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The World Series Time-Lapse

Lately, as I’ve been transitioning into cinematography, I’ve been experimenting with time-lapse photography. I’ve had a lot of practice while working on my latest project, Betrayed, (a motion picture short shot exclusively with the 5D Mark II staring Seth Gilliam from ‘The Wire’, Cara Buono from ‘The Sopranos‘ and PJ Sosko and is due out very soon!) so I decided to take what I’d learned to the World Series because I thought it would be a great opportunity to attempt this hit-or-miss process.

This time-lapse is a compilation of over 5,000 still-images I took from 3 cameras from about 25 locations, all around the inside/outside of Yankee Stadium, that gives a narrative of attending a game-winning World Series during the inaugural season of baseball’s most famous stadium.

This was probably one of the most tiring and time-consuming processes I’ve undertaken with still-photography. I arrived at Yankees Stadium around 3PM prior to the game and began scouting out locations for the time-lapse. The process itself took many hours and required me to rush around the monstrous stadium – scaling the upper decks, zipping back and forth from the outfield to the infield, and inside and out. Finally, I arrived home around 1:30AM and began downloading to my computer the 125GB (12,000 images) of RAW footage I’d collected.

After properly organizing all the files, I set my computer to stitch and render all the still images together in a low-resolution format just so I could see if the time-lapse actually worked. Exhausted, I finally got to bed around 5:30 AM while my computer rendered the files down. Given that the time-lapse consisted only of still images and not video, the files were 3-4 times the size of HD! Needless to say, my computer spent a good chunk of time rendering all the data.

The next morning, I woke up early to check out what I’d shot, and was truly excited by what I saw; the already visually interesting images came to life in a surreal way.

Finally, after stitching together all the raw footage, I handed over the files to my trusted editor/web designer, Laia Prats, to throw everything into Final Cut Pro and help me put it all together and add the audio track. I truly couldn’t have done this without her help. (THANK YOU soooo much, Laia!) If you ever need a website built, logo made, or any graphic design, I highly recommend Laia! She’s my designer.

Also, check out the write up on the New York Times LENS Blog.

A selection of snaps I took while at the stadium:

World Series Snaps – Images by Robert Caplin

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20 Comments
  1. 11/17/2009
    Eugene

    Wow, this is an incredible video! Awesome work :).

    I will definitely embed/profile this video in some of my captures of New Yankee Stadium!

  2. 11/17/2009
    Tyroga

    Great work Robert. I love the detail of the time-lapse, the different perspectives you've shown, not just an overview of the stadium.

    Quite an undertaking, but the final output looks awesome.

    Thanks for creating it and sharing it.

  3. 11/17/2009
    Carrie

    What an Amazing project! One of a kind and perfectly executed. Also, loved the way you used the tilt shift in the crowd photos…

  4. 11/17/2009
    Chris

    Awesome job Robert! I thought it was incredibly well done. I'll definitely share this with others. Thanks!

  5. 11/17/2009
    Richard

    Boo Yankees (I am a Phillies fan), but an excellent video.

    I love it when everyone stands up when something happens, and the different paces of the pitchers that gets captured so well when you speed it up like this.

    The tilt shift adds intriguing toy like and dream like qualities.

    Well done.

  6. 11/18/2009
    multimediashooter

    Great work Rob. What kind of tripod head did you use to rotate the camera?

  7. 11/18/2009
    Thad

    Ditto. Great job Robert. Loved the hot dog and popcorn shots. Would love to hear more about your rig, especially the 360 time-lapse panos.

  8. 11/20/2009
    DAN

    Just came across your video after Darren Rovell mentioned it on his twitter, and boy I'm glad I found it. I dislike the Yankees but what an amazing work of art. Great job! I wish I had such talent…

  9. 11/20/2009
    Jimmy

    Excellent blog!Great ideas given by the author about Speed up Computer.

  10. 11/20/2009
    Chris Detrick

    nice work!

  11. 06/17/2011
    Luis Mignot

    Howdy! Quick question that’s completely off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My weblog looks weird when browsing from my iphone. I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to correct this problem. If you have any recommendations, please share. Cheers!

    • 07/16/2011

      Hi Luis, I’m working with my web designer to redesign my online identity and mobile is a big part of that. If you’re interested in hiring a designer, mine is http://LaiaPrats.com. I’m sure there are other options out there…but I dont currently use any. Good luck!

  12. 11/25/2011

    To name a few, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, Tony Cutis, Anthony Perkins, Shelly Winters…-.He even sat next to Mrs King during the funeral for Dr King.He can take a nap anywhere or any time he wants. He’s earned that.personal essay,essay writing,leadership essay

  13. 01/18/2012

    Hmm it looks like your site ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I submitted and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to the whole thing. Do you have any helpful hints for novice blog writers? I’d certainly appreciate it.

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. The Photo Brigade » World Series Time-Lapse – by Robert Caplin
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