The Amalfi Coast (la costiera amalfina) is one of Italy's most spectacular landscapes. During a short trip some time ago I shot some time-lapse sequences on different iconic spots. Finally it came together in the short film «Amalfi Mia!».
Please have a look, if possible use your full screen and earphones.

Amalfi Mia! - The Amalfi Coast from Joerg Niggli on Vimeo.

Extending my knowledge in photography and time-lapse shooting: that's the goal of project «Timelapse Plus». Follow this blog for more information and the progression of the adventure that takes place in La Palma and Austria.

After the Rain No. 2, July 2016

After the rain, near the Gotthard pass. July 2016

«Tremola» - The old Gotthard road over one of Europe's most important mountain passes. It's a Cinemagraph, but one in a subdued manner.

A series of 9 images shot last summer in New York (Manhattan and Coney Island) - please have a look here

A short glimpse of Amman, the capital of Jordan. Enjoy!



Please watch it in full frame, if possible. It's a FullHD video.
If you like to see the longer version (a Vimeo Staff Pick), here it is.

Finally niggli.com has been updated to the latest standards. It now can be easily watched on tablets and mobile phones as well.

Die Webseite niggli.com hat ein endlich ein neues Gesicht, nach neuesten Standards. Jetzt passt sie auch gut auf die kleineren Schirme von Tablets und Smartphones.

I’m quite surprised how well the time lapse videos I’ve made for the Jordan Tourism Board in 2012 are doing on Youtube. The short version of «Amman - City in Motion» beats all my personal records: 8.5M views!
But also the longer videos are doing quite well. To my surprise the rather calm «Wadi Rum - A Majestic Landscape» is the best of the 3min+ bunch with 1.8M views. It's always nice to see that your work is seen




You’ll find all the videos here as well, on Vimeo (the longer versions).

«The Alps» is a video with excerpts from time lapse movies shot in the Alps. Most shots from Switzerland (Pilatus, Saentis, Schwyz, Vals), some of the Mont-Blanc in France and the Dolomites in Italy.

THE ALPS - Time Lapse Selection from Joerg Niggli on Vimeo.

«The Alps» - Die Alpen ist eine Sammlung von einigen Zeitraffer-Filmen, die über die letzten Jahre in den Alpen entstanden sind. Die meisten Aufnahmen stammen aus der Schweiz (Pilatus, Santas, Schwyz, Vals). Weitere aus Frankreich (Mont-Blanc-Massiv) sowie Italien.

...is in Portugal. «The West End of Europe» is where you are a spectator in the theater of nature, watching how the sea is forging a coast of both remarkable wilderness and beauty.
Filmed in April 2014 around Nazaré, Carvoeiro and Sagres. Shot mainly in 4K (UHD) with a Panasonic GH4 and a bunch of modern and vintage lenses. Then edited in a 1080p timeline in Final Cut Pro X. Some grading with Filmconvert. Music with a licence of Premiumbeat.com.

The West End of Europe from Joerg Niggli on Vimeo.

Das «West End» ist das Theater-Quartier Londons. Jenes von Europa liegt meiner Meinung nach in Portugal. An seinen Küsten wird man ein gefesselter Zuschauer einer Szenerie, in der das Meer die Küste formt. Die Aufnahmen wurden im April 2014 um die Orte von Nazaré, Carvoeiro (Algarve) und Sagres gemacht.
Die Kamera war eine Panasonic GH4. Fast alle Aufnahmen wurden im 4K-Modus (UHD) aufgenommen und im Schnitt in Final Cut Pro X auf die HD-Breite runtergerechnet. Das Grading erfolgte mit Filmconvert. Die Musik stammt von Premiumbeat.com.

High Heels Breaker: Black Lines (Official Video) from Joerg Niggli on Vimeo.

A video shot and edited for composer and electronic music artist High Heels Breaker feat. the voice of Kalabrese.
Shot with a Panasonic GH3, Canon 7D and GoPro in the Zurich area.

More info and some snippets of the fantastic album on Soundcloud.

Surfin' Portugal - The GH4 @ 96fps from Joerg Niggli on Vimeo.

The new Panasonic Lumix has not only the much discussed and praised 4K video quality. It’s also a major step up in the capabilities in 1080p (FullHD). One of the feature I’ve tested with a pre production camera (Firmware v0.5) on a trip in Portugal was the 96 frames per second slow motion mode. The clip of some surfers on the western coast beach Praia do Amado were all shot in the 96fps mode. Shutter speed was set between 1/250s and 1/400s. The lens used was a vintage manual focus Canon FD 300mm f4 L Lens. BTW: I really like the feel and quality of old FD lenses adapted to Micro43 cameras. They are ultra smooth to focus, often more compact than their Nikon Ai counterparts and focus in the direction I’m used to from other cameras.

Peaking - a godsend
One of the killer features of the GH4 compared to the GH3 (still a good camera tough) is the new electronic view finder. It’s more detailed, has zebra and - finally - peaking. This is very important when using a lot of vintage lenses or the great Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 with a Metabones Speed Booster adapter. From the menu you can select three colors. For the shots on the beach I’ve switched from the default blue to yellow to better check the focus.

Enough room for some grading
I’ve used the CineD picture profile. The original files have a rather flat look (good for grading). Some contrast and vignettes were added in Final Cut Pro X. There’s some room for grading however with 100Mbps for 96fps it’s more limited than in the other modes (100Mbps for 4K, 1080p @25fps or even 200Mbps for 1080p).

First conclusion: excellent
I’ve had the pre prod camera for 10 days and was shooting a lot of video (mainly 4K) and a lot of stills with it. My first conclusion: it’s an excellent step up from the still very capable GH3, especially if you are a video shooter. One thing I really like is that unlike my various Canon cameras which change the layout from generation to generation all the buttons are still on the exact same place if you upgrade from a GH3. And for my hands at least the GH3/GH4 form factor and controls layout is the best I’ve ever had from a camera, on par with Canon’s 7D. It’s a pleasure to shoot with the GH4. The additional battery grip gives some additional hold while the system still remains compact and lightweight compared to a APS-C or Full Frame DSLR.



Panasonic GH4 with the Canon FD 300mm f4 L Lens

After weeks of shooting, rendering and editing «Piazze d’Italia» is finally going public. The video featuring 45 piazzas (squares) all over Italy was shot in spring and summer 2013 mainly by me and Edoardo Cicchetti. With additional shots of 6 other time lapse photographers I’ve edited this vast collection of material to the beautiful soundtrack of Paolo Fresu, the well known Italian trumpet player and composer. The video was produced by Mikaela Bandini of Can’t Forget It(aly) for the Italian State Tourism Board ENIT. This long version of the video as well as two short versions are part of the 2014 «Made in Italy» campaign aimed at european travelers.

Credits:
Filmed by Edoardo Cicchetti (www.timelapse.it) and Jörg Niggli (www.niggli.com)
Music 'Fuga' written and performed by Paolo Fresu (www.paolofresu.it)
Voice over 'Made in Italy' by Giancarlo Giannini
Additional shots by
Andrea Lacota (www.emotionttl.com)
Daniel Coffaro (www.youtube.com/danielcoffaro)
Cosmo Laera (www.cosmolaera.it)
Timmy Henny (www.aglimpseinto.com)
Gianfranco Maiullari (www.nodecode.it)
Mark Hofmeyr (www.trademarkpictures.tv)

Edited by Jörg Niggli (www.niggli.com)
Graphics by Racoon Studio (www.racoonstudio.com/rs/)
Produced by Mikaela Bandini - Can't Forget Italy (www.cantforget.it)

Commissioned by Enit - Agenzia Nazionale del Turismo (www.enit.it)

Shot with all kind of cameras, mainly of Canon and Panasonic. Rendered in After Effects and Apple Motion. Edited, tilt shifted and graded in Final Cut Pro X.

Finally here: a selection of some time-lapse shots used for the short time-lapse movies during the live broadcast in June. You find some more information in the description of the video. Please make sure you watch the video in HD quality (it’s available as 1080p) and fullscreen.

Zürich-West by Night from Joerg Niggli on Vimeo.

Das Video ist eine Zusammenstellung einiger Zeitrafferaufnahmen, die für die SRF-Live-Reportage aus dem Trendquartier Zürich-West als Trennet verwendet wurden. Die Aufnahmen entstanden mit Fotokameras von Canon und Panasonic und wurden in Apple Motion oder Adobe After Effects zu Filmen gerendert. Der Schnitt und das Grading erfolgten in Final Cut Pro X.

Music: «Feels so good» of Diamondsongs (edited)

CROSSLANDS from Joerg Niggli on Vimeo.

It’s called the «Land of thousand ponds» ( «Pays des mille étangs» ), but I’d call it «Crosslands». The region in the eastern french Departments of Saône and Vosges was one of the poorest in the country for a long time. The people were very religious at that time, I was told during my stay last summer when I was shooting one of the Crosses ( «Croix calvaires» ) in the beautiful landscape of hills, forests and gentle valleys. Read More...

A picture shot with my new always-with-me camera, the Canon G15.



Ein Bild aus Genf, aufgenommen mit der Immer-dabei-Kamera Canon G15.

Nothing fancy, no action, just quiet and beautiful: a hot-air-balloon trip in the Swiss Mountains. Watch yourself:

En Vol sur Château-d'Oex from Joerg Niggli on Vimeo.

Im Heissluftballon über Château-d’Oex
Dieses Video ist im September 2012 aufgenommen worden. Ein Ballonflug von Château-d’Oex nach Zweisimmen. Read More...

The last of my four Jordan time lapse videos. If possible watch in HD and fullscreen mode, it’s possible to stream it at full 1080p resolution.

Sights of Jordan from Joerg Niggli on Vimeo.

Das letzte der vier Zeitraffer-Videos über Jordanien. Wenn möglich bitte in HD und im Vollbildschirm-Modus anschauen (es wird dann in voller 1080-HD-Qualtität gestreamt).

Read More...

The third video of the Jordan time lapse series.
Das dritte Video in der Zeitraffer-Serie über Jordanien.

Petra - In the City of Mysteries from Joerg Niggli on Vimeo.

Read More...

My latest time lapse movie from Jordan. It’s about Wadi Rum, the vast desert valley in the south of Jordan, and it’s visitors.



Das zweite Zeitraffer-Video aus der Jordanien-Serie. Wadi Rum ist das berühmte Wüstenreservat im Süden des Landes. Es ist ein bekanntes Touristenziel, um etwas Wüstenerfahrung zu machen.
Read More...

Amman - City in Motion from Joerg Niggli on Vimeo.

It’s uploaded and ready for you to watch. My view of the bustling Capital of Jordan.