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Tag: Cape Porpoise

June 28, 2026

How Clouds Transformed My Boring Sunrise Timelapses into Pure Magic

Watching any sunrise is a meaningful experience, but I’ve learned that recording a timelapse video during a cloudless dawn doesn’t generate enough action.  Clouds have to be in the shot for the timelapse to feature their secret dance. Here are a few examples.

I’ve effectively stopped taking photos and videos of sunrises. Why? Because every close-up shot of the early sun is the same.

Instead, I now focus on showing how the environment reflects or responds to first light. So that requires a wider angle shot where the sun isn’t necessarily center stage.

That creative approach is much more interesting to me.

The Dance of the Clouds

Often, the key ingredient is how the clouds are positioned and move throughout a sunrise. Their sped-up motion becomes the anchor for the entire scene.

Cloud support is always part of any successful sunrise timelapse video I record. 

But there are many variables… How much cloud cover is there? How fast are they moving? In which direction? What are their colors?The permutations are endless. 

Waking up at 4:30am on Vacation?

Which is why I always choose to set up my tripod for a summer sunrise timelapse whenever I’m on vacation in Cape Porpoise, Maine. (This is not a ‘once and done’ creative exercise.)

The place we stay offers a spectacular view over the mudflats near the ocean. So, if the weather forecast looks good for the next day, I set my wakeup alarm for 4:30am.

Yes, it may be counter intuitive to get up wicked early on a vacation morning. But that’s what it takes to capture the amazing colors in the sky before the sun shows up at 5am. And let me tell you… it’s worth it.

My DJI Osmo Glows with the Sun

I’ve been using my little DJI Osmo gimbal camera for my ongoing sunrise project over the past five summers, and I’ve found that each of my sunrise timelapses looks entirely unique. That’s because every morning brings a different cloud formation.

Of course, you can’t have total cloud cover. Alternately, you need some clouds in place. Otherwise, you’ll just have that little glowing ball moving slowly in an empty blue sky.

Nature Calls the Shots

I run my sunrise timelapses for an hour, auto-snapping frames at 3-second increments. That generates a 40-second video. 

A lot can happen in the sky across an hour. So, what you start with may evolve into something entirely different that can make or break your results. But there’s nothing you can do… other than observe.

Nature is in control.

Which means you’re not going to get what you hope for every morning. But I’m pleased to report that I had some success this summer in Maine. And I have a new crop of Cape Porpoise mudflat sunrise timelapses to share with you. Here are the highlights.

Start Your Day

My ‘skill’ in capturing these stunning moments is mostly just about being able to stumble out of bed and show up on time to witness nature present its magical morning show. 

And if the clouds should decide on a ‘pleasing’ sequence for a timelapse, you’re in for a treat.

What better way to start your day.

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July 13, 2025

How to Create Awesome Drone Footage with Amateur Flying Skills

Failure can often lead to success. After I crashed my camera drone, I was crushed. Happily, my drone was not. Then, I discovered a flying trick that every novice should consider. Here’s how it enhanced my aerial footage. 

I finally bought a camera drone to start this new hobby I’ve long wanted to try. Then, I got to work studying how to fly it. I trusted my DJI Flip’s intelligent flying modes to protect my investment against disaster, because I didn’t have enough faith in my novice piloting skills. I was worried about crashing my little drone.

And then I did.

But my Flip survived its impact with that tree. So, I wiped the egg off my face and was determined to learn how to properly fly my little drone.

I continued slowly, and my patience finally paid off when I discovered a key aerial storytelling trick.

Fly Slow and Smooth
Generating cinematic videos with a drone is all about flying it ‘slow’ and ‘smooth.’ All those establishing shots you can think of from movies… yes, slow and smooth.

And that translates to easier and safer flying.

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And if you’re looking to create more motion in your drone footage, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to fly faster. Instead, just fly your drone lower. Moving over a landscape close to the ground produces more movement than from higher up. 

Happily, these flying strategies are relatively easy to accomplish. And just as importantly, they don’t put your drone at significant risk.

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So, as I explored flying my drone manually, I intentionally followed the slow/smooth rule and practiced simplistic flying routines. 

Up. Down. Forward. Back. Sideways. 

The most aggressive maneuver I attempted was elevating my drone as it simultaneously moved forward.

Embrace your Inner Rookie
How fast can my drone go? I have no idea. I haven’t tried to find out. Could I always see my drone as I flew it? 100%.

Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.

And as I flew in the dullest of ways, that’s when my adrenaline levels finally began to stabilize, and the tension melted away.

And guess what? I decided I’m just not going to fly my drone over water. I’m not going to fly it over a mountain ridge. I’m not going to fly between two objects and try to thread a needle. I’m never going to worry if my drone has enough battery power to make it back.

I’m just not going to push it. This isn’t a sport for me. It’s a new hobby with an expensive piece of gear I’d like to keep in one piece.

Barrett’s Drone Footage from the Mud Flats of Cape Porpoise, Maine
Even with my self-imposed training wheels in place, my conservative flying style still enabled my DJI Flip to capture the incredible beauty of our world with motion. Often, just getting your drone in the air to is enough to recording stunning clips.

And that’s exactly what I did… I think I captured some nifty footage during my training flights on the mud flats of Cape Porpoise, Maine. 

Here’s a video compilation of my manual maneuvering along with a few auto QuickShots (courtesy of the drone’s built-in code).

(Yes, my flying style was boring, but my shots were not.)

How to Quickly Edit your Drone Clips
I put this edit together using a couple tools:

  • The DJI Fly mobile app for basic video editing and music
  • Final Cut Pro for precision edits and speed ramping

I should mention that you can quickly perform a punchy edit just using the DJI Fly app on your phone. There’s even a 1-click editing solution. It’s not perfect, but you can generate and share a dynamic video with your phone in just a couple minutes. Impressive. Most impressive.

When Less is More
A little drone can go a long way. I mean that both literally and figuratively. 

You don’t have to fly your camera drone like it’s capturing a stunt shot for “Mission Impossible.” I say… keep it all entirely ‘possible.’

And while many pros out there may yawn at my stubbornness to avoid all risk, I’m entirely pleased with my creative results to date. 

Others may like showing off their camera drone crashes to the world, I hope to never do that again.

Start slow. Keep it slow. Make it smooth.

Less is more.

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June 29, 2025

From Static to Cinematic: How I Added More Motion to my Sunrise Videos

A timelapse video has been my method to capture the grandness of a summer sunrise. But without a few properly positioned clouds to glide through the shot, the footage can look flat. Consider using a camera drone instead to provide the dynamic motion you’re looking for. Here are my examples.

A sunrise timelapse video can be amazing. But unless you’re running your timelapse for a couple hours, the sun doesn’t move enough to make a big impact in your shot. (Plus, after 30 minutes, it’s not really a sunrise anymore.) So, our star is only half of the equation to generate a beautiful timelapse. 

Clouds are the other half. They’re often moving a bit faster, and when sped up by a timelapse, their motion is far more dramatic. Plus, clouds can help provide the deep, reflective coloring distinctive of any great sunrise.

Sure, clouds are technically the supporting players for this opening act, but they can steal the show when they’re in sync with their star.  

Conversely, without properly positioned clouds in your shot, a sunrise timelapse can look… boring.

In Search of the Perfect Timelapse of a Summer Sunrise
For the past few years, I’ve been vacationing in southern Maine by the stunning mud flats in Cape Porpoise. And I’ve woken up at the crack of dawn each morning with the hope of capturing a ‘perfect’ sunrise timelapse. 

I use my little DJI Osmo Pocket 3 gimbal camera, which is a great tool for timelapses. You just set it up on a tripod, program the timelapse sequence, and then it does all the work. It can even add a little panning motion. 

But the odds of success each morning have not been in my favor. 

Stormy Sky
Surprisingly, a stormy cloud mass can make for an interesting sunrise timelapse. But then it’s more about the cloud dance. The sunrise becomes a background player, if you can still see it. This happened during my Sunday timelapse this year.

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Blobby Sky
Conversely, too many clouds obscuring Sunday’s sunrise eventually created this milky sky blob.

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Barren Sky
My Monday timelapse captured a mostly barren sky and a tiny ball of fire. I felt the few wispy clouds just weren’t enough to fill my digital canvas.

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Perfect Sky
As I’ve described, the perfect recipe for a spectacular sunrise timelapse is a good balance of clouds moving about (but not in front of) the rising sun. That finally happened on Thursday.

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Anyone will always be at the mercy of the weather. So, if I’m able to capture one great cloud-fused sunrise during a vacation, I feel lucky.

Camera Drone in the Sky
Timelapses add motion through time acceleration. But as I’ve mentioned you need a few clouds to accelerate. If you could add motion to your shot without having to rely on clouds, that could be a better way to get the job done.

Last time, I wrote about my new camera drone, the DJI Flip. And yes, I took with me this year on our vacation to test out.

I discovered that a drone beach shot rushing towards the sunrise can be a game changer. It’s not a timelapse, but the drone’s motion through the landscape instantly creates a cinematic video.

No, the clouds don’t move (if there are any), but it doesn’t matter. The dynamic motion zipping across the mud flats blows away any cloud. My camera drone has instantly taken my multi-year sunrise video project to a whole new level. Look at the visual energy it created for my Friday sunrise.

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I’m just a novice camera drone operator, but I couldn’t be happier with this clip.

Next time, I’ll share my journey to this successful shot. And believe me, it wasn’t all sunshine.

A Week of Beautiful Sunrises
You may say that every sunrise is perfect. And you’d be right. 

The fact that I got to witness multiple beautiful sunrises on vacation should be my headline. 

But I’ve also chosen to spend that time practicing my creative. 

I know you can never truly capture nature’s perfection. But a sunrise certainly gives you something amazing to point your camera at.

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