"Nature is my biggest inspiration, because there are always new things waiting for me to discover in nature."
- Matt Molloy
The use of time-lapse technology in photography is not uncommon, but Canada Photographer Matt Molloy uses it in a very unique way. By stacking hundreds of time-lapse photos, he creates landscape images that are like impressionist paintings . In the final stacked and synthesized static pictures, the changing trajectories captured in time-lapse become colorful brushstrokes in the "painting", showing the changing process of time, movement, light and shadow, and the formation between the gorgeous and changing sky and the static ground scenery. The sharp contrast presents a dreamlike and surreal effect.
Photo by Matt Molloy
The reason why Molloy is interested in time-lapse photography is that this technique has its own unique perspective on the presentation of time - it can compress time and capture things that the human eye cannot observe in normal time and space. Things emerge, taking on the extraordinary appearance of ordinary things. After overlapping the time-lapse star trail photos, he began to try to use landscape photos taken during the day, and then discovered that common sunset scenes can create shocking and amazing visual wonders. The number of photos Molloy stacks using Photoshop image processing software ranges from dozens to thousands, but most works are composed of about 200 to 300 stacked photos. He calls his creative method "time". stack".
A conversation with photographer Matt Molloy
Your point of view in the body of work "Time Stacking" is very unique. Can you tell us about your intention?
Matt Molloy: "Time Stacking" is my shooting process an accidental product. I had seen star trail pictures before and studied their photography techniques. The first step was to take a time-lapse photo, which I had experience with before.
Photo by Matt Molloy
After I learned how to combine several photos into one image, I started making star trails using time-lapse images I had taken previously. Later, I tried overlaying time-lapse images taken during the day to see what the effect would be. The final visual effect is very unique, especially the sunset effect is very good. In the sky at sunset, clouds not only leave movement trails over time, but their shapes and colors also change.
Your works are reminiscent of the paintings of Monet , Van Gogh and other Impressionist painters. Can you tell us where your inspiration comes from?
Matt Molloy: A lot of people compare my work to impressionist paintings. I also realized this early on because my graphic design course in college had an art history component that covered the Impressionist movement. Many things inspire me, but I have to say that nature is my biggest inspiration, because there are always new things waiting for me to discover in nature.
Photo by Matt Molloy
My focus is usually on the sky, more specifically on the clouds, but I also like to incorporate interesting landscapes into my photos, so finding new places to shoot is fun , also very inspiring.
The landscapes in your work are vast, how do you choose these locations when shooting?
Matt Molloy: I love exploring nature on foot, and it is fun for me to find new and interesting places, some of which I like. A place that I will visit again and again.
Photo by Matt Molloy
I love having water in my scenes, especially water that reflects the sky. The sky is usually my main focus, but I also like to have elements in the image that contrast with the movement of the clouds, so a generally static landscape can be a good base for a photo.
How long does a shoot generally take?
Matt Molloy: Many factors can affect the length of a shoot. Sunset usually lasts 30-45 minutes, sometimes I start earlier and shoot longer.
Photo by Matt Molloy
I usually take 200 to 300+ photos so that I can stack up the best time-lapse footage from many.I like longer cloud trails, so I need to use a lot of photos as well. The same goes for star trail photos, and since the stars move more slowly than the clouds, I might be shooting for 3~4+ hours.
Can you tell us about the process of making these photos?
Matt Molloy: I use Magic Lantern to shoot time-lapse photography. It can be used with most Canon cameras, not only for time-lapse shooting, but also many others. Function. It is very convenient to use tripod when shooting. If there is wind, you can hang heavy objects to maintain stability. I also have a battery grip so I can hold two batteries, which is useful for longer shoots, especially in cold conditions.
Photo by Matt Molloy
After taking timelapse shots, I make adjustments to one of the photos in Photoshop, recording the action at the same time so that I can apply those settings to all the other photos. This process is automated and only needs to be done once, then the settings are automatically applied to all photos using Image Processor. As I said before, there will be stacks of hundreds of photos. Photoshop's built-in scripts can be used to generate stacks. The specific operation method of
is to click: File/Script/Load File into Stack in Photoshop. Remember to check the box "Create smart object after creating layer" and then run the script. Once done, you need to select the stack mode: Layer/Smart Object/Stack Mode. Most of the time, I use the "maximum" stacking mode, which shows brighter pixels. Sometimes I use the "average" stack mode, which displays the average of all pixels. On rare occasions, I use the "minimum" stacking mode, which prioritizes the darkest pixels. After I've layered the image the way I like it, I usually do a second pass of processing, adjusting color, brightness, and contrast. When stacked using Maximum mode, the final effect can look slightly washed out (because it's showing the brightest pixels in the image), so I need to focus on bringing out some detail in the bright areas.
Photo by Matt Molloy
Does each work require hundreds of images to be stacked?
Matt Molloy: The number of stacked images varies. I like to have plenty of photos so I can use the best parts of all the images. I've used less than 50 photos for stacking, and I've used over 1,000, but generally 200 to 300 is enough, but it all depends on how the elements change over time, and how many images work best. Effect. I usually start by stacking 100 photos and then combine them all together to see how they look.
What are the difficulties in shooting?
Matt Molloy: The most difficult things are the things I can’t control, such as cloud movement, natural light and weather conditions. Sometimes time-lapse photography doesn't turn out as well because of the way the clouds move or because of poor lighting. When there are two layers of clouds, the stacking often turns the sky into a mess, but sometimes the effect is okay.
Photo by Matt Molloy
Some of the best sunset photos I’ve taken don’t look good when stacked for a variety of reasons. I’ve also learned many ways to overcome difficulties in the past, such as purchasing a lens heater to prevent lenses from fogging up and frosting when shooting at night. The cloud's movement speed and the shooting interval, wide-angle lens or telephoto lens can all change the cloud's trajectory effect. Generally speaking, the faster the clouds move, the shorter the shooting interval should be, and the slower the clouds move, the longer the shooting interval. Using a telephoto lens will make the clouds appear to move faster, while a wide-angle lens will make them appear slower. Shorter intervals result in smoother cloud trails, while longer intervals result in a dotted line-like trail.
How have audiences responded to your work?
Matt Molloy: There are also people who don’t like my time stacked images because they don’t look realistic, but some people love them and for the same reason.Many people say that my photos are photoshopped. I don’t intend to refute it, because I do use Photoshop for picture stacking, color correction, brightness and contrast and other post-processing. However, I generally try to retain the natural effects of the pictures and make them Corresponds to what actually happened and what the camera actually recorded over a period of time. Sometimes I do some artistic manipulation and if the plane's flight marks ruin the image, I'll remove them, but a lot of the time I leave them in the frame.
Matt Molloy
Editor: Gao Yihan Wang Yuhan
The content is selected from the 457th issue of " Photography World " magazine
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