In a nutshell...Time-Lapse is simply compressing time...

 

Let's say we take one photograph every second for one minute. That comes out to sixty photos.

Normal video plays at thirty frames per second. So, sixty photos would play back in two seconds.

What happened is we took one minute of actual time and compressed it into only two seconds.

 

Using time-lapse allows us to 'see' things that normally move too slowly for our eyes to visualize.

Time-lapse is often used to study scientific experiments, but can also add visual-magic to normal

everyday things and occurrences.

 

Below is an example of a low cloud layer, or Thule-Fog, in a valley. A photo was taken every 5 seconds, and when compiled into a time-lapse video, the first impression of most viewers is they are looking at a boiling river-rapids. Normally, clouds and fog move too slowly for us to notice the subtle changes, but time-lapse reveals the 'magic'.