Mystical 4K Timelapse of Yellowstone National Park

Photography Tips  •  Time-lapse Photography

Yellowstone National Park is one of America’s true gems. It’s a powerful wildlife expanse of blasting geysers and unencumbered trees, filling up the northwestern corner of Wyoming, along with chunks of Idaho and Montana. If you’ve never been, this part-video, part-timelapse short film, shot entirely using Canon’s strongest 4K video, might convince you to leave immediately:

The video was shot and edited by wildlife enthusiast Henry Jun Wah Lee, whose fascination with naturalism and Chinese medicine visibly seeps into his photography.

“As someone who also grew up in the cities, I first started going out in nature simply to reconnect for myself. Being out there made me realize how much I was missing in my life. In the wilderness there is nothing between you and the stars. Trying to grasp the infinite is an inspiring, as well as a humbling experience. Seeing in person how nature works helped me also to better understand myself.” – Henry Jun Wah Lee, in an interview with The Atlantic, 2012

Henry achieves the incredible detail and fluidity in the video by utilizing the full force of the 4K video on his two Canon cameras, the EOS-1D C and 5D Mk III. The timelapse scenes were shot on a 5K RAW setting, and he uses an array of motion slider cranes like the Kessler Crane Cinedrive and Cineslider to achieve a graceful pan over lakes and valleys.

There’s been a lot of buzz around 4K technology lately, as companies are doling out 4K TVs and cameras in droves. Critics claim the daunting resolution (in this case, 4096×2160) won’t be discernible on smaller screens. It’s debatable whether it’s much stronger than standard HD. It certainly doesn’t do this video any harm.