Science! By Ryan Whitwam Apr. 5, 2014 9:31 am
We humans live life fast, so it makes sense that our perception matches that pace. Though, not all creatures on the planet are so rushed. Corals and sponges go about their lives so slowly you might not notice they were moving at all. With the magic of time lapse cinematography, Daniel Stoupin has made the world of the coral reef much more dynamic and in-step with our narrow sensory perceptions. It turns out that sped up coral looks almost alien.
The corals and sponges in this video are sedentary creatures, but they still go through the same motions of life other organisms do — they assimilate nutrients, grow, and reproduce. Most corals are actually large colonies of organisms that obtain nutrients through a symbiotic relationship with algaes. However, some species have stinging cells that can capture larger organisms or filter the water for plankton and other organic edibles. Some sponges (large multi-cellular organisms rather than colonies) also work together with algae, but filter feeding is more common.
This is probably one of the most rapturously beautiful pieces of video on the web because it wasn’t taken with a regular video camera. Slow Life was assembled from a series of 150,000 macro shots taken mostly with a Canon 5D Mk III and MP-E 65 mm lens. This allowed Stoupin to produce a video with 4K resolution and very sharp focus. Each frame of the video is actually a stack of 3-12 shots that merges the in-focus areas. Processing time was about 10 minutes for each of these frames, and there are a lot of them. You should definitely*full-screen this.
The Slow Life video shows corals moving around, changing, opening their polyps, and generally going about their business. Seeing it happen so fast is an eye-opening experience, reminding us these creatures aren’t just part of the background — they are a vital part of the oceans. It’s also very, very pretty.
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The corals and sponges in this video are sedentary creatures, but they still go through the same motions of life other organisms do — they assimilate nutrients, grow, and reproduce. Most corals are actually large colonies of organisms that obtain nutrients through a symbiotic relationship with algaes. However, some species have stinging cells that can capture larger organisms or filter the water for plankton and other organic edibles. Some sponges (large multi-cellular organisms rather than colonies) also work together with algae, but filter feeding is more common.
This is probably one of the most rapturously beautiful pieces of video on the web because it wasn’t taken with a regular video camera. Slow Life was assembled from a series of 150,000 macro shots taken mostly with a Canon 5D Mk III and MP-E 65 mm lens. This allowed Stoupin to produce a video with 4K resolution and very sharp focus. Each frame of the video is actually a stack of 3-12 shots that merges the in-focus areas. Processing time was about 10 minutes for each of these frames, and there are a lot of them. You should definitely*full-screen this.
The Slow Life video shows corals moving around, changing, opening their polyps, and generally going about their business. Seeing it happen so fast is an eye-opening experience, reminding us these creatures aren’t just part of the background — they are a vital part of the oceans. It’s also very, very pretty.
More...
