The power and beauty of time lapse photography is rarely as dramatic as when it is shot from a ship. This clip of the Houston Ship Channel, 500 Knots on the Houston Ship Channel is a real pleasure to watch. Portofhouston.com tells us that, The Houston Ship Channel has been a catalyst for growth in Harris County since the first journey of a steamship up Buffalo Bayou in 1837. The ship channel plays a critical role in today’s community as well. It generates jobs and opportunities that allow businesses to flourish. A 2007 study by Martin Associates says ship channel-related businesses support more than 785,000 jobs throughout Texas while generating nearly $118 billion of statewide economic impact. Additionally, more than $3.7 billion in state and local tax revenues are generated by business activities related to the port. It is projected that the Port of Houston will continue to be an important factor as north-south trade expands.
Fred Fry pointed us to this amazing time lapse video by our favorite maritime photographer. Click HERE for the details.
500 Knots on the Houston Ship Channel – Upper ship channel, anyway. This is a time lapse video I made using a computer to control an old Olympus camera. The gear was set to record a 1024×760 photo at medium resolution every six seconds. To make the video I used Mac’s Quicktime Pro program to consolidate and replay the individual photos at 15 frames per second. The camera was placed on an upside down trash can (my wife is painting the house and my small tripod has mysteriously disappeared).
Enjoy.
P.S. One of the viewers gave me this link to a similar trip through the Panama Canal:
www.metacafe.com/watch/1063460/through_panama_canal_in_75…
Another amazing Time Lapse video from our friend Lou Vest of the Houston Pilots. You can find more of Lou’s amazing photos on Flickr (link).
A time lapse video made by setting a camera to take photos at six second intervals during a trip outbound on the Houston Ship Channel. I used Quicktime to assemble over 2000 individual photos into a 3 minute movie representing an actual time of over 3 1/2 hours. The ship was only moving at 5-6 knots for the first half of the trip and up to 10 knots in the open areas away from the docks. The journey begins just below the Port of Houston turning basin at the end of the channel and continues down to Morgan’s Point at the head of Galveston Bay. We still had 32 miles to go to get out to the pilot station in the Gulf of Mexico at that point. The ship is a Panamax tanker 600 feet long by 106 feet wide.
Updated: May 10, 2023 (Originally published January 12, 2011)
Sign up for gCaptain’s newsletter and never miss an update
Essential maritime and offshore news, insights, and updates delivered daily straight to your inbox
By Sudhi Ranjan Sen and Mihir Mishra Apr 25, 2026 (Bloomberg) –India is considering various options regarding its stake in the Chabahar port in Iran, including temporarily divesting from it, ahead...
By Bloomberg News Mar 29, 2026 (Bloomberg) –Russia’s Ust-Luga port sustained fresh damage from a Ukrainian drone attack, as Kyiv steps up strikes on Russian oil export infrastructure. The Leningrad region...
British International Investment and Canada's La Caisse pension fund suspended new investments with DP World after CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem was named in newly released Epstein files showing decade-long correspondence with the convicted sex offender.
Subscribe to gCaptain Daily and stay informed with the latest global maritime and offshore news
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
Sign Up
Join The Club
