Island Time

What is Island Time?

Island Time is a long-term imaging project based on the Toronto Islands.  Employing video, sound, photography, and timelapse sequences, Island Time will showcase the Island as never seen before.  The first trailer will be online soon.

Six hour long exposure over inner harbour, Eastern Gap, Toronto Islands

Above:  Stars compete with aircraft trails in a six-hour exposure over the inner harbour, as seen from the crumbling eastern gap.

What are timelapses?

Timelapses are long sequences of images, usually captured with a still camera.  When the sequences are put together, they form a video that can show wondrous motion of things that we usually can’t perceive.  Some Lagoon Report examples of timelapses can be found here.

What are you imaging?

Island Time seeks to image the environment, landscapes, and events of the Island.  Bridges, boats, flowers, ice, sunrises, sunsets, mammals, birds, moons, eclipses, bonfires, storms, and fluff are all part of the subject matter.  We haven’t figured out how to image sticky buds yet, but give us time.

Hey!  I found this wierd camera out in [insert location here].  What gives?

The Island Time project is employing a wide variety of image capture systems, including photography, video, and timelapse.  Sometimes, one of these cameras (most usually a timelapse camera) will be left unattended due to the long duration of capturing a given sequence.  Some potential concerns about these cameras are outlined below:

1.  Are you filming people?  No, we’re not filming people.  Occasionally a crowd scene will be photographed, but usually people are incidental to the shot.  We try, usually, to point the camera at things, or out over the lake, harbour, or lagoon, and be obvious about it.  But it’s not always possible, and sometimes the camera must be placed across a road or boardwalk.

2.  I walked in front of the camera!  Am I in the shot?  It is possible, but be aware of a few things:

    • the camera triggers itself every 1 to 5 seconds, so chances are that you weren’t even there when it fired.
    • the camera is most likely using a wideangle lens, so even if you were in the shot you’ll be small.
    • the camera is often operating during twilight hours, which require long exposures.  If you’re in the shot, you’re likely a smear of light across the frame.
    • since these are timelapse events, the final video will be run at 30 frames per second.  So, even if you were in a frame, you’ll only show up as a subliminal blip.

3.  I absolutely don’t want to be in any finished timelapse video.  No problem, we completely respect your right to privacy.  Simply tell us when and where you encountered a camera, and we’ll delete your frame (if you’re even there at all).  Call Sean at 416.629.2174 or email to sean.tamblyn@gmail.com  with the date, time, and location.

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