Time-lapse photography has always been fascinating, revealing interesting and otherwise unnoticed things that happen in the world all around us every day.
In recent years, time-lapse videos have become increasingly more popular and many companies now use them in a variety of ways from pure entertainment to the documentation of lengthy construction projects.
Although time-lapse photography requires a certain amount of specialized and often expensive equipment, it’s a field that many commercial photographers are choosing to move into.
Here to tell us more about this exciting genre of commercial photography is Michael E. Stern from Pasadena, California.
Episode Summary
Here are some of the great topics we talked about during our chat in this episode:
- The inspiration behind commercial time-lapse photography…
- The biggest technical challenges of time-lapse photography…
- The details of the planning process for a major time-lapse project…
- How to educate prospects on the value of time-lapse photography…
- The 3 top ways to acquire new clients for time-lapse projects…
- How the complexity of the average time lapse project affects the business, pricing and marketing…
- Michael’s top 3 pieces of advice for anyone starting out…
About Our Guest: Michael E. Stern
Michael E. Stern first picked up a camera at age 12 and has yet to put one down. He is self-taught by way of a homemade darkroom and continued his photography education in Jr. and Sr. high schools, Cal State Northridge and Art Center College of Design, earning a BFA in 1979.
During his career, Michael has owned and operated small, medium and large commercial studios in Hollywood, North Hollywood and Burbank.
He began his career shooting movie posters for agencies and multimedia productions for Star-Kist Foods. After relocating to Burbank, he began producing photographs for local and international companies specializing in van conversions, building design and construction.
Michael started working with The Walt Disney Company in 1982 and continued to do so for over 20 years. He’s also worked with Warner Brothers, Universal, Paramount Studios and Sid & Marty Krofft Pictures.
Michael has taught at many educational institutions, teaching photographic theory, Photoshop, pre-press, artist business practices and operating a sole proprietorship.
His first book: “Build A Better Photograph, A Disciplined Approach To Creativity”, is an informative look at his approach to maintaining a professional photography presence beyond f/stops and shutter speeds.
These days, he spends a lot of his time working on lengthy and detailed commercial time-lapse projects.
