Making-of

Idea & technology

Here you will find all the information about the idea behind the campaign and the technology behind the motifs created.

How It All Began - Hanover Timelapse

Stefan Knaak during filming at the Lichtenberg Roundabout.

Showcasing Hannover’s most beautiful spots in all their glory. The challenge: to capture both day and night in a single image. Building on the success of the film “Hannover – Timelapse 2,” these moving images are now set to be featured on a poster! Stefan Knaak, a freelance photographer from Hannover, created a similar design back in 2015. Using a technique known as time-lapse photography, he captures the view from the Bredero skyscraper on Raschplatz across all of Hannover and creates a day-night image.

At an initial meeting between Stefan and representatives from Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH, it quickly became clear that the project was not about individual photos, but rather an image campaign. The subjects were developed collaboratively and include a diverse mix of locations from all parts of the city, alongside some typical landmarks such as the new city hall and Lake Maschsee. Before the first shoot, all the proposed locations had to be visited and photographed. This took three weeks. Initially, the focus was on 20 locations. After the test shots, it quickly became clear which locations were suitable for the type of photos and which were not as suitable. For Stefan Knaak, the summer of 2016 became a life lived between day and night.

The technology

View of the kitchen garden from the Ihmezentrum

To show day and night in a photo, photos must be taken during the day and at night. In between, the camera must not move so that there are no shifts between the photos. For each motif, Knaak stands from midday until the early hours of the morning at the respective locations where the pictures are taken. Between 800 and 3,500 photos were taken at each location.

A total of approximately 20,000 photos were taken during the campaign. After each scene is photographed, the images are reviewed on a computer to determine whether the photo fits the scene. The selected photos are then edited in Lightroom and assembled into a complete composition in Photoshop. In total, this process takes between one and four days per image. Once the final image has been approved in consultation with the project participants, it is forwarded to the graphic designer—in this case, Jasmin Göbel of formreichdesign—who creates the print files for the posters, calendar, and advertisements.

Possible difficulties arise in the form of so-called "converging lines", which occur when the subject is at an angle to the camera and the wide-angle object of the camera is distorted in perspective. For each image, the conditions of the subject must be checked in advance to ensure that converging lines are avoided by choosing the right lens. Unfortunately, this was not possible for all subjects due to the physical opposing planes.

For example, at Lichtenbergplatz, Knaak needed a focal length of 11mm—despite using a full-frame camera—to capture the sky and the entire roundabout, even though the converging lines are particularly noticeable here and could be reduced using a tilt-shift lens. However, no such lens exists with the required focal length. So the photographer makes use of the classic time-lapse technique, in which images are taken at fixed intervals. However, there is a small but crucial difference: the exposure time for most of the campaign photos was significantly shorter than in normal time-lapse shots, in order to capture moving subjects like people and cars in sharp focus at all times. In standard time-lapse photography, similar to film, longer exposure times are used to achieve smoother transitions.

Throughout the campaign, he will receive technical support from the company ProBis, which has provided Knaak with various lenses and clamping devices for railings and, if necessary, adapted them structurally to the circumstances of the respective motifs. This ensures that even the heaviest camera is held on the tripod or railing.

Making-of

Creation of the pictures

Here you can find out everything about the creation of the images as they change from day to night.

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Stefan Knaak

Portrait of the photographer

Here you will find information about the photographer who took the motifs and the time-lapse videos.

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Videos to click through

Time Jump Hannover - Video Gallery

Here you can find all videos at a glance.

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