Coral Erupts with Action in Time Lapse Video

Ran across this slow life video of a coral reef. It's mind blowing, you can see all the tiny and subtle details of this beautiful animal. While they may not look like a typical animal, as this video shows they are very much alive.



Each frame of the slow life video took about 10 minutes to film, and has no digital enhancement. Just the pure natural beauty of Mother Nature.



With all the craziness and bad news happening in the world, I thought I'd share this unusual look at a coral reef.



It's a pretty short video, a little over 3 minutes.

Produced by photographer Daniel Stoupin, it's a dramatic reminder that "life has a very broad spectrum of speeds," as Stoupin puts it.

But it's also much more than that. It's a mind-blowing opus of time-lapse wizardry, described by the photography blog PetaPixel as a "masterpiece" whose hypnotic images "defy proper description." It was quickly named a Vimeo Staff Pick, and has already been watched more than 1.6 million times so far during its brief tenure online.

Titled "Slow Life," the video reflects an incredible amount of work to capture the subtle majesty of these enigmatic animals. It consists of 150,000 raw exposures, each one 22 megapixels, that Stoupin squeezed into 218 seconds of video. Why so many photos? "Because macro photography involves shallow depth of field," Stoupin writes on Vimeo.

"To extend it, I used focus stacking. Each frame of the video is actually a stack that consists of 3-12 shots where in-focus areas are merged."

Coral, Sponges Erupt...

a reply to: Jennyfrenzy

I have had the joy of seeing this with my own eyes as a scuba diver, and even more rare as a marine aquarist. I actually had may tanks all spawn in unision of the natuaral event. What was also intesting was watching my fish gorging themselves to the point of regurgatating.Who would have thought of fish having a gag reflex.Interesting. Nature is a truely beautiful thing.This experience was a rare privilage.Even living so close to the Great Barrier Reef and diving several times a week over many years.

Are you trying to activate my Trypophobia or just freak me out with crazy nature coolness?

Just wondering...

HOLY CRAP! And he did stacking??? WOW I Have done this on one image I could not imagine on 150,000....

a reply to: abeverage

Dude! You have trypophobia too!! Sometimes I google trypophobia and just look, it's so gross but it really can't be helped. Nature is both disgusting and beautiful at the same time

originally posted by: Jennyfrenzy
a reply to: abeverage

Dude! You have trypophobia too!! Sometimes I google trypophobia and just look, it's so gross but it really can't be helped. Nature is both disgusting and beautiful at the same time

OK! Well I didn't have it until I googled it NOW I DO! EFFING GROSS! UGH! Those one frogs with the baby's being born in their skin had me suspicious but then all the photoshopped crap freaked me out!


GRRRRRRR!

a reply to: Jennyfrenzy

Acans, leathers, Scolymia. Oh my! Nice time-lapse, J-frenz!
This was definitely filmed in an aquarium setting. I can tell by the lighting and the coral types. All the corals featured are fairly common in the Fish Trade.
I was in the trade for almost 5 years. Freshwater never really did it for me.. Marine fish and inverts have way more personality and intelligence than freshies.
I have done a lot of SCUBA diving in the Keys; had my best dives in Cozumel. The night dives I did there with all the bioluminescence, were the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life (well, that I can discuss on ATS anyways.. )! That and the grouper that was inside a reef that was the size of a VW Beetle!!

a reply to: DenyFlatulence
Wow, sounds like fun! You always get to do all the cool stuff!

I'm not brave enough to go scuba diving, too chicken lol. My parents go all the time, they love it.

a reply to: Jennyfrenzy

I bet you could handle diving. Very easy to do once trained. Just stay away from the Brain Corals and you'd be fine.
The only thing that freaks me out a little while diving is being above a large wooden ship wreck. Something about the size and the shape gives me the willies..