Recently, I saw a time-lapse video taken of Brooklyn (from dusk to dawn), from a window in lower Manhattan. It was spectacular. I wish to have a view of the city from my pad one day! The video included views of the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, also capturing the hustle/bustle of NYC.

Brooklyn Bridge Timelapse Test from James Shanks on Vimeo.

James Shanks isn’t your typical ordinary freelance photographer. His images are primarily for builders and designers. Some of his biggest clients are Pentagram Design, Wolf Gordon, ThinkSo, 212 and Hudson Companies, just to name a few. Recently, one of his photographs just graced one of the biggest covers in interior design for Interior Design magazine- Market Tabloid edition that only comes out once a year. The Huffington Post just published a few of his photos from Neocon online and with all of these recent huge accomplishments, he can now add time-lapse enthusiast to his resume. During the space shuttle’s transport to the Intrepid, he sat at the Weehawken Waterfront Park to do a time-lapse of the event [see below].

Space Shuttle Enterprise Arrives at the Intrepid Museum – 6/6/2012 New York City (Timelapse) from James Shanks on Vimeo.

I also got a chance to sit down with him to talk about the time-lapse events among other things:

TFC: Why did you decide to shoot time-lapse videos?

JS: I thought it was a really cool thing to do.

TFC: How long does one of these time-lapse videos take to shoot?

JS: It was about 5 hours of shooting.

TFC: 5 hours of shooting?!

JS: 5 hours of shooting.

TFC: Jesus! How fast is it going?

JS: 30 pictures per second, 1 pct every 10 seconds.

TFC: Your pictures were posted by the Huffington Post recently. How does it feel?

JS: It felt good.

TFC: What were the pictures that were actually published?

JS: It was a sculpture installation at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago for Neocon.

TFC: And what is Neocon for those of us who don’t know?

JS: It’s an interior design and furniture trade show. One of the biggest interior design trade show in the US.

TFC: In a time where everyone wants to be, claiming to be and/or aspiring to be a photographer, what sets you apart from the rest?

JS: Well, it my specialized equipment, my ability to work on images and make them look the way one is intended to look.

TFC: Would you do any other kind of photography?

JS: Food Photography. I don’t photograph people.

TFC: What advice would you give to other photographers who want to become freelance photographers?

JS: Don’t go to school for photography. Go get an Associates Degree in business administration and then become a photo assistant for one year, and I guarantee you will learn more in one year than you do in 4 years of college.

LOL. Sometimes you just gotta keep it real. You can check out the rest of his work at www.jamesshanks.com. Follow/contact him on twitter @jamesshanksnyc.