The epic return of Lake Manly since Hurricane Hilary's remnants came through back August has really proved to be a spark of inspiration. I've been fortunate enough to have witnessed two previous incarnations of this ephemeral lake in 2011 and 2017, though this time was different. Bigger and longer lasting than I thought I'd perhaps ever see in my lifetime, I returned multiple times last fall and in January each time finding new spark of ideas.
Chief among my goals was to capture the stars reflected in the surface of the lake. My first attempt was under the light of half a moon, and while I thought the result was pretty great, it made me come back under a nearly new moon to get the true feeling of darkness that the moonlight chases away.
Further exploration discovered rejuvenated and even new holes at the Devil's Golf Course, and spectacular reflected sunsets and sunrises. It was enough that could further inspire me to take time lapse footage I have been haphazardly shooting since 2017 and especially in 2023-2024 and assemble it into my first solo time lapse film.
I'm thrilled with the stills and the time lapse I've been able to capture during this rebirth of the lake. You can see every one of these scenes in motion here:
I'm not a big fan of star trails, so those don't excite me even though they are well done. Sunrise Hole and especially Jupiter Over Lake Manly though are fantastic - two of the best and most unique I've seen of DV.
The Mirror and Sunrise Hole are sublime. Great photos and I watched the whole timelapse video--simply amazing the variety and lighting you captured. Great compositions and beautiful imagery.
Wow, I just got around to watching the time-lapse - outstanding!
Your music choice and timing is excellent. What camera and and setting did you use? The exposures look perfect from night to day. On my Sony that is hard to achieve.
Jim Dockery wrote:
Wow, I just got around to watching the time-lapse - outstanding!
Your music choice and timing is excellent. What camera and and setting did you use? The exposures look perfect from night to day. On my Sony that is hard to achieve.
I shoot Sony as well. I am generally shooting just in aperture priority mode but if I'm going all the way through to night then I have to manage the camera a bit and switch over to manual exposures because the camera just doesn't want to do 30 second exposures when it should be.
