We at CamDo Solutions enjoy a good brew from time to time. So when customer, Brett Eichenberger, told us he was creating a time lapse of the hops growing process with Blink*, a Solar Enclosure and a HERO4 camera, we were excited to see the end result.For this video, Crosby Hop Farm wanted to show the beauty and mystique of hop growth and harvest, something that has not been shown in this way before. So Eichenberger eagerly stepped up to the task, resulting in an impressive, beautifully done video highlighting the hopsgrowth and harvesting process.
*BlinkX for HERO5 is now available!
The project ran for a little over 5 months earlier this year, shot at a few different angles. He shot every 10 minutes for 12 hours a day, beginning just before the sun came up until right after the sun went down.
“What I love about Blink is that I’m not shooting all night long. I’m able to conserve card space and battery.”
For such a large, complex project, he thankfully didn’t run into any major challenges.
“The biggest issue was knowing I would get what the client wanted. This is the first time I’ve shot plant growth over a long period of time. I had an idea of what to expect, but I didn’t know exactly how it would look. The biggest thing I didn’t realize is how much the wind would alter the shots.”
While capturing plant growth might have been a new endeavor, time lapse photography isn’t new to Eichenberger. He had an interest in seeing the world move at a much quicker pace over long periods of time and began experimenting with it back in 2004.
“What I loved about digital photography was it gave me the opportunity to shoot long exposure time-lapse, something that wasn’t possible with video cameras.”
As a seasoned time lapse vet, we asked for any time lapse wisdom he had to share. He had this to offer:
“Check on the camera frequently. The camera, solar powered housing and blink worked flawlessly the entire time, but you never know what’s going to land on your lens during extended time-lapse shots. There were a lot of birds on the farm, I’ll just leave it at that.”
The video turned out great, and we’re excited to see what’s brewing in the future from Eichenberger. He’s got several projects coming up for those interested in following what he’s up to. One is a feature which he directed, which will be playing film festivals in 2018. Another feature will be going into production in 2018. In between these projects, he’ll be working on a variety of different projects from time-lapse centered projects (including another hops growth video next year and other commercial videos.
About Brett Eichenberger
Brett Eichenberger has been a filmmaker for over 20 years and has produced, directed and edited multi-award winning short films, features, music videos and commercials. He’s worked around the world for the US Department of Defense, clients like Nike, National Geographic and the City of Portland where he resides. Check out more of his work on his website, IMDB page or on Twitter.
