Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Time Lapse Video | The Birth of Life: An Acorn Sprouts an Oak Seedling (New Scientist)




Oak trees are renowned for growing slowly but that didn't stop photographer Neil Bromhall from capturing a video of the process (see video above). He set up his camera to take a picture of the nut every hour to find out how long the process takes. Over the course of eight months, it grew into a fledgling tree.
"If I had known it would take that long, I don't think I would have tied up my kit and studio for so long," he says.
The result, however, is so impressive that it's a good thing he did. To capture the underground scene, Bromhall buried an acorn in a reservoir full of soil to keep it moist. He blocked light out around the tank, leaving just a small slit at the top for the flash to expose the acorn. The camera lens poked through a plastic sheet surrounding the set-up to take photos.
Once the seedling was ready to emerge through the soil, Bromhall built a set in his studio. Since it was winter, he used a grow light to stimulate the growth of the leaves.
You can watch more of Bromhall's nature time-lapses on his plant identification website. Or check out our previous Time-lapse Tuesday videos here.

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