yellow skin Bân-lâm-gú: Hué-liông-kó, pinn-á tshenn-sik ê sī sik-kia, āu-piah n̂g ê sī king-tsio. 火龍果，邊仔青色的是釋迦，後壁黃的是弓蕉。
Date	25 December 2004
Source	http://www.flickr.com/photos/45688285@N00/3055187/
Author	_e.t
Permission (Reusing this file)	This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. You are free: to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work to remix – to adapt the work Under the following conditions: attribution – You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). share alike – If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.

Distribution

The vine-like epiphytic pitaya-producing cacti of the genus Hylocereus are native to Mexico, Central America, and South America. Currently, they are also cultivated in East Asian and Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia (especially in eastern Java), Taiwan,Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Malaysia,^[1] and more recently Bangladesh.^[2] They are also found in Okinawa, Hawaii,Israel, Palestine, northern Australia and southern China.^{[citation needed]}

The fruit was likely introduced by European whom brought fruit from the New World to other parts of the world (in the case of Taiwan the fruit was brought in by the Dutch.^[3]).^[4]

Hylocereus blooms only at night; the large white fragrant flowers of the typical cactusflower shape are among those called "moonflower" or "Queen of the Night". Sweet pitayas have a creamy pulp and a delicate aroma. It is also grown as an Ornamental plant, used ingardens as a flowering vine, and a house plant indoors.

Stenocereus queretaroensis pitaya prepared for eating

[edit]Varieties

Selling dragon fruit juice in Thailand

Stenocereus fruit (sour pitayas) are of more local importance, being commonly eaten in the arid regions of the Americas. They are more sour and refreshing, with juicier flesh and a stronger taste, and are relished by hikers^{[citation needed]}. The sour pitaya or pitaya agria (S. gummosus)^[5] in the Sonoran Desert has been an important food source for Native Americans. The Seri people of northwestern Mexico still harvest the highly appreciated fruit,^[6]and call the plant ziix is ccapxl – "thing whose fruit is sour". The fruit of related species, such as S. queretaroensis and the dagger cactus (S. griseus),^[7] are also locally important food. Somewhat confusingly, the Organ Pipe Cactus (S. thurberi) fruit (called ool by the Seris) is the pitahaya dulce ("sweet pitahaya") of its native lands, as dragon fruit are not grown there in numbers. It still has a more tart aroma than Hylocereus fruit, described as somewhat reminiscent of watermelon; it has some uses in folk medicine.

Fruits of some other columnar cacti (mainly Cereeae) are also called "pitayas" – for example those of the Peruvian Apple Cactus (Cereus repandus), which are very rare.

[edit]Cultivation

Pitaya being grown commercially in southern Vietnam

Pitaya seedling

After thorough cleaning of the seeds from the pulp of the fruit, the seeds may be stored when dried. Ideally, the fruit must be unblemished and overripe. Seeds grow well in a compost or potting soil mix - even as a potted indoor plant. Pitaya cacti usually germinate between 11 and 14 days after shallow planting. As they are cacti, overwatering is a concern for home growers. As their growth continues, these climbing plants will find something to climb on, which can involve putting aerial roots down from the branches in addition to the basal roots. Once the plant reaches a mature 10 pounds in weight, the plant may flower.^{[clarification needed]}

Pitaya flowers bloom overnight and usually wilt by the morning. They rely on nocturnalpollinators such as bats or moths for fertilization. Self-fertilization will not produce fruit. This limits the capability of home growers to produce the fruit. However, the plants can flower between three and six times in a year depending on growing conditions. Like other cacti, if a healthy piece of the stem is broken off, it may take root in soil and become its own plant.

The plants can handle temperatures up to 40 °C (104 °F) and very short periods of frost, but will not survive long exposure to freezing temperatures. The cacti thrive most in USDA zones10-11, but may survive outdoors in zone 9a or 9b.^[8][9][10]

Hylocereus has adapted to live in dry tropical climates with a moderate amount of rain. The dragon fruit sets on the cactus-like trees 30–50 days after flowering and can sometimes have 5-6 cycles of harvests per year. There are some farms in Vietnam that produce 30 tons of fruit per hectare every year.^[11]

[edit]Pests and diseases

Overwatering or excessive rainfall can cause the flowers to drop and fruit to rot. Birds can be a nuisance. The bacterium Xanthomonas campestris causes the stems to rot. Dothiorellafungi can cause brown spots on the fruit, but this is not common.

[edit]Fruit

Ripe dragon fruits, Vietnam

Sweet pitayas come in three types, all with leathery, slightly leafy skin:

• Hylocereus undatus (red pitaya) has red-skinned fruit with white flesh. This is the most commonly-seen "dragon fruit".
• Hylocereus costaricensis (Costa Rica pitaya, often called H. polyrhizus) has red-skinned fruit with red flesh
• Hylocereus megalanthus (yellow pitaya, formerly in Selenicereus) has yellow-skinned fruit with white flesh.

Early imports from Colombia to Australia were designated Hylocereus ocampensis(supposedly red fruit) and Cereus triangularis (supposedly yellow fruit).^[12] It is not quite certain to which species these taxa refer, though the latter is probably the red pitaya.

The fruit can weigh from 150 to 600 grams; some may reach one kilogram.^[13]

[edit]Consumption

To prepare a pitaya for consumption, the fruit is cut open to expose the flesh.^[13] The fruit's texture is sometimes likened to that of the kiwifruit because of its black, crunchy seeds.^[13]The flesh, which is eaten raw, is mildly sweet and low in calories.^[13] The seeds are eaten together with the flesh, have a nutty taste and are rich in lipids,^[14] but they are indigestible unless chewed. The fruit is also converted into juice or wine, or used to flavour otherbeverages. The flowers can be eaten or steeped as tea. The skin is not eaten, and in farm-grown fruit it may be polluted with pesticides.

Ingestion of significant amounts of red-fleshed dragon fruit (such as Costa Rica Pitaya) may result in pseudohematuria, a harmless reddish coloration of the urine and faeces.^[15]

[edit]Taste

The mild taste of pitaya flesh is often remarked upon, as it stands in stark contrast to the vibrant exterior. The taste has been described as being "very bland... like a melon or kiwi," with a "mild sweetness."^[1]

[edit]Nutritional information

Dragon fruit served in a buffet

The edible parts of raw pitaya consist of mostly water and carbohydrates, with some protein and fat content. Pitayas contain slight amounts of calcium, iron, phosphorus, and other nutrients.

The fatty acid compositions of two pitaya seed oils were determined as follows:^[14]

	"Hylocereus polyrhizus" (probably Costa Rica Pitaya)	Hylocereus undatus (Red Pitaya)
Myristic acid	0.2%	0.3%
Palmitic acid	17.9%	17.1%
Stearic acid	5.49%	4.37%
Palmitoleic acid	0.91%	0.61%
Oleic acid	21.6%	23.8%
Cis-vaccenic acid	3.14%	2.81%
Linoleic acid	49.6%	50.1%
Linolenic acid	1.21%	0.98%

[edit]Uses

• Particularly red-skinned pitayas are a good source of Vitamin C.^[16]
• Pitayas are rich in fiber and minerals, notably phosphorus and calcium. Red pitayas seem to be richer in the former, yellow ones in the latter.^[16]
• The seeds are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, and in particular Red Pitayas contain very little saturated fat.^[14]
• Pitahayas also contain significant quantities of phytoalbumin antioxidants, which prevent the formation of cancer-causing free radicals.^[17]
• In Taiwan, diabetics use the fruit as a food substitute for rice and as a source of dietary fibre.^[12]
• Pitaya supposedly increases excretion of heavy metal toxins and lowers cholesterol and blood pressure. Eaten regularly, it is credited with alleviating chronic respiratory tract ailments.

Gallery

• 

  Red Pitaya (Hylocereus undatus)
 
• 

  Costa Rica Pitaya (Hylocereus costaricensis)
 
• 

  Flesh of Costa Rica Pitayas
 
• 

  Costa Rica Pitaya flower
 
• 

  Yellow Pitaya (Hylocereus megalanthus)
 
• 

  Pink dragonfruit
 
• 

  A close-up of slices of white and red Pitaya
 
• 

  Pitaya lying on a newspaper

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Selenicereus grandiflorus

Selenicereus grandiflorus
Selenicereus grandiflorus
System
Kerneudikotyledonen Regulations : Clove-like (Caryophyllales) Family : Cactus family (Cactaceae) Subfamily : Cactoideae Genus : Selenicereus Type : Selenicereus grandiflorus
Scientific name
Selenicereus grandiflorus
( L. ) Britton & Rose

Selenicereus grandiflorus is a species in the genus Selenicereus from the family of cactus plants (Cactaceae). The specific epithet grandiflorus is derived from the Latin words grandis for 'big' and Florus- for,-flowering 'from and refers to the great flowering of the species ^[1] Common names are "Queen of the Night", "Reina de la Noche" and "Queen of the Night."

Selenicereus grandiflorus is a cactus species originating from the Antilles, Mexico andCentral America. The species is commonly referred to as Nightblooming Cereus, Queen of the Night (though these two terms are also used for other species), Large-flowered Cactus,Sweet-Scented Cactus or Vanilla Cactus. The true species is extremely rare in cultivation. Most of the plants under this name belong to other species or hybrids.

Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Core eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Cactaceae
Subfamily:	Cactoideae
Tribe:	Hylocereeae
Genus:	Selenicereus
Species:	S. grandiflorus

Selenicereus grandiflorus (L.) Britton & Rose - queen of the night
SEGR10

©Pedro Acevedo-Rodriguez. Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution, Plant Image Collection . United States Virgin Islands, Saint John, East End Quarter. Usage Requirements. Any use of copyrighted images requires notification of the copyright holder.

http://plants.usda.gov/java/largeImage?imageID=segr10_001_avp.tif

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Selenicereus grandiflorus       http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightblooming_cereus


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-lapse_photography

Time-lapse photography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Time-lapse photography is a technique whereby the frequency at which film frames are captured (the frame rate) is much lower than that used to view the sequence. When played at normal speed, time appears to be moving faster and thus lapsing. For example, an image of a scene may be captured once every second, then played back at 30 frames per second. The result is an apparent 30-times speed increase. Time-lapse photography can be considered the opposite of high speed photography or slow motion.

Processes that would normally appear subtle to the human eye, e.g. the motion of the sun and stars in the sky, become very pronounced. Time-lapse is the extreme version of the cinematography technique of undercranking, and can be confused with stop motion animation

The flower of a geranium opening over a period of about two hours. Consecutive frames are 7 minutes apart.

History

Some classic subjects of timelapse photography include:

• cloudscapes and celestial motion
• plants growing and flowers opening
• fruit rotting
• evolution of a construction project
• people in the city

The technique has been used to photograph crowds, traffic, and even television. The effect of photographing a subject that changes imperceptibly slowly, creates a smooth impression of motion. A subject that changes quickly is transformed into an onslaught of activity.

The first use of time-lapse photography in a feature film was in Georges Méliès' motion picture Carrefour De L'Opera (1897). Time-lapse photography of biologic phenomena was pioneered by Jean Comandon^[1] in collaboration with Pathé Frères from 1909, by F. Percy Smith in 1910 andRoman Vishniac from 1915 to 1918. Time-lapse photography was further pioneered in the 1920s via a series of feature films called Bergfilms(Mountain films) by Arnold Fanck, including The Holy Mountain (1926).

From 1929 to 1931, R. R. Rife astonished journalists with early demonstrations of high magnification time-lapse cine-micrography^[2][3] but no filmmaker can be credited for popularizing time-lapse more than Dr. John Ott, whose life-work is documented in the DVD-film "Exploring the Spectrum".

Ott's initial "day-job" career was that of a banker, with time-lapse movie photography, mostly of plants, initially just a hobby. Starting in the 1930s, Ott bought and built more and more time-lapse equipment, eventually building a large greenhouse full of plants, cameras, and even self-built automated electric motion control systems for moving the cameras to follow the growth of plants as they developed. He time-lapsed his entire greenhouse of plants and cameras as they worked - a virtual symphony of time-lapse movement. His work was featured on a late 1950s episode of the request TV show, You Asked For It.

Ott discovered that the movement of plants could be manipulated by varying the amount of water the plants were given, and varying the color-temperature of the lights in the studio. Some colors caused the plants to flower, and other colors caused the plants to bear fruit. Ott discovered ways to change the sex of plants merely by varying the light source color-temperature.

By using these techniques, Ott time-lapse animated plants "dancing" up and down in synch to pre-recorded music tracks.

His cinematography of flowers blooming in such classic documentaries as Walt Disney's Secrets of Life (1956), pioneered the modern use of time-lapse on film and television. Ott wrote several books on the history of his time-lapse adventures, My Ivory Cellar (1958), "Health and Light" (1979), and the film documentary "Exploring the Spectrum" (DVD 2008).

A major refiner and developer of time-lapse is the Oxford Scientific Film Institute in Oxford, United Kingdom. The Institute specializes in time-lapse and slow-motion systems, and has developed camera systems that can go into (and move through) impossibly small places. Most people have seen at least some of their footage which has appeared in TV documentaries and movies for decades.

PBS's NOVA series aired a full episode on time-lapse (and slow motion) photography and systems in 1981 titled Moving Still. Highlights of Oxford's work are slow-motion shots of a dog shaking water off himself, with close ups of drops knocking a bee off a flower, as well as time-lapse of the decay of a dead mouse.

The first major usage of time-lapse in a feature film was Koyaanisqatsi (1983). The non-narrative film, directed by Godfrey Reggio, contained much time-lapse of clouds, crowds, and cities filmed by cinematographer Ron Fricke. Years later, Ron Fricke produced a solo project called "Chronos" shot on IMAX cameras, which is still frequently played on Discovery HD. Fricke used the technique extensively in the documentary Baraka (1992) which he photographed on Todd-AO (70 mm) film. The most recent film made entirely in time-lapse photography is Nate North's film Silicon Valley Timelapse, which holds the distinction of being the first feature length film shot almost entirely in 3 frame high dynamic range.

Countless other films, commercials, TV shows and presentations have included time-lapse.

For example, Peter Greenaway's film A Zed & Two Noughts featured a sub-plot involving time-lapse photography of decomposing animals and included a composition called "Time-lapse" written for the film by Michael Nyman. More recently, Adam Zoghlin's time-lapse cinematography was featured in the CBS television series Early Edition, depicting the adventures of a character that receives tomorrow's newspaper today. David Attenborough's 1995 series, The Private Life of Plants, also utilised the technique extensively.

Terminology

The frame rate of time-lapse movie photography can be varied to virtually any degree, from a rate approaching a normal frame rate (between 24 and 30 frames per second) to only one frame a day, a week, or more, depending on subject.

The term "time-lapse" can also apply to how long the shutter of the camera is open during the exposure of EACH frame of film (or video), and has also been applied to the use of long-shutter openings used in still photography in some older photography circles. In movies, both kinds of time-lapse can be used together, depending on the sophistication of the camera system being used. A night shot of stars moving as the Earth rotates requires both forms. A long exposure of each frame is necessary to enable the dim light of the stars to register on the film. Lapses in time between frames provide the rapid movement when the film is viewed at normal speed.

As the frame rate of time-lapse approaches normal frame rates, these "mild" forms of time-lapse are sometimes referred to simply as fast motion or (in video) fast forward. This type of borderline time-lapse resembles a VCR in a fast forward ("scan") mode. A man riding a bicycle will display legs pumping furiously while he flashes through city streets at the speed of a racing car. Longer exposure rates for each frame can also produce blurs in the man's leg movements, heightening the illusion of speed.

Two examples of both techniques are the running sequence in Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989) in which Eric Idle outraces a speeding bullet, and Los Angeles animator Mike Jittlov's 1980 short and feature-length film, both titled The Wizard of Speed and Time, released to theaters in 1987 and to video in 1989.

An animated example is the clip from the show "The Simpsons" in which Homer Simpson takes a picture of himself a day for 39 years, although it is intended to be a comedy, thus not realistic.

When used in motion pictures and on television, fast motion can serve one of several purposes. One popular usage is for comic effect. A slapstick style comic scene might be played in fast motion with accompanying music. (This form of special effect was often used in silent film comedies in the early days of the cinema; see also liquid electricity.)

Another use of fast motion is to speed up slow segments of a TV program that would otherwise take up too much of the time allotted a TV show. This allows, for example, a slow scene in a house redecorating show of furniture being moved around (or replaced with other furniture) to be compressed in a smaller allotment of time while still allowing the viewer to see what took place.

The opposite of fast motion is slow motion. Cinematographers refer to fast motion as undercranking since it was originally achieved by cranking a handcranked camera slower than normal. Overcranking produces slow motion effects.

A decaying peach over a period of six days. Consecutive frames are approximately 12 hours apart, as the peach shrivels and becomes covered with mold.

How time-lapse works

Film is often projected at 24 frame/s, meaning 24 images appear on the screen every second. Under normal circumstances, a filmcamera will record images at 24 frame/s. Since the projection speed and the recording speed are the same, the images onscreen appear to move at normal speed.



Even if the film camera is set to record at a slower speed, it will still be projected at 24 frame/s. Thus the image on screen will appear to move faster.




The change in speed of the onscreen image can be calculated by dividing the projection speed by the camera speed.

So a film recorded at 12 frames per second will appear to move twice as fast. Shooting at camera speeds between 8 and 22 frames per second usually falls into the undercranked fast motion category, with images shot at slower speeds more closely falling into the realm of time-lapse, although these distinctions of terminology have not been entirely established in all movie production circles.

The same principles apply to video and other digital photography techniques. However, until very recently, video cameras have not been capable of recording at variable frame rates.

Time-lapse can be achieved with some normal movie cameras by simply shooting individual frames manually. But greater accuracy in time-increments and consistency in exposure rates of successive frames are better achieved through a device that connects to the camera's shutter system (camera design permitting) called an intervalometer. The intervalometer regulates the motion of the camera according to a specific interval of time between frames. Today, many consumer grade digital cameras, including even some point-and-shoot cameras have hardware or freeware intervalometers available.^[4] Some intervolometers can be connected to motion control systems that move the camera on any number of axes as the time-lapse photography is achieved, creating tilts, pans, tracks, and trucking shots when the movie is played at normal frame rate. Ron Fricke is the primary developer of such systems, which can be seen in his short film Chronos (1992) and his feature film Baraka (1992, released to video in 2001).

High-Dynamic-Range (HDR) Time-lapse

The most recent development in time-lapse cinematography is the addition of High-dynamic-range imaging (photographic technique) to time-lapse. One of the first experiments was an 11-second series completed in un-automated form by Nicholas Phillips on July 8, 2006 . Modern time-lapse enthusiasts have started to follow suit as of May 2007. Ollie Larkin (work) and Jay Burlage (work) have both shot and processed HDR time-lapse footage in High definition, with motion control, using digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras. The first example of this technique in a full length film can be seen in Silicon Valley Timelapse (2008).

One method using a DSLR involves bracketing for each frame. Three photographs are taken at separate exposure values (capturing the three in immediate succession) to produce a group of pictures for each frame representing the highlights, mid-tones, and shadows. The bracketed groups are consolidated into individual frames (see HDR). Those frames are then sequenced into video.

However, the number of images required to be taken is relatively high. For a 30 fps video of HDR (each frame tonemapped with 3 images), 5,400 original images (60×30×3) are required for each minute.

See the rest of the article at: 
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-lapse_photography

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These are fantastic!  Just Push Play>

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....this is brendasue signing off from Rainbow Creek.  See You next time.
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Of course, one more Great Performance

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