SHOOTER SPOTLIGHT: Astro Timelapse Photographer/Tiffen Content Creator Justin Hartney
What do you get when you mix a passion for the cosmos, an appreciation for science, and a deep knowledge of photography?
We’d like to think the answer to that question is Justin Hartney— a Content Creator for Tiffen Filters whose work you may have seen showcased on Tiffen’s social media channels. Justin has spent years experimenting and mastering the art of Astrophotography and Astro Timelapse. His newer work has also begun incorporating camera movement using the Kessler Second Shooter moco system and TLS slider.
Shooting Astrophotography is an art form in and of itself, but it has a tendency to all look the same when approaching it with the same clinical, ultra-precise techniques that have been circulated among photographers for years. But Justin’s not your average timelapse shooter. Not only is he capturing stunning Astro Timelapses with some dynamic motion to them, but he’s bringing a fresh perspective to the scene by applying his deep knowledge of filters he has gained from working at Tiffen to produce some truly unique-looking images that have gained the attention of the timelapse community.
We recently chatted with Justin to hear more about his unique process, what it’s like working at Tiffen, what inspires him, and where he plans to take his work from here.
KU: First of all, thanks for taking the time to sit down and chat with us. We love the work you’re doing. So tell us a little about your background— where has your focus been as a filmmaker?
JH: Happy to talk with you, thank you! Astro Timelapses were some of the first photos I shot. I picked up a camera in highschool around the same time my interest in astronomy began and since then I’ve probably shot around 400-500 different timelapses, maybe more. I have about 40 terabytes of data accumulated.
It still blows my mind that you can see Earth’s rotation through long exposures. In recent years, the human connection to the cosmos has guided a lot of my work. I give credit to watching a NASA & SpaceX launch at Kennedy Space Center in 2018.
KU: What led you to work at Tiffen and what is that like?
JH: I knew a content job at Tiffen would be so fun as soon as I saw the position open. I’ve been there since the beginning of 2019. A big overlap in my personal passions and Tiffen’s mission is education especially the science behind filters.
As Content Creator, my responsibilities include shooting studio product and lifestyle photo/video, managing our social media channels, and working with the rest of the marketing team for campaigns. Talking with some of my favorite photographers and filmmakers has been one of coolest parts of the job, and of course diving deep into the knowledge of filters has been enlightening.
KU: How long have you been using motion control in your Astro Timelapses? What made you choose to ‘go down the rabbit hole’?
JH: The Second Shooter and TLS system have been in my toolkit for only a few months but I’ve seen plenty of slider timelapses from watching films like Timescapes and following the work of Dustin Kukuk, Noah Waldron, and Tom Lowe.
Moving a camera helps recreate the actual experience of walking through a scene. Lately I’ve been doing lateral slides through gaps of joshua tree clusters. I wouldn’t be able to move myself through the area but the camera angle looks great aimed up at the sky. Moving the pan head opposite of the star’s movement (East->West) exaggerates the speed.
KU: Can you talk through some of your big lessons or mistakes you ran into when you first began shooting Astro Timelapses?
JH: One of the first lessons I learned was checking focus before starting the timelapse. It’s one thing if a still image is blurry versus 400 frames. Also, using astronomy and planning software has helped pre-visualize timelapses. Knowing what’s in the sky when, the direction of movement, and the layout of terrain help save a lot of time in the field. For someone starting out in timelapse, I recommend playing with different intervals and shutter speeds in the same scene. That has helped me understand how time moves in different scenes.
KU: What are the must-haves in your gear bag when going out to shoot an Astro Timelapse?
JH: My go to kit is a Canon 6Dmk2 5Dmk3, 16-35mm F/2.8, 50mm F/1.4, 70-200mm F/2.8, as well as extra batteries, memory cards, and an external intervalometer. I also pack two regular tripods and a desktop tripod (I have a Joby), a Tiffen Pro100 filter holder and a couple densities of fog filters, and the Second Shooter system and TLS. At least one camera will be shooting at all times to create longer sequences with visual variety.
KU: One thing that sets your work apart is your use of filters. How has working at Tiffen opened up your shooting of Astro Timelapses?
JH: Filters have been a great help with my Astro Timelapses. Editing still images is easy in Photoshop to tweak every pixel to perfection, but timelapses need the look to be dialed in in-camera. The Tiffen fog filters are a more creative choice for timelapses which mimic the Orton Effect in photography. I’ve found the star glow created enhances both the light and color of stars making the night sky a dreamy scene. A “technical” filter I’ve been using is the Tiffen Enhancing filter which is intended for fall foliage, but excels is astrophotography. It removes a wavelength of yellow that is found in most light pollution while enhancing a red wavelength common in h-alpha nebulae. Both of these filters can take a lot of work out of post processing as well as give a specific look that’d be hard to replicate in post.
KU: Let’s talk a bit about patience. Timelapse of course takes time. How long are your timelapses, and what do you do with your time while you’re out in the field?
JH: There’s more light pollution than ever and being under a totally dark sky is becoming more rare, so stargazing itself is such a privilege, but I love the headspace I enter when shooting timelapses— especially at night. I usually listen to music and lay flat on my back. The shooting aspect is the extra bonus. Hearing the rhythm of the shutter click reminds me that I’m soaking up the light from all over the universe.
With that said, it isn’t all enjoyable waiting for a 4-5 hour timelapse to finish… cold winter nights or strong winds can make conditions pretty miserable.
KU: A lot of people who shoot Astro Timelapses think capturing the cleanest possible image is the best practice. Can you maybe talk about how that may not always be the best choice, and what filters can do for your image? Can you recommend a few filters for folks wanting to dabble in spicing up their timelapses?
JH: Fog Filters and Star Filters! Before working at Tiffen, I saw star filters mostly used for concerts, but those have been my favorite “spices'' to add to an astrolandscape. Also the Black Pro Mist is one of my favorite filters along with the rest of the diffusion line. These are great filters for shooting into any kind of light source: car headlights, citylights, and starlight.
Sci-Fi films are a big inspiration, so creating a surreal scene with these filters can take you to another world. The disadvantage is the commitment to the look. It may not be the most natural look and can cause a little softening throughout the image.
KU: What do you say to folks who think filters are unnecessary and the looks from them can be mimicked in post-production?
JH: Even if you could mimic a look in post, the idea of shooting in camera is much more organic. The light is bended and reflected in ways before it even touches the sensor. I’m not a big film shooter, but I’d imagine it’s a similar feeling of getting the look in analogue. It always saves a huge time in post processing. I do know Knives Out wrote a post-production script to emulate window halation.
KU: What are you looking for when you’re setting up your timelapse?
JH: I’m looking for change. A mad scientist wants to conduct the same experiment over and over and expect a new result. That’s what I hope to do with timelapses. I want each frame to be slightly different than before and end somewhere different than the beginning. In terms of setting up a composition, I look for layers in the frame. A foreground, midground, and then stars behind. Time of year is huge because the summer sky is different from the winter. The Milky Way Center is best from late spring to early fall, while constellations like Orion are best in winter. East and West are where objects rise and set which are great for timelapses. Starting a timelapse of a scene with a constellation rising over is always so cool to me.
KU: So how much thinking ahead are you doing?
JH: Planning is what keeps me sane during the day time, but every timelapse is a trial and error in my opinion because you never know what’s going to happen when you start the camera.
There’s still a lot of shots I have in my head before I get to a location, and a lot of conditions to think about before I show up. A dark sky is a must (new moons are always a great time to shoot astro), and then comes the landscape. Ocean, desert, and mountains are my favorite landscapes to juxtapose with the sky. The timescale of these terrestrial subjects are far greater than our perception, similar to the life cycle of a star.
But following along celestial events have guided a lot of my work. Shooting meteor showers, comets, conjunctions, and eclipses require extensive planning to get images, but you’ve got to be ready for spontaneity when in the field shooting. I’ll sometimes shoot 4+ different angles in a night. Waiting for a timelapse to finish is a great time to think about the next composition.
KU: Is there a type of camera move, location, or astronomical event you’re hoping to capture? What is your holy grail of astro timelapses?
JH: In 2019 I shot a couple 24 hour timelapses, and would love to do one of those on 3-axis movement. I’ll have to get better at auto-ramping the exposure and a larger battery source. The idea of shooting a 24 hour timelapse has fascinated me. It’s like bottling a day to look back later. Another dream timelapse would be the aurora borealis with a NASA sounding rocket flying through.
KU: What gear or techniques do you have your eye on next to try to incorporate in your timelapse work?
JH: My next gear upgrade will be a dedicated astro-camera with strong low light performance and an astro-modded sensor to pick up wavelengths common in space.
KU: Talk us through your post process.
JH: Post-Production is huge for timelapses. It’s where the timelapse “develops” into an actual movie. I use LRTimelapse with Lightroom and then After Effects/Premiere with some additional plugins to deflicker/denoise timelapses. Once the clip is cleaned/corrected it’s a malleable asset to be edited/tweaked for a specific project. I try to get the color dialed in with Lightroom, where you have the most latitude with editing the raw images directly.
KU: What are some parting tips you can leave for filmmakers wanting to get into astrolapses? (Maybe encouraging people to play with filters, or motion control of some sort if you can’t think of anything else)
JH: I’d recommend shooting any chance you get regardless of moon phases/light pollution. You can reveal the stars above even in NYC with timelapses. Any filmmaker exploring timelapse should consider the duration of a clip. That will determine your shutter speed limit, and interval. The Second Shooter system is so intuitive in this regard. Shooting 24 x 8 second exposures with a 2 second interval will take 4 minutes to shoot and will play back 1 second of 24 fps video. Some of the night timelapses require 20-30” exposures which can take several hours to get a decent length clip. Don’t be afraid of using effect filters or light painting either. The night sky is nearly invisible to our eyes, so anything the camera captures is already beyond our own vision.
KU: Wow, you’ve given us and our readers a LOT to think about. Thank you for taking the time to sit down with us! Where can people follow you and your work?
JH: The pleasure was mine. I love shooting timelapses and talking about them isn’t too far behind. You can follow my work on instagram, my website, and occasionally on Tiffen’s instagram.
If you’re curious to learn more about the Second Shooter motion control system or the TLS used by Justin Hartney, visit Kesslercrane.com.
