Shutter release and time lapse photography

There are two types of time lapse photography, the first is long single exposures, the second is many exposures over a period of time - usually resulting in a film sequence.

The crucial part of both types of phtograph is camera stability. You need to mount your camera to a sturdy tripod or similar solid mount. If you are working outdoors you may want additional weights on your tripod to keep it steady in windy conditions.

For a single exposure you would not normally move the camera at all. On muti-sequence shots you can pan and zoom, but you must do this very carefully in calculated and consistent increments.

The second part of camera stability is during the actual shutter release. On some cameras the mirror moving up to allow light to the sensor or film can cause camera vibration. Most DSLRs have a mirror lock up function. This locks the mirror out of the way so there is no mirror movement during exposure.

And of course there may also be camera movement from you physically pressing the shutter release button, so you will want to use a remote release, either the proprietary version from your camera manufacturer, or one of the many third party systems. If you do not have a remote release you can also use your cameras built in timer function, so the exposure is taken two seconds after your press the shutter release.

Finally, if your camera or more often your lens has image stabilisation you want to turn this off as well, otherwise the internal mechanisms can adversely affect stability instead of aiding it as it would under normal shooting.

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