posted Sunday, March 20, 2022 at 8:00 AM EDT

Sony Artisan of Imagery Drew Geraci has done a lot of professional timelapse work with his production company, District 7, including for films with acclaimed directors like Steven Spielberg and David Fincher. To share his knowledge and experience, Geraci and Sony have launched a new video series, 'Reframed with Drew Geraci.' In the first episode, seen below, Geraci shows how to plan, compose and process a cinematic timelapse.

While it's a Sony video with a Sony Artisan, you don't need Sony equipment to take advantage of many of Geraci's lessons. You don't need expensive equipment to get started with timelapse photography. You need a camera, lens, tripod and intervalometer. Some cameras include built-in intervalometers, which is a shooting mode that lets you set your camera up to shoot multiple frames at a set interval for a specified period. If your camera doesn't include a built-in intervalometer, you can use a wired or wireless remote control.

With the requisite gear, the first thing you need to do is scout a good timelapse location. For this, you want a scene with some sort of motion, such as clouds. You also want a compelling foreground, middle ground and background. If it's a good location for a single landscape frame and has some motion in the scene, it's likely a great candidate for timelapse photography.

In the video above, Geraci shoots timelapses in a pair of locations, a daytime landscape and an astro timelapse at night. While the principles are the same for both, shooting at night comes with its own challenges.

After grabbing the shots, it's time for post production. To see how Geraci ingests and prepares his files, be sure to watch the full video above. To see more of Geraci's work, you can follow him on Instagram and visit his production company's website. To see more videos from Sony Alpha Universe, visit YouTube.

(Via Sony Alpha Universe)