Gates Pass 24 Hour Timelapse Montage, Panorama Facing West, Full Equinox, 2008

William Lesch discusses his process for making this print:

As to the process for making the piece, it is a 36 Hour Multiple Exposure Composite plus a Multiple Image Stitched Panorama. In making this piece I shot over 400 separate exposures of the scene from a tripod that remained stationary over the course of two days. Some were taken at night, some of those I used supplemental lighting from a portable battery powered spotlight, some were shot during the day at all different times, at sunset, sunrise, late afternoon, early morning, etc.

I first stitch together related exposures into the panorama so then I end up with around 60 photographs of the scene at all different times of day and night. Since they are all taken from the same tripod in the same position I can stack all these photographs as layers in the computer. I then erase through parts of some layers, overlay pieces of other layers, blend layers, combine pieces etc. To do this I use a painstaking process of “digital painting” with erasers, fine brushes, pen tools, and also make proof prints at various stages. It can take over a week of ten hour days at the computer to arrive at a single final piece. My goal is to create a single image that represents the passage of time at that location overlooking Gates Pass. It was made over the course of the Fall Equinox of 2008, on September 21st, 22nd and 23rd, 2008.