This video is my first attempt at a timelapse. It was shot over four evenings in my backyard in Airport Heights in Anchorage, between April 1st and April 4th, 2013. I used a GoPro HD Hero camera shooting 1 frame every 30 seconds, and then imported them at 30 frames per second.
This time of year in Alaska is all about transitions. Transitioning from winter to spring, from white to green, from dark to light. The weather has warmed slightly, but the air still contains the hard smack of winter.
The snow is still profuse but its resolve is beginning to weaken. The thing you tend to notice the most, and what has kept me stationed on my back deck in the evenings after work, is the sunlight. It’s back, and it’s amazing.
The air temperature was 30 degrees F in my backyard last Saturday, yet I was able to spend the majority of the afternoon in just a t-shirt because of the warmth of the sun. Alaskans always notice the first day of the year that it was light on both ends of their commute. We have made it through another winter and we are being rewarded.
It’s a very inspriational time of year, and though I love the winter and the snow and all of the recreational opportunities that they bring, the spring always brings with it feelings of enthusiam and eager anticipation. The extended period of light makes you start to think about plans of adventures for the summer to come.
This year, the light has inspired me to begin thinking about some new photo and video projects. Recently, I have been especially interested in timpelapse photography and have begun experimenting in my backyard and neighborhood with various cameras and settings. I have set up stations in the woods and along the creek near my house and intend to continue capturing images thorughout the year in order to construct some longer term timelapses that will showcase the changing seasons.
Kyle Cunningham was born and raised in Anchorage, AK. He graduated from West High in 2001, and recieved a Environmental Science degree from the University of Colorado. He currently works as an enviromental scientist for the Municipality of Anchorage. He enjoys the usual Alaskan stuff (fishing, skiing, camping, etc.), photography, video production, the mountains, sporting events, coffee, and tolerates but doesn't trust cats.
