Time Lapse Photography
It was back in high school the first time I saw a time lapse film. You know, an actual reel of film that had to be threaded through a projector on a rolling cart. It was in biology class, of course. Fascinated, I watched a seed sprout, push down roots, and grow into a plant which seemed to wiggle back-and-forth while it burst forth in leaves. All this was seen against a backdrop of clouds racing across the sky. Remember?
The first known use of time lapse photography was in 1872 when Eadweard Muybridge set up a series of cameras whose shutters would be released as a racing horse triggered several tripwires.
F. Percy Smith is credited with the first nature film, The Birth of a Flower, of 1910.
Dr. John Ott even had a film featured on a television show in the 1950s.
Watch how this specialized field of photography was accomplished at that time on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PQZmXJ0En4
And here is one of Ott’s short films:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsmHEs2uX3A
PBS’s NOVA series also aired many such films. (I watched several of those).
YouTube has many videos showing how an acorn grows into a tree. One of the ones I like best photographs the plant in a natural environment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj1iRU9pf_k
Here is a 196-day timelapse video from Boxlapse you might like (he has several more of other plants as well): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HciAZZQTe64&t=16s
Enjoy!
3/23