I really enjoy my job sometimes.
Monday was one of those times.
It was a beautiful day, and I had a special opportunity.
That was a chance to try something I’ve wanted to experiment with for a while.
Since moving into my current position, I’ve had the chance to work more with videos.
About a month or so ago, the newsroom got new computers. With those computers came a new video editing program. With that program, I’ve noticed some new features.
Maybe those features were in the old version, but I didn’t notice them.
One of those features was a way to speed up — or slow down — the video.
So my new goal in life (I know I’m really aiming high here) was to create a video where I could use the time lapse feature. But it’s tough to find the right subject. What I wanted to do was to tape something over a long period of time and condense it into a much, much shorter time.
Talking with Ryan Seykora from the Worthington Area YMCA gave me that opportunity.
He was explaining how they were ready to fill the outdoor pool. They like to have it filled in plenty of time before it opens to allow it time to clean and cycle through before the public uses it.
As he was telling me about how they were going to put the water in, something clicked.
This would be the perfect opportunity to try my time lapse.
So I set up my camera and let it run for a couple hours. I intended it to run longer, but the battery on the camera died.
I was OK with that, I had plenty of video.
I took the 2 hours and 18 minutes of video and condensed it into 10 seconds.
It’s a pretty cool effect.
Take a look for yourself, the video is above.
I realize this won’t work for every video — nor would I want to do it.
But it was something different — and fun.
One of the things I really enjoy about working at the Daily Globe is the opportunity to try new things.
Some work. Some don’t.
I think this was a success.