If you're interested in shooting time-lapse videos, or if you're gearing up for yet another, but want some tips on how to make yours better, we've got you covered. Enrique Pacheco, a photographer and cinematographer, who specializes in time-lapse techniques, runs a website containing free tutorials on the basics of capturing time-lapse images. In a recent post, he makes a list of things you shouldn't do when capturing them. So, if you're ready to develop/sharpen your time-lapse skills, hit the jump.

Keep in mind, of course, rules are made to be broken, so these time-lapse no-no's are really just suggestions that you can take or leave. However, if you're new to time-lapse photography, the advice of an experienced professional, like Pacheco, may help you build the foundation of your technique (which you can destroy, reconstruct, or maintain as you become more experienced.)

Check out one of his time-lapse videos below:

Here are a few suggestions from Pacheco's list that I found especially interesting:

Don't Shoot in JPG

Pacheco is absolutely clear on his position to not shoot your images in JPG.

No, no and no! There’s no discussion about this. You must think of this extension as if it were the devil himself -- JPG File works in 8bits, while RAW works in 12 or 14bits, this means greater depth of color and gradation between levels. And you’ll notice this especially when editing an image.

Don't frame moving plants in the foreground

Personally, I really have to second Pacheco's opinion on this one. Seeing plants, or anything that has very easily perceived motion in real-time, takes me out of the surreal moment that time-lapse sequences put me in. To watch as the night sky, full of stars, galaxies, and auroras, glides over the Serengeti as the Earth spins on its axis is a beautiful thing -- but watching the leaves and branches of an acacia tree quivering in the foreground can be, in my opinion, unattractive.

Don't use the music of Sigur Rós

I 100% disagree! Okay, fine -- I'm a huge Sigur Rós fan, and I myself am guilty of overusing their music in my work, but -- I don't care. "Med sud í eyrum" will always remind me of the summer of '09, so I tend to use this band when I want to express "lost youth" or "the good old days." The good thing, though, is that there are tons of post rock bands that offer similar sounds, like Explosions in the Sky, Amiina, and The Album Leaf, whose song "Window" reminds me of the birth of my first nephew and always makes me cry.

Pacheco's point is well-taken, though:

My advice, be original, seek suitable music for your story, with the same emotion as your pictures, but be careful it hasn`t been used previously in a similar video. Seriously, there are thousands of artists, millions of songs, there is no need to use the same tracks over and over again.

You can find Enrique Pacheco's entire list here.

What are you opinions about the list? Do you have anything you'd add to the list? Let us know in the comments.

Links:

Cinematography & Cameras