Philippines Scapes timelapse.
I went to the Philippines for 4 months to travel the country that had been on my list for so long. 4 Months became 14 months… Instead of explaining why, I think it’s pretty clear what I was up to in that time, if you watch Philippines Scapes timelapse. Philippines is seriously amazing and has much more to offer than nice beaches and islands!
When I set off on my multi year trip around the world beginning of 2016, starting in the Philippines, it was about creating while traveling, than traveling itself. Capturing good footage takes time, a lot of it sometimes. Just for example, you don’t always have a nice sunset to shoot a certain location, or weather might be bad for days. With shooting timelapses, it takes even more time, not just the shooting, but the editing as well.
But what made me decide to stay for so much longer, had everything to do with Siargao. That wonderful place is hard to leave for anyone, but for as a photographer, it was a paradise with gorgeous beaches, colorful sunset, clear night skies and amazing lightning storms. I captured some amazing storms, while the storm season still had to start. It promised more and better storms. There’s nothing I like more than capturing lightning storms, so I decided to stick for the storm season. Ironically enough I didn’t get to shoot a single great lightning storm during that season.
Locations
These are the locations (in order of appearance) you see in this Philippines Scapes timelapse movie. The names link to the corresponding blogposts and travel guides.
Mt Mayon – Siargao – Batanes – Batad – Camiguin – El Nido Travel Guide / Island hopping / Nacpan Beach – Coron – Apo – Siquijor – Siargao
Music
‘Absolute Shadow’ by Simon Wilkinson, www.thebluemask.com
Gear
Shot with a Nikon D700, D750, D7100, D800 (and a variety of lenses) & Sony RX100iv. Edited with Photoshop, Lightroom and LRTimelapse. Movie composed in After Effects. (In case you wonder, I did not travel with all those cameras, some I borrowed, some broke)
Read more about the gear I use for these movies at the Gear section!
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Hi, I am Martien. This is where I write about my backpacking and photography adventures. From travel guides and itineraries to inspirational articles and helpful tips.
I help and inspire you to travel the world through engaging travel content, inspiring travel videos, stunning photography and so much more! Join me as I share the world through my eyes and experiences. 
This is unbelievable! I spent 3 weeks in The Philippines but 14 months is amazing. Stunning video- it makes me want to go back
There’s so much for you to see there!
OMg!! this Time-lapse is amazing!!! I loved Philippines. Been there 5 years ago in Coron Island, Palawan and Boracay. I would love to go to back.
Thanks Esther 🙂
Wow, Philippines are truly incredible, and this video clearly shows it! This variety of landscapes, and the sky.. oooh I so wish to learn to take great photos and videos of a starry night! Beautiful work, fantastic!
That just put a big smile on my face, thank you so much Zenja 🙂
Your work is fantastic! In less than four minutes you have managed to capture incredibly beautiful images of a country we don’t know much about and you’ve made us want to visit ASAP! Thank you for sharing this stunning timelapse!
Thank you so much Maria, that’s a great comment. That was part of the goal indeed.
OMG! It looks like heaven man! Now I imagine why you stayed there 10 more months. You could have lived there:)
Hahaha, yeah would not be bad at all, actually had the opportunity, but wanted to see more of the world 🙂
Wow- this is absolutely stunning! I love time lapse videos but rarely see them of this quality because it takes so much time and effort! Great job! This is amazing!
Thanks Elizabeth, yeah most people don’t have the time for this kind of stuff, I’m dedicated though, I ‘make the time’. I like how it forces you to sit down and wait for the shoot to finish. It really makes you enjoy the moment and location so much more. Usually you come, shoot, and go again. Sometimes though, it’s a long wait, particularly the nighttime scenes.
just wow! what incredible footage you captured, truly stunning, especially the nighttime shots – how long did this take to edit?
The editing time for the scenes used in this movie took many dozens of hours, rendering time many hundreds of hours. I shot way more than I used in this movie, so shooting + editing was in the thousands of hours during my time in the Philippines. Rendering was even more.
Thanks for introducing Siargao! I’ve never heard of this place before 🙂 I’m really curious about how you decided to stay for 14 months!
That had everything to do with Siargao, 2 weeks became 4 weeks, which became a few months. When I captured all that lightning footage, which I love shooting beyond anything else, the 6 month storms still had to start. So that’s when I decided to wait for that. Ironically I didn’t get a single good scene then.. Working for clients back home and finding the odd jobs at Siargao, helped pay for most, so I didn’t spend much of my travel budget. Otherwise I would/could not have done it.
I’ve always wanted to go there! Thanks for your inspiring post.
I hope I motivated you 😉
I have not been to Philippines yet but plan so now. Astonished to see your extensive travel there.
Good plan! Thanks 🙂
wow, you really did maximize your time in Philippines, wonderful beaches and sceneries. Nothing beats the beaches of Philippines, simple amazing.
Hahaha, yes I did, my poor cameras 😉
I am completely entranced by this video. What a wonderful break to my day. I love the greenery, mountains and oceans. I totally get why you stayed for 14months. I would have too.
Thanks Alison. Many people travel around the world is less time, so it’s out of the ordinary to spend this long at a single country. But it just has so much to offer, more than most people are aware of.
Looks amazing, can totally understand why you stayed! My personal knowledge of Philipines is just limited to two nights in Manilla but your video has really opened my eyes.
Then you have really not seen Philippines, Manila is nothing like the rest of the country. Philippines is very underrated, hope this video opens peoples eye a bit 🙂
Ahhh this is incredible! Off to stalk the rest of your blog as my photography/videography skills are very very amateur and I’m really hoping to improve them 🙂
Hahaha, thank you 🙂
The video is awesome! My favorite part was the thunderstorm.
14 months in a video, that’s fantastic. I loved it!
Thanks so much Ferry, good to hear!
Such beautiful video and views! I totally understand how you decided to stay for so long.
Thanks Danielle! 🙂
I love your time lapse videos. They are amazing. 14 month is long time but after watching this video, yes, it’s totally worthy.
That’s so kind of you Rajat, thank you so much.
This footage is sooo amazing! I can imagine how much work was put into this!
Thanks so much, comments like that make it worth it 🙂
I love the beautiful lush nature in South East Asia and the Philippines is not an exception. Spending 14 months there looks like a big adventure to me.
It was incredible, I’ve really come enjoy slow travel and get to know a place and its people. 14 months is of course extremely slow, but most of that was about living island life and shooting timelapses, a great experience. I loved how people only seem to worry about the tide. When can I swim and when can I surf 🙂
The islands are beautiful. Too bad we had such a bad experience during our time there. People were constantly trying to rip us off and the food…hmmm! But everywhere deserves a second chance and we are planning a next visit there.
That’s sad to hear. It was not like that when I was there, not much at least. But Siargao has changed a lot and with that succes comes greed I guess. Work you way around it as much as you can, it’s a very enjoyable place.
Just gorgeous. I will visit the Philippines as soon as I can, that’s for sure. I only wonder if the places are that beautiful or if your excellent photography added some extra-beauty 😉
Hahaha good question, it is stunning for sure, or else my footage wouldn’t have turned out that way. But that said, my effort adds some magic to it as well. You don’t notice all the hours I spend waiting for people to leave and such, or the endless nights trying to capture those storms and milky way skies. But other than that and only editing colors and contrast, it is as it was.
Did you end up staying for more 10 months? Did I read that right? Will all this beauty I think I would stay there forever. The Philippines seem better than what I’ve always imagined
Yep, 10 months just at Siargao. Very hard to leave that place. Living island life for a while was one of the best travel experiences ever 🙂
I love your timelapse videos – they’re amazing! I remember seeing your one of the Netherlands a while ago. This one might be even better! It really communicates the beauty and incredible geographical diversity of the Philippines. Inspiring!
Thanks Alex, I hope it’s better, or else I haven’t improved much 😉
I know the Philippines is incredibly beautiful but you have done equal justice to its beauty by taking wonderful stunning shots. I loved the floating clouds behind the hills. Wow, what a photography and I would surely take some tips and try to capture some time-lapse videos.
That is great to hear Yukti 🙂
Such a cool edit. I’ve never been to the Philippines but you’ve inspired me. It looks stunning.
Thanks Paul, I’m glad to hear. Bet you didn’t know Philippines looked like this. We all know the beaches and they’re some of the best, but nature has so much more to offer there.
Love your works, everything is so stunning. Continue this way Martien
This! Is! Positively! Stunning!!! I can’t even process how beautiful these scenes are! Extremely well done!
Hahaha thank you so much, saying with a big smile 🙂
Wow- I absolutely loved the video! I rarely see time-lapse videos of this quality. You must have put a lot of effort into this! Keep up the great work
Thank you so much Daniel!
Well done with timelapse. I think of adding those to my blog, but working with video is much longer that editing photography. I am not ready to invest my extra time in video work.
14 months in the Philippines?! That’s a dream! The timelapse is incredible, I need to visit the Philippines soon.
Yes you do! Better sooner than later 😉
The video is outstanding and all the time lapse shots are fantastic. I can see how much effort went into creating this
Glad it shows, imagine all the times shoots didn’t work out…
Wow! Living in the Philippines must have been an amazing experience. I really liked the video. You have captured the beauty and diversity very well.
Thanks Puja, that was my goal 🙂
I watched your video twice! Love it! You really showcase how beautiful this area fo the world is- makes me want to get on a plane!
That’s great to hear 🙂
My god this video is wanderlust goals! The section where you see the Milky Way moving through the sky….. Wow! No wonder you stayed much longer than planned!
Hahaha thank you Claire, glad you liked it 🙂
This is a great post. Would like to visit this beautiful places
Thank you so much Sayandeep!
I’m planning for Phillippines. I’m sure this itinerary will help us. Thank you for sharing this.
Lucky you, have fun there!
Wow!
It’s great to know you visited my country, the Pearl of the Orient Seas- the Philippines!
I’m sure you have enjoyed a lot on your travel. Nice video by the way!
Best regard,
Clement II
http://www.bestspotsph.com
Oh yes I enjoyed it, or wouldn’t have stayed for 14 months!
The thunder is scary he he. I can imagine the coldness in Banaue it seems that you are walking in the clouds
I absolutely loved it!
I love your videos. It seems like you are travelling in time, seems like you are riding on a time machine he he
Thanks Giovanni, well said, ‘time(lapse) traveler’