Capturing a 14-hour Holy Grail Timelapse!

The Smithsonian Institute requested that I capture a holy grail style timelapse of the night sky for an upcoming light pollution exhibit.
Their request, was the video had to be captured in one single take! The result is this video after shooting continuously for 14-hours from sunset through the night and until sunrise.
To help ensure the video was a success, and since I was off-grid, I camped next to the equipment and powered the camera and lens warmer with a deep cycle battery. This allowed the camera to run continuously without the lens frosting over. I checked the system every hour or so to verify no issues arose.
Gear: astronomy modified Sony A7siii and Sony 14mm f/1.8 lens.
Processing: I processed the footage using LRTimelapse and Lightroom.
Follow along on Instagram:
/ mattdieterich
Visit my website:
www.mattdieter...
#astrophotography #Smithsonian #photography

[@gregsnowman699]

You did an excellent job capturing the view and natural beauty from our family's property. So happy we were able to be a part of this project.

[@MattDieterich]

Greg this was such an amazing experience and I definitely want to come back! Would love to help work on the farm and drive the big tractors haha!

[@alexalmeida8627]

Super cool time lapse, nice to spot Andromeda too. Thanks for sharing

[@MattDieterich]

Thanks for watching Alex!

[@skygazr33]

I love Cherry Springs when the moon isn’t out!

[@MattDieterich]

Such a beautiful part of Pennsylvania!

[@Thomas.Teichroeb]

Beautiful! So many planes too. For a moment it looked a little funny seeing the Pleiades sitting at about the same height as Orion's Belt. In my sky, it's always higher up. Always cool to see other perspectives.

[@MattDieterich]

Thanks for watching Thomas! I agree that seeing other skies is a neat experience!

[@Westlake]

Fantastic Matt! Awesome results! 👍🏻👍🏻

[@MattDieterich]

Thanks!

[@alandyer910]

Nice capture of the fogbow in the moonlight!

[@MattDieterich]

Many thanks Alan! Was so crazy playing back the timelapse and seeing the Moon bow! Eventually some deer came out into that farmers field in the original footage. I think the 16:9 format cropped them out.

[@Bortle10]

Awesome footage! Despite it not even getting real dark, you see so many stars there.

[@MattDieterich]

Ya I had to fight the Moon that trip, but it was one of the only clear windows of weather. Would love to go back during new Moon!

[@Bortle10]

@@MattDieterich Well i also meant the horizon stays bright througout the night.

[@MatthewSaville]

Beautifully done! The holy grail transitions are incredibly smooth... It was really cool to see that faint bit of moonbow, and the wildlife haha. I also just really love the slower pace; good choice on the interval/framerate. It's crazy how far technology has come in the last few years for this type of work. I think ~2018 was the last time I had to use an external interval timer *and* a dummy battery; now we can just plug in a USB-PD Anker battery, and even do the interval timing in-camera although it's really annoying how Sony locks the camera down during recording so I still prefer not to... Anyways, congrats on accomplishing the goal! I did a ~36 hr time-lapse back in 2017 of the solar eclipse, and that was super annoying to do with an f/4 lens and the A7R 2 lol!

[@MattDieterich]

Thanks for watching Matthew! Definitely so much to still learn, but was a fun project to work on!

[@sajjadahmed46]

Great video.. Breathtaking final result 👏👏👏

[@MattDieterich]

Very happy you watched!

[@ChicagoAstronomer]

Fantastic capture...! Chicago Astronomer

[@MattDieterich]

Thank you!

[@dasimcoes]

Matt, awesome work and congrats on the opportunity

[@MattDieterich]

Thanks so much Dave! Was an exhausting night tending to the camera, but so worth it looking at the results.

[@SonsofChivalry]

Love that the moon lights up the landscape, and the 2 geo stationary satellites that appear before sunrise 👌

[@MattDieterich]

Was so cool playing the timelapse back and seeing the Moon rise behind the camera!

[@ian408]

I like the way it turned out.

[@MattDieterich]

Thanks a bunch Ian!

[@woody5109]

The fog just enhanced the final version, fantastic. By the way..did I see a satellite do a 180…🤔

[@MattDieterich]

Haha ya that plane did a 180! Impressive how busy of a flight path that area of PA has.

[@sprayfe]

Man this was outstanding

[@MattDieterich]

Glad you liked it! Was a fun project!

[@christian2368]

Great result Matt. I was wondering how many seconds interval you used...

[@MattDieterich]

I ended up using an eight seconds interval between photos with max ISO being 12800. The in body Sony intervalometer worked well for this project and LRTimelapse saved the day in editing for cleaning up any choppy footage as the exposure and ISO ramped.

[@michaelmckeag960]

8 sec interval probably capped max exposure time to 7 sec, really need fast lens wide open (nobody will notice coma in a video), but with good ISO invariance might manage -3 EV or so under exposure to reduce ISO and improve noise and dynamic range… 8 sec interval, 12 hr event, comes to 5400 exposures, 50 MB raw files, about 270 GB. A pair of fast 512 GB cards in backup mode will suffice. I’m thinking out loud, anticipating a similar exercise under a moonless Bortle 1 sky. I was certain you processed your timelapse using LRTimelapse. Lovely, and inspiring result!

[@paulboone714]

Did you ever have to change iso settings or anything? I am wanting to do this here in Missouri but still trying to learn the ins and outs on how to do this... assuming all still shots with the 10 second exposures, what program did you use to make the time lapse video?

[@MattDieterich]

Hi Paul, I did use the camera in AV mode with auto ISO enabled. In Sony bodies you can set the the min and max ISO so not only does the exposure ramp as brightness changes, but as does the ISO. I then used LRTimelapse to do the flicker reduction and rendering.

[@MattDieterich]

I forgot to mention, I'm always available if you need help with learning how to shoot and process timelapses. Feel free to email me if you want to setup a time to talk. My email is [e-mail]

[@lefturn99]

Really excellent work. Looks like you used the internal intervalometer in an automatic mode. Since the speed was constant, I assume you used shutter priority or manual with auto ISO. The exposure changes were quite seamless even though you dealt with moonlight and sunlight. Care to give us some pointers.? And are you able to have the aperture change before the ISO? Thanks for sharing.

[@MattDieterich]

Hey Mike! Correct I used the internal Sony intervalometer. I put the camera into aperture priority. You can cap the max exposure length as well while the camera ramps the ISO and exposure during the night.

[@lefturn99]

@@MattDieterich Excellent. Thanks

[@williamdavidson1490]

What did the Smithsonian think of your submission? Is this for another Earth Day and Light Pollution exhibit, think they did one back in 2021 part of a STEM in 30 event. Great capture !! Cheer's from Vancouver Canada.

[@Aerostar509]

Also nice meteor and plasma capture at 8:57

[@JohnGillies-sh4gm]

Loved it! What video creating software did you use for 5,000 images with no pause in between? What frames-per-second did you set the video play-back at? And lastly for now....what file size and type did you have the camera set at?

[@MattDieterich]

Thanks John! I used LRTimelapse for rendering the video, which was at 24 FPS.

[@MattDieterich]

I kept the Sony A7siii file size at the full size RAW format to provide the highest resolution and quality.

[@JohnGillies-sh4gm]

Thanks for the replies Matt. Does LRTimelapse require converting RAW images to jpegs prior to loading?

[@MattDieterich]

@@JohnGillies-sh4gm thankfully it does not. I use the professional version and it doesn't have a limit on the number of frames in the sequence either. Definitely very powerful timelapse editing software.

[@mike_abramyan]

Was that a moonbow in there once the fog rolled in??

[@MattDieterich]

Ya it was Mike! I figured the fog ruined the project, but luckily it was only thin fog and didn't sock the whole area in!

[@mike_abramyan]

@@MattDieterich turned out great, man! The moonbow absolutely makes it!

[@woody5109]

I like how you stay focused, spend money on the gear that really counts, lens, camera, tripod. Never mind the fancy Jackery power bank, just a truck battery 👍👍

[@MattDieterich]

Haha ya that deep cycle battery worked like a charm! Definitely needed those lens warmers, or end the entire night would've been a bust.

[@gavinheppenstall766]

Nicely done 🖖

[@MattDieterich]

Thanks Gavin!

[@Zealor365]

Impressive. The Sony did the job well under your guidance.

[@MattDieterich]

I was certainly pleased with the end result! The fog worried me a bit that night as it seemed to be thick. Luckily the sky was still visible!

[@timefilming]

nice footage & backstage! I like the fog and animals😛8:43 who is that?

[@MattDieterich]

Haha was so cool seeing the deer come into the scene!

[@atlanticdrift-uk]

Hi Matt, can you share your setting and how you captured it. Any ramping etc? Brilliant results

[@MattDieterich]

Hey John! Thanks for watching. I used the internal Sony intervalometer and put the camera into aperture priority mode. I kept the aperture fixed at f/1.8 and the camera automatically ramped the exposure time and ISO.

[@michaelmckeag960]

The Sony did a good job of exposure ramping in aperture priority mode. I’ve always used qDSLR Dashboard running on iPad connected to the camera via WiFi. Now inspired to run some tests to learn how well Nikon D850 performs on its own; certainly will simplify the setup.

[@MattDieterich]

@@michaelmckeag960 thanks man! Ya I used qDSLR in the past for my D750 before I switched to Sony. I'm curious to hear how it works for you. There definitely was a lot of flicker to remove though even with the Sony and LRTimelapse helped solve that thankfully.

[@michaelmckeag960]

@@MattDieterich I just subscribed to your YT channel and visited your website. Loops closing… I suspect we may cross paths at Nightscaper in Kanab in May. Meanwhile, inspired by your video, I have some experiments to run with the D850 (also still have its predecessors, the D750 and D800).

[@michaelmckeag960]

@@MattDieterich After some daytime indoor (darkened room) experimentation I think I have the exposure ramping setup for the D850 figured out, with some key details from a 2017 exchange on the DPReview Forum (RIP). Ready for a real world test (batteries charging).

[@CurtisConkey]

awesome effort!

[@MattDieterich]

Thanks for watching Curtis!

[@voederbietels]

How you power the camera. Mine z62 and z9 i cant do that via usb i did try with a powerbank but it wouldn’t fill the battery.

[@MattDieterich]

I used a dummy battery that then hooks up to 12VDC

[@voederbietels]

@@MattDieterich allright ,, than i have to search something for the nikon . thank you )

[@FranklyLiving]

great job!

[@MattDieterich]

Thanks Frank!

[@miketheburns]

crazy how many airplanes flew through. Kinda sad, actually. For the environment and light/sound pollution. But awesome time-lapse!

[@MattDieterich]

So many planes that night!

[@brinkoo7]

Very cool! Did you catch the meteor at 8:58?

[@MattDieterich]

There were a few meteors and tons of planes hah

[@sn8429]

Yes, cool! It left a smoke trail!!!

[@darrylh755]

How can you need so many layers if it's 30 degrees?

[@osmanselcukgungor8262]

8:30 There is a Fogbow

[@tammykeck]

worth the wait towards the end, beautiful time laps !! but that music has got to go..

[@drewarmstrong4325]

Don't get dew on those pins on the hotshoe or you will end up with a problem.

[@miroslavk.5049]

Epic Matt! What kind of settings did you use for these of shots?

[@MattDieterich]

Thanks Miroslav! I used the Sony A7siii built in intervalometer with it set on aperture priority mode. Max ISO was 12800.

[@miroslavk.5049]

Thank you Matt