Mag

immerse
Volume 1 November 2019

Contents
06 what is this? 12 camera gear check
08 emptying my wallet 14 camp gear check
10 fresh off the shelf 16 south island

Kanangra-Boyd National Park 1/800th F2.8 ISO 125
26 interview with Liam
Foster
40 going aerial
30 commitment 44 killer timelapse
38 in memory of dslrs
05

What is
this?
Hi my name is Liam Foulds.
I’m a photographer and designer from the Blue
Mountains, Australia, and I spend a lot of my time
traveling around seeing unique environments
that I enjoy photographing. I have a long history
of photography through numerous different
specialties which have grown my technical
knowledge of photography substantially. In no
way do I know everything about photography, and
a lot of my knowledge is subjective, however, I do
believe that there’s a lot I can teach people. I’m
also very passionate about the environment and
love sharing the places I see with people, which will
become very evident throughout this magazine.
What is immerse?
I’ve been travelling my entire life and have seen
some incredible places, and in the last several
years I’ve been experimenting with capturing these
places with my camera. The life of almost all of
these photos ceases once they are imported on my
computer, with a select few being shared online for
other people to see. The feedback from people who
see the photos is cool and all, but it’s not fulfilling.
This magazine is the answer to my problems, acting
as a platform to develop and publish my work in a
meaningful and impactful form.
Also, there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing
your work printed in physical form.
Aside from my personal benefits of this magazine,
I’ve developed plenty of knowledge about
photographic techniques and camping/exploration
while traveling, and I believe other people would
find this information useful. This magazine aims to
share this knowledge and experience.
Thank you for taking the time to pick this magazine
up and for your willingness to have a flick through.
I’ll try my best not to disappoint you.

Kanangra-Boyd National Park 1/200th F2.8 ISO 125
07

Emptying My Wallet
immerse / new products

Sony A7iii
$3,099 aud
Everyone tells you that lenses are more important
than camera bodies, and that’s almost always
true. Investing in good glass is very important,
however, camera upgrades are essential every so
often. The time came for me to upgrade, and with
a very lackluster release from Nikon, I jumped ship
to Sony. I wanted to invest in a mirrorless system
to help assist with compacting my equipment for
travelling, so I compared everything on the market.
Sony have been industry leaders of the mirrorless
world for a long time now, so choosing them over
the competition was a no brainer.
The A7III rocks a 24mp sensor with an unbelievably
fast 693 point phase-detection based autofocus
system. It also films 4k at 30fps or 1080 at 120fps,
both at 100mbps, making it a desirable choice for
videographers as well. The A7III is current Sony’s
base model professional mirrorless cameras,
sitting below it’s bigger brothers the A7rIII and A9,
however, the A7III is hardly a disappointing sibling.
When Sony presented this camera at launch, they
labelled it “The Basic Model” simply to taunt
Canon and Nikon, showing how something so
simple to Sony is basically an unattainable flagship
for any of the competitiors.
I’ve had this camera for a few months now, and
although I’m still learning more about the camera,
I can very easily recommend it, especially for video
work. It’s a bit difficult to adapt to from a different
system, but once you familiarise yourself, you’ll
turn your nose up at the other cameras in your
camera bag.
My old DSLRs had plenty of buttons to quickly
adjust settings on the fly, which the Sony’s are
lacking, but the A7III has 4 custom buttons, as well
as being able to change the function of almost any
other button. Even when you think Sony is behind,
they’re still ahead.
09

Fresh Off The Shelf
immerse / new products

The North Face Hedgehog Hike II mid gtx
$300 aud
When you’re out exploring all day, the last thing you want is to
get home and your feet are aching or throbbing from a rolled
ankle because you wore the incorrect footwear. You want
something comfortable, protective, supportive, and grippy which
these North Face boots nail. Straight out of the box the boots fit
snug to my ankle and foot which is very rare having bony feet. My
first impression is that they are extremely light and comfortable,
although they do feel very stiff which I’m sure will resolve with
age just like every other pair of boots I’ve owned.
11

Camera Bag
Less is best when it’s on your back
It’s pretty much common knowledge that you really don’t need as
much gear as what you’d think, or at least every photography ‘how
to’ guide’ tells you that. All it takes is one trip lugging all your gear
on your back and you’ll know exactly what they’re telling you about.
I believe a minimalist mindset is ideal - take what’s necessary and
leave behind the “maybe I’ll use it” gear.
To be fair, I’m not sure that I’m the right person to give advice about
gear, I’m a landscape photographer that doesn’t own a tripod? That’s
like a chef not owning a set of knives. Never the less, here you are
reading my advice so I’ll do my best.
First off you’ll want a good backpack that you find comfortable and
offers great storage. As mentioned before, and by every youtube
channel, your backpack is what you’ll be lugging around and
camera gear really isn’t the most comfortable to transport. Having
a comfortable bag limits your pain and suffering. The bag I use, the
Lowepro Protactic 350 AW, has great internal storage with velcro
dividers so you can create your own custom layout to fit in all your
gear. In addition to that, there’s an array of attachments you can clip
to the outside of the bag with their army-style strapping.
In terms of cameras, I find it useful to use two cameras so that I can
have one camera dedicated to timelapsing and filming, and still have
a camera free to take my usual photos with. This technique definitely
goes against “less is more” but the functionality definitely makes up
for it and also means you have a backup camera if your main camera
throws a tantrum.
In terms of lenses, you can be more lenient with wider apertures as
they’re not as necessary unless you’re shooting at night. I try to give
myself access to as much variety in focal lengths as possible, covering
myself from 24mm up to 200mm, with a 35mm f1.4 for detail shots
where I need a shallow depth of field. I primarily use my 24-70mm
f2.8 because most of my photos fall within this focal range, and I also
use a 70-200mm for portraits and to mix up the perspective of my
photos.
Tip: gear isn’t everything, don’t
get caught up in buying “the best
gear around”. Start with basics
and learn what you benefit the
most from using.
immerse / gear guide

02 03
01
05
06
07
04
09
08
what’s what
01 Lowepro Protactic 350 AW Backpack
02 Sigma 35mm f1.4 Art 03 Sigma 24-70mm f2.8
Art 04 Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 G2 05 Lens
Pen cleaner 06 Nikon D610 07 Gobe Circular
Polarising Filter and Neutral Density Filter
08 Black Rapid Camera Strap 09 Nikon D7100.
13

In the Car
Let’s try to minimise forgetting gear.
No matter how much you plan your trip out, you’ll
always pack too much or not enough and there’ll be
something small and frustrating that you’ll always
forget (that damn tomato sauce). Depending on
what kind of trip you’re planning on doing, and
how long this trip is, you’ll obviously need more or
less equipment. Shorter trips you can cut back on
most of the cooking equipment and just eat more
basic food that doesn’t need cooking, but for longer
trips those cold cans of baked beans get boring
really quick.
Having a good vehicle to travel around in makes
your trip a lot easier in terms of how much
equipment you can take. If you don’t have a
car you can take offroad, having a lot of friends
with four-wheel drives certainly helps. If you’re
planning on going away with a few other people,
set up a shared spreadsheet where you can all
add what gear you’re taking to avoid double-ups.
Having this information also means you know who
forgot certain things and ensure they receive the
appropriate abuse.
At the end of the day, forgetting things often is
what makes trips more memorable with friends,
so don’t sweat the small things. On one of the
first adventures, we had cooked up some 2-minute
noodles, to only realise we had no forks to eat
them with. After throwing abuse at the guy who
was meant to pack them, we dug out some chicken
skewers that we had eaten before, and use the
sticks as chopsticks to eat our noodles.
A lot of camping equipment gets pricey pretty
quickly which can make it difficult buying quality
gear upfront. I believe it’s fine to get average
quality gear first so that you can get everything you
need to go out and explore, then over time upgrade
the things you need the most and you’ll find that
a lot of your average equipment does just fine.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s some absolute garbage
equipment out there that really shouldn’t be on the
shelf, but “it’s all part of the experience”.
When planning, keep a close eye on what the
weather forecast is for everywhere you are going
for the entire time. It’s always handy to bring gear
that is suited for rain and some suited for extreme
heat. If the weather is going to be pouring with
rain the entire time, then you know to pack more
towels, tarps, rain jackets, and weather-resistant
gear than you would if it’s meant to be 40°C.
Investing in a good tent allows you to comfortably
camp in either of those conditions.
Just ensure you have plenty of water, food, first aid,
petrol, and chargers/batteries for your phones, and
you’ll get by safe and sound.
immerse / gear guide

15

At the beginning of the year, I went on a cruise
around New Zealand with my family. I probably
wouldn’t rate it as the best form of transport for
adventuring but nevertheless it was still a great trip.
Most of my favorite images from this trip were taken
in Fiordland National Park, which is on the southern
island of New Zealand. It’s actually a separate
island made up mostly of large mountain ranges,
rivers, lakes, and waterfalls which makes access a
little limiting and challenging but it’s well worth
the effort. It rains around 200 days a year there,
and it’s almost always overcast and foggy, creating
picturesque landscapes in every direction.
If it wasn’t already extremely obvious, this is an
environmental photographer’s paradise, and a dream
setting of mine since I first pressed a shutter button.
I plan on coming back here in the next 6 months and
spending more time on land, hiking around these
mountain ranges and exploring it’s beauty.
17

Milford Sound, New Zealand 1/500th F4 ISO 320
immerse / feature article

Travel photographer, not a tourist.
Coming out of a creative rut and a bordem of photography, the trip reignited
my passion for creating images, giving me the opportunity to photograph
some vastly different places, and experiment with my approach to the images.
Taking a bad photo here was pretty difficult, but taking unique photos to
the thousand other tourists that had the same view and access to me was
the challenge. I believe as an environmental photographer, that is one of the
main challenges aside from finding locations. The key separation between a
photographer’s image and a tourist’s image is the composition. Most tourists
cram as much as they can in their photo or just point straight at the subject. I
try to think creatively with my composition and think about how the viewer
will flow across the image between elements. This is why you’ll find a lot of
diagonal lines in my images with heavy biases to one side of an image.
19

21

Milford Sound, New Zealand 1/400th F4 ISO 640

Trapped on water, now trapped on land.
From one freedom restricting form of traveling to
another, we got off the boat at Dunedin and onto
a train up through the mountains. While it wasn’t
an ideal way of travelling around, most of these
valleys can’t be accessed any other way except
for the train. The views were spectacular and the
weather was grim (perfect).
The best access for photos was between the
carriages for a completely unblocked view. It’s not
all great news because with unblocked views comes
exposure to the rain and cold. I’d still recommend
braving through it though because guess who got
all the banging photos while everyone was inside
nice and warm? Just learn from my mistakes and
wear extra warm clothes.
Despite the depiction in my photos, overcast days
produce such rich and luscious colours in the
environment, making it my favorite time to take
photos. Having these rich colours and even lighting
is the easiest to edit during post-production.
23

Behind
the Photo
All the photos I had seen from New Zealand were
mountainous landscapes with beautiful snowy
peaks. I’d wanted to capture this for myself and
upon arrival to Milford sound, we were greeted
with a perfectly overcast day, clouds rolling over
peaks, and spots of snow.
To save weight I had only packed my Nikon
D7100 and Sigma 18-35 f1.8. Being a crop sensor
camera, this effectively becomes a 27-52mm
lens which I think is an ideal focal length for
traveling. Having just one lens helps you to focus
more on the subject rather than your gear.
With the weather being cloudy, the lighting was
pretty inconsistent with the sun periodically
poking out of the clouds, so I shot in manual
mode but auto ISO. I did this so there was less
chance of shots being incorrectly exposed, and
fussing around with my settings which could
have made me miss a shot. I wanted an aperture
of f/4 because I know that’s where my lens is
the sharpest and the best chance of having my
subject in perfect focus. My shutter speed was
also a concern because we were on a moving
boat. I didn’t need an ultra-fast shutter speed
because boats don’t move that fast, so 1/250th
was a good balance between letting enough light
in, whilst retaining a sharp photo. With these two
settings dialed in, ISO could then be determined
by my camera to put my mind at ease.
On top of this, I used exposure compensation
of -1 stops to ensure the highlights of the clouds
weren’t blown out and could be adjusted in
post-production. To ensure that I had the
best possible file to work with during postproduction,
I only ever shoot in RAW.

25
Milford Sound, New Zealand 1/250th F4 ISO 250

Interview
with Liam
Foster
@liamtfoster
Like myself, Liam is a photographer from the Blue
Mountains, known for his vibrant and emotive
landscape photos. I’ve been following him on
instagram for a while now, and I’m constantly
left in awe from his photography. Having a wide
and diverse portfolio of different locations and
environments, he was first on my priority list to
get involved with this magazine. Luckily I was able
to lock him in for an interview to quiz him about
what he does and share some experiences.
immerse / interview

What got you into photography in the first
place? Was it an instant hobby or did it take a
little while to fall into?
I’ve always seemed to have a camera in my hand
when I was growing up, it’s always been a passion
and then eventually turned into a full-time career.
What does photography mean to you?
Its a fairly major part of my life, really don’t know
where I would be without it... so I guess that sums
it up pretty well.
Do you plan out the photos you want to take
beforehand, or do you just adapt and improvise
while you’re taking photos?
I try not to plan anything when it comes to taking
landscape photos, you obviously have a location in
mind but I like to be in the moment and see what
unfolds. Especially when it comes to shooting at
either sunrise or sunset, you can never predict
what’s going to happen!
27

What are some must see places that you’ve
been to before, and what about them made
them so special?
Anywhere in New Zealand is a must-see, it’s a
landscape photographers paradise! From towering
snow-covered mountain peaks to moss-covered
rainforests there are so many never-ending
magical scenes to capture. I try to go back
every year where I can, that otherworldly place
definitely holds a very special spot in my heart.
What’s one thing you could never go without
while shooting?
Coffee is always a must! Especially on those brisk
4 am starts for Sunrise in winter.
Any tips you have for people starting out in
photography or exploring nature?
Shoot for yourself, don’t shoot to please the
masses on social media!
Is there somewhere you’re dying to see?
There are so many places on the ever-growing list,
but on the top would definitely be Canada, which
hopefully ill be able to tick off next year!
immerse / interview

29

Commitment
“you should never give up on a
banger sunrise”
immerse / feature article

31

The night’s darkest before the dawn.
My friends and I had planned an overnight
trip up the Blue Mountains to photograph the
sunrise at a place called Perry’s Lookdown.
We had planned this trip a couple of weeks
beforehand, and at that point, we hadn’t
considered what the weather would be like.
For the entire week leading up to our camping
trip it was overcast and constantly raining.
On the day we planned to drive up we checked
the weather forecast and it was meant to be
raining the entire time we’d be there and
through to the following day with a high
prediction of heavy rain. At this point we were
all feeling pretty grim about our chances of
a good sunrise, and knowing I had to go to
work the following day, we were very close to
canceling the trip.
We remained committed to our plans and
headed up the mountains to find a good
campsite. I arrived late in the afternoon,
and by the time everyone else had arrived
and we got all our gear out to setup, we were
in complete darkness - a pretty standard
procedure for us.
To complete our usual traditions, dinner was
mi-goreng noodles with some sliced chorizo,
shallots, and chilli flakes to mix things up.
I’d highly recommend it, it’s very quick and
easy to cook, doesn’t require many cooking
utensils, and it can easily feed a big group of
people. It also tastes amazing.
Alarms blaring at 5.30am, we woke up to the
sound of rain pouring on our tents which
made waking up even more difficult than
usual. Nevertheless, we got up and bundled
our gear together, cracked open some energy
drinks, and dragged ourselves down to the
view of the valley. As the sun came up, the
cloud parted, and we witnessed one of the
best sunrises we’ve ever seen.
The sunrise we experienced and the photos
we took, are the reason you should never give
up on a banger sunrise.
immerse / feature article

Perry’s Lookdown, Blue Mountains 1/30th F2.8 ISO 2000
33

Perry’s Lookdown, Blue Mountains 1/400th F2.8 ISO 100

35

Perry’s Lookdown, Blue Mountains 1/200th F2.8 ISO 125
immerse / feature article

Behind
the Photo
A smart man would use a tripod in a situation like
this, unfortunately, I’m no smart man and don’t
own a tripod. Ideally, for a scene like this you’d set
up on a tripod, set the shutter speed for something
long (something between 5 and 30 seconds), adjust
the other settings to expose correctly, and away
you go. For obvious reasons I couldn’t do this.
Instead, I decided to play to the detail in the fog. I
set my shutter speed to 1/200th so that my photo
was as stable as possible, especially with my shaky
hands from the cold weather. I set my aperture
to f2.8 because it allows as much light through as
possible so I could maintain a low ISO and reduce
the amount of noise. Shooting a wide aperture
for a landscape usually isn’t ideal because wide
apertures reduce your depth of field and can render
sections out of focus, however, because the shot is
really wide and all the points of focus are really far
away, the depth of field is very large and everything
is in focus.
Getting the right lighting was just a matter of
waiting and being patient for the sun to rise high
enough above the mountain line, but not above the
line of clouds.
Compositionally I shot my photo so that the sun
should be the first place people look as it’s the
brightest part of the image. People are then led
around the image through the fog clouds in the
valley. This composition wasn’t planned in too
much detail before taking it, however, my brain
is always drawn to these leading lines in the
environment and I believe it helps my photos be
more engaging rather than just visual aesthetics.
37

In Memory of
DSLR’s
Gone but never forgotten
Saying that DSLRs don’t have a place in photography isn’t exactly true,
however, they are no longer the king of digital cameras like they once
were. In 2004, Leica released the first mainstream mirrorless camera, the
M8 digital rangefinder camera. Since then all the major manufacturers
have jumped on board developing their own versions of mirrorless
cameras, pushing the capabilities and technology further and further.
In my opinion, the most significant moment in mirrorless history was
when sony released their A-series cameras in 2013. Sony has pushed the
development of mirrorless cameras at a much faster rate than any of the
other manufacturers through this series of cameras.
The obvious reason to change to mirrorless is for space-saving and to
reduce the amount of weight you are carrying around. The benefits
of mirrorless extend much further than this, including a much larger
range of available lenses, and much longer lifespan due to less moving
components. The distance between the sensor and lens flange is very
different from a DSLR, which allows the use of adapters for almost all
lens types, which technically gives you an almost limitless catalog of
lenses you can use. This also means that changing to mirrorless from
another system is a little easier because you can use your old lenses with
an adapter until you get native lenses.
While there are plenty of advantages, there are still some things you
should consider before you commit to jumping ship. Using adapters for
other lenses with different mounts is all good and well for a temporary
solution, but long term it becomes an inconvenience because autofocus
can be very hit and miss, or just not work at all. The usability is very
different compared to a DSLR as well. DSLR’s are more ergonomic
and have plenty of quick access buttons strategically placed around
the camera so you can quickly adjust settings while taking photos. My
Sony has more custom buttons, however, they are a little more difficult
to access and take more effort to change settings. It’s also squared
and blocky compared to my Nikon bodies which makes it a little less
comfortable in my hands. Mirrorless cameras are also very prone to
building up dust on the sensor at a quicker rate than DSLRs because the
sensor has direct exposure to the environment when a lens isn’t attached,
usually when you’re changing lenses.
immerse / essay

39

Going aerial
Utilising drones for environments.
As much as I wanted to, I avoided titling this Take
your Photography to New Heights because that’s
a gross cliché now. Even though the statement
sounds like something your Dad would say with
a big smile on his face, it’s meaning is completely
true because utilising drones in environmental
photography creates so many more opportunities
for both photos and videos. With all the positives
there are negatives, and drones are no different.
While there are substantial benefits of using
drones, there are also some disadvantages.
I’ve been working commercially with a solar
company for almost a year now as part of their
marketing team. In that time I’ve been using a
DJI Phantom drone for almost all of our photo
and video content. Using the drone speeds up my
workflow, allowing me to quickly fly the drone
up into the sky and photograph the panels from
several different angles in a short time frame.
Before using a drone I would have needed to climb
up onto the roof, set up my harnesses, and walked
around on the roof taking photos. Using a drone
cuts down the amount of time I need to spend on
site and also reduces my safety risk.
Obviously that example doesn’t directly apply to
environmental photography, however, I’m sure you
can see how some benefits would overlap. Using
drones for environmental photography obviously
has its own unique advantages, primarily being
able to photograph places from almost any angle
or distance. It means you can get above the tops of
trees to reveal more of a landscape or fly around
areas that are difficult to get to on foot.
immerse / essay

North Curl Curl, North Sydney 1/100th F2.8 ISO 500
41

There are a few downsides to using drones and
the most significant is the amount of extra gear
you need to be carrying around. There are small
compact models but you’ll find that they’re the
ones that have limited capabilities and lower
quality cameras. After using the Phantom 4 drone
for so long, I think that I’d struggle with anything
less capable, and it’s definitely the drone I’d
recommend anyone else to use. The carry case for
it is quite large and it’s carried by hand, making it a
huge pain in the ass to take anywhere you can’t get
to with a car.
They also require some assembly and start-up
procedures before flying, which can be frustrating
when you want to quickly get a shot. They work
by using GPS that keeps track of the drone’s
positioning which is mostly positive because it
means your drone can accurately locate where it
took off from and use this as a return point if things
turn to shit. The flip side to this is that it needs to
locate it’s GPS coordinates every time it takes off
which can be slow if you’re in an area with poor
GPS reception. There have been times where I was
unable to gain GPS signal and the drone went into
a different positioning mode and limited the flight
height to 5 meters and only allowed me to fly 10m
away. Definitely not ideal nor useable.
I could explain more downfalls to using a drone,
but that’s not really useful for you, and there are a
lot more positive reasons to use a drone than the
negatives. If you’re just starting out, practice flying
at a big open field where no one else is around and
there are no obstacles. Practice flying in different
directions and using a combination of the two
joysticks to become comfortable with moving one
direction whilst rotating in another.
Another handy tip if you’re using a DJI drone is to
use their “Tripod” smart flying mode. It slows the
drone down significantly, allowing you to easily
make very precise and smooth movements while
you’re still learning. This mode is also fantastic
for taking photos aswell because it uses the GPS
coordinates to hold it’s position in the sky and
prevents you from taking blurred photos, and helps
you make small adjustments to your positioning in
order to nail your composition.
immerse / essay

Hampton, Blue Mountains 1/1600th F2.8 ISO 100
43

Killer Timelapse
Preparation
There are a few things you need to plan out before
starting your timelapse in order to get the best
result possible. Firstly, use a tripod. There’s no
getting out of using one unless you want a terrible
outcome. Put your camera in a tree branch if
you need to (I’ve done this before and wouldn’t
recommend it over just using a tripod).
Secondly, either decide how long you want the final
timelapse to be or how long you’re willing to take
the timelapse for. The formula if you’ve decided
the length of the final timelapse duration is: Frame
Rate (Usually 24fps) x duration of timelapse
(in seconds) = Number of photos required. For
example 24(fps) x 8 (seconds) = 192 photos.
The formula if you’ve decided on how long you
want to capture the timelapse for is Capture
Time (in seconds) / Frame Rate (Usually 24fps) =
Duration of the Final Timelapse. For example 200
(seconds) / 24 (fps) = 8.3 Seconds. These formulas
are both based on taking one photo per second,
and obviously will increase capture time or reduce
timelapse duration if the time between each photo
is more than a second.
Finally, make sure your SD cards have enough
storage available, you’re batteries have enough
charge, and you’ve exposed correctly in manual
mode so your settings won’t change throughout
the timelapse. It’s also handy to account for loss of
light in your exposure if you’re shooting a sunset,
or account for overexposure if you’re shooting a
sunrise.
Step 1:
Assess your surroundings and ensure there will
be enough movement in your frame to ensure
the timelapse will be engaging and interesting. In
my scenario, I’ve allowed more space for the sky
because this will be where most of the movement
occurs.
Double-check your composition and your exposure
settings. Now set up your camera’s timelapse
mode either through the inbuilt timelapse mode
or through an intervalometer if your camera
doesn’t have a timelapse function. Use the formula
mentioned before to set your timelapse settings.
To make the motion of your timelapse more
smooth and cinematic, use a slower shutter speed
so that the environment’s movement is blurred.
Don’t stress about your shutter speed because
most of the time this isn’t achievable, and there is a
quick and easy way to do it in post-production.
Step 2
Start the timelapse and sit back, breathe in nature’s
air, and relax. There’s a good chance you’ll have a
long wait, and this is where having a second camera
comes in handy. Usually while my timelapse is
being taken, I’ll continue to walk around with my
other camera and continue to take photos while I
wait.
Step 3
Once the timelapse is finished, you’ll continue
the rest back at home. Import your photos into
lightroom or you’re preferred editing platform.
Use one of the photos from the midpoint of your
timelapse as the photo to make edits on so that
there is minimal bias to lighter or darker portions
of your timelapse if your lighting conditions
changed. Keep your edits to a minimum to ensure
a smooth transition between different lighting
conditions of your timelapse. Copy and apply these
edits to all the photos and export them out. I use
the settings shown in the screenshot.
immerse / tutorial

45

Step 4
Open Premiere Pro and start a new
project. Once a new project is open,
head up to very top menu Premiere
Pro>Preferences>Timeline. Here change
“Still Image Default Duration” to 1 Frames
or whatever the minimum is that it will allow
you (1 is most ideal but it didn’t allow me to
do this). This setting speeds up your entire
process and automatically sets your photo
durations to the correctly length to play on
your timeline at the correct frame rate.
Step 5
File>New>Sequence. Set the settings to what
I’ve included in the screenshot. They aren’t
anything special but they’re pretty universal
and won’t cause you any grief. You can alter
these settings to use a different frame rate or
resolution if you please.
immerse / tutorial

Step 6
Next import all your photos into the
project (cmd+i). Most importantly,
select the first photo, and then at
the bottom of the window select
“options” and then tick “image
sequence”. This speeds your process
up more as it will load all of the
photos into a single timeline to your
specified frame rate. Once imported
into your project, simply drag your
footage onto the project timeline and
you’re basically done. You can export
this out as is, however, there are a few
tricks to make it just that bit better.
Step 7
To improve your timelapse, right click on the
footage that’s on your timeline and select “Speed/
Duration”. From here you can adjust the length
of your timelapse, and more importantly adjust
the “Time Interpolation” which changes how
premiere blends between each frame. Selecting
“Frame Blending” adds a blur to moving elecments
in your timelapse making them more natural and
less jarring. To add the cherry on top, you can
adjust the colour settings of the timelapse and use
keyframing to adjust for lighting changes during
your timelapse eg. adding more brightness to the
end of a sunset timelapse to adjust for loss of
light from the sunsetting to maintain a more even
exposure throughout the timelapse.
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49

Final words
Environmental photography isn’t something that you can pick
up over night and it takes a lot of patience to get the photos you
want. Most of the time when I travel to new places I don’t get the
photos I want, simply because of nature being nature. It can piss
you right off when you’ve waited all day for a sunset, and just as
the sun goes down, thick clouds cover the horizon and sabotage
your golden goodness.
Make the most of the opportunities you have but don’t be
disheartened if these opportunities seem far and few. Get
yourself in the habit of travelling frequently, and constantly
search for new places. While it can be good to frequent a few
places and see those places with different weather, visiting them
too often can kill your creativity and get you stuck in a rut.
I find the easiest way to find new places is to look on instagram
at where your favourite local photographers go. Most of the
time people tag the location or at least the local area nearby.
I’ve created a collection on instagram where I can save these
locations I want to travel to, or use them as a starting point to
reseach more information about later.
Finally, make sure to enjoy what you’re shooting. Don’t get so
caught up in the photography component of exploring that
you forget to enjoy being immersed in nature. For a long time
I was so caught up in taking photos that my photos ended up
getting worse and worse. Pay attention to your surroundings and
photograph what you really like and use the photos to show how
these places make you feel.
- Liam Foulds