This little video clip is the result of a missed opportunity and a lack of forethought. Let me explain...
My wife Liz and I were on holiday in Sedona, Arizona, and I'd discovered this great spot from which to photograph the town, called the Airport Overlook, due to there being an airport there naturally enough!
I'd already photographed from this location at dawn and dusk - you can see these images in the 'Arizona USA' gallery - and I was looking for something more.
I decided a view of Sedona at night, with star trails over the town, would be just the thing. So I dragged Liz up to the car park and set up my camera in anticipation of taking a couple of hundred still images to blend together later to give me my star trails picture.
What I hadn't banked on were the clouds which formed over the buttes behind the town and effectively blocked out most of the stars. I also hadn't banked on there being a full moon that night which lit up the scene so brightly that the stars that were visible were almost too faint to register.
Ho hum. I kept at it for about ninety exposures and then called it a night, much to my wife's relief, driving back to our villa in the middle of the night in a bit of a funk at the capricious nature of clouds and moon. I knew it was my fault really, not having done my homework properly!
I kept the images on disk, thinking I might use them for something, and with my recent interest in video I thought I'd dig them out and see how they looked as a time lapse sequence rather than a star trail blend.
I went through the video conversion process and was pleasantly suprised at the short, but quite pretty, outcome.
What a lost opportunity! If I'd thought time lapse when I was in Arizona I could have made a fantastic video from this spot as sunset faded to dusk and on into the night with its spectacular moonrise.
Oh well, I guess Liz and I will just have to go back and do it all again someday - can't wait!
Filename - sedona timelapse 01.mp4
Camera - Canon 5D
Lens - 17-40mm zoom
Location - Sedona, Arizona, USA
This clip - HD 720p
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