Time Lapse photography by Nick Graalman: Keith time stop still in the Adelaide City region of South Australia
'Have camera - will travel' - that's the mantra of Nick Graalman, a young bloke who's making a name for himself in the very specialized art of time lapse.
He cut a lonely figure as we met him dragging his gear across the pebbles at Hallet Cove. Camera tracks, modified tripod, camera dolly and a host of electronic timers and motors are the tools of choice as he scratches the itch he felt when he first picked up his dad's camera when he was just 15 years old.
Nick Graalman, Photographer: "I guess when I first started it was pretty generic sort of stuff. I thought there must be more interesting ways to film the same old thing. There's more to this field that I want to explore I guess."
And explore it he does with stunning results. Nick teamed up with an engineer friend to come up with this custom built, portable motion controlled camera system. It means the camera doesn't need to remain static - instead it slowly creeps along the track in between shots.
Nick Graalman, Photographer: "l set it up to take a photo and then move whatever increment I set. It'll take a photo and it'll move about an inch or so again and continue that process until I program it to stop or I stop it manually at the end of the track."
It's a disturbingly simple idea but it took a lot of trial and error to bring it all together. Nick uses two electronic timers - one to operate the camera, the other to operate the motor on the dolly platform he built to create the movement.
He sets his camera to take as many as 300 shots as it travels about 3 metres. Back in his studio he converts those shots into a 12 second video. While it might seem like a lot of trouble for 12 seconds the result is truly spectacular.
Nick Graalman: "I've worked on some central sites in the city. I did a shot for Carols by Candlelight at Elder Park for example. That was really nice as I had all the candles lighting up. There were twinkling lights and a bit of the cityscape as well."
There's no doubting Nick's got an eye for detail but also for the unusual - who else would see the potential in an electricity sub-station?
Nick Graalman: "I looked out my backyard and saw some really nice clouds that were hanging quite low and I thought that could be a nice shot. So I set the camera tracks up outside the sub-station and sure enough beautiful low sweeping clouds came sweeping over the power station.
"I think time lapse for me is a really good way to see the world other than the way we experience it. It's not like you can go out and see clouds sweeping over you. It's something you can only appreciate in time lapse."
Nick Graalman takes the things that are around us every day and gives us a totally new way of looking at it. He's certainly making a name for himself. He's also part of Quench Studios - a local video production company specializing in video, animation, time-lapse, screenwriting and short film. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards-sa.com.au
Nick Graalman Time-lapse Craft
Ph 87183 1101
Mob: 0438 697 495Published 23rd May 2010
