Featured on National Geographic: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2011/08/15/new-astro-timelapse-video-the-island-showcases-astronomy-haven/ thanks to NG, awesome! Imagine the world's largest volcanic erosion crater. Then imagine an island with an incredible area to height ratio: low area of 708 square km and the 12 km wide "caldera de taburiente" with it's 2445 m high roque de los muchachos peak... or the near 2000 m high Deseada volcanic twin peaks on the ruta de los Volcanes... Combine that with beautiful starry skies - and you have La Palma (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Palma). My new TimeLapse project "The Island" is dedicated to this beautiful and lovely Island of the Canaries... Note: this is my second TL project, the first one - "Black Hole Sun" - was reviewed nicely on NAT GEO daily news http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2011/05/26/new-mountain-timelapse-a-soundgarden-of-night-lights/) "The Island" was filmed by me alone during the first week of August 2011, less than 10 hrs sleep the whole week! Making-of images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vertrider/sets/72157627278118235/with/6029262243/ About the project: I have been to Palma many times for mountain biking and hiking in the past and have written some travel articles about the Island which hosts a spanish national park ("Caldera de Taburiente") and a UNESCO biosphere reservate ("Los Tilos Rainforest". It is a little paradise by itself - for nature lovers and hikers with a faible for dramatic landscapes and climatic zones, that change on every meter of ascent / descent. I always tried to cover the beauty of it's incredible landscape and endemic nature at day and night with still images - a TimeLapse showing it's celestial beauties matched to the dramatic volcanic landscapes was always a dream, that was slowly getting real, after I had finished "Black Hole Sun" and gained knowledge about landscape TimeLapse photography. As a member of the Instructor team of the Austrian Summit Club and Landscape photographer I love to be outdoors in the Mountains anyway at all times. So this project was always welcome! La Palma has not only beautiful day landscapes to offer, it is one of the top six places on Earth to view the Night skies and hosts the worlds largest single aperture optical telescope (GTC - grantecan, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roque_de_los_Muchachos_Observatory). Now during a week of new moon I was finally able to cover most of the scenery I had in mind in TimeLapse technique. About the production: Astrolandscape TimeLapse is equipment intensive. It was one of the most intense experiences ever in regards of - carrying around the equipment on the volcanic mountains... - 4 Nikon DLSR (1 x D3s, D700, 2 x D7000) - 6 Nikon Pro Lenses (10/2.8 DX, 2 x 14-24/2.8, 24-70/2.8, 50/1.4, 24/1.4) - up to 5 Manfrotto/Tripods - Stage Zero Dynamic Perception Dolly - Orion Astronomic Head - AstroTrac TT320X-AG - Rechargeable Batteries, Batteries, Batteries - VauDe Mountaineering Equipment - Water / Food / iPad with astronomical software* - RedBull, RedBull, RedBull - MacBook Pro** ... but it also has been some of the best times enjoying one of the most dramatic landscapes imaginable in all it's beauty, including unforgettable sunsets, moonsets and sunrises, countless meteor streak sightings (I stopped counting after about 50...) and an eternal Milky Way amazingly glowing from the starry night sky. Other than in Central Europe (see my other project "Black Hole Sun" http://vimeo.com/24149087) on La Palma's Mountains and in the south, one can truly differentiate the Milky Ways dark dust regions just by eye - no camera needed. It is an incredible view, I tried to capture the best I can. Under these starry skies, and this incredible, eternal glowing band of our galaxy, one can feel the time - directly and pure. It is furthemore a totally silent landscape, dark and mysterious. Only noises from time to time are from the wind touching the big century old pine trees making for a very own orchestral sound. I am for sure not the most religious person, but if you experience this remarkable landscape and the glowing skies above, there is to say that God had a good day when he created La Palma. But Nature on La Palma can be harsh and dangerous too: it showed it's strengths more than once with strong to severe winds (up to appr. 70 km/h) on the volcanic ridges. While I of course know that staying on the Cumbre Vieja or the Roque at stormy winds is not the best idea - if there is clear sky and you have to take footage on your planned timed/locations, you have to cope with it, no workaround. This made it partly quite tough to film - add to that the nights alone in darkness with boosting winds. I could only use the tent twice and on the other days had to seek shelter behind rocks. And La Palma's mountains are really DARK, with only the starry sky above. While I am used to stay out alone on the mountains to capture night skies for Ast