White Orchid Flowering - Time Lapse

Flowering white orchid

The white Orchid is a member of the Orchidaceae family. The Orchidaceae family is currently believed to be the second largest family of flowering plants[1].

The white Orchid is part of the Phalaenopsis genus, which consists of around 60 different species. Many members of this species are artificial hybrids.

These orchids are often called Moth orchids (a derivation from their Latin genus):

"Phalaen[a]" is the name given to a group of large moths
"opsis" Latin: structure resembleing/ in appereance [2]

Phalaen-opsis: The flowering orchid is said to look like a giant moth in flight

In the horticultural trade these orchids are often abbreviated to Phal [3]
___________

Technical details

Equipment used:
Nikon D50
35-70mm Nikkor lens
Nikon camera control pro 2 [time-lapse/interval shooting]
Photoshop CS4 - Batch reduction of individual images
Virtual Dub [video generation]
Any video converter [downsizing of video]
Sony Acid Pro 6 - Music manipulation

2272 images were taken over a period of 20 hours and 33 minutes. These images were taken at 3008x2000 pixels (6mp) using a Nikon D50 (Professional digital single lens reflex camera [DSLR]), and a 35-70 mm lens.

Nikon's camera control pro 2 was used for interval shooting. The camera was connected to a computer using a standard USB cable, the software was set to an interval of 30seconds, with the camera running on batteries [not the best choice]. Note: the D50 was set to ptp mode which allows the software to control the camera, in this mode a single EN-EL3 (camera battery) is capable of operating for about 3 hours 30 min [aprox 400 images]. This battery issue explains why there are a few jumps in the video, a period of nearly an hour lapses between battery changes - i like my sleep.

All images were then cropped and resized, to 640x480 using a batch script in Photoshop CS4. The images were then converted to a video using virtual dub, music was also added at this point*.

The rendered video was in excess of 5.5GB, so it was downsized using Any Video conterter.

* Music: The music was manipulated and cut using Sony Acid Pro 6. Original music written by Pachelbel, Canon in D. Music performed by The Jean-Francois Paillard Chamber Orchestra

_____________________
References
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchidaceae
[2] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/-opsis
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalaenopsis

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Phal
• White
• Orchid
• Phalaenopsis
• hybrid
• moth
• orchids
• Time
• lapse
• flowering
• bud
• opening
• blooming