Time-lapse photography of clouds and other phenomena in the sky

PF2012  ...  Observatory Libuš, Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Prague, Czech Republic.

Sunset from Northcliff, Johannesburg. Southern hemisphere sunset means that the Sun sets at different angle with respect to the local horizon (from right to left) as compared to the Northern hemisphere, where it sets just opposite - from left to right. To enhance the motion of the setting Sun, the camera zoom was set to 50mm; unfortunately at this focal length the lens suffers much more from internal reflections as compared to wider zoom settings.  Captured from Northcliff, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Crepuscular rays before sunset. The crepuscular rays can be distinguished from ordinary lens reflections by their motion across the sky, as the clouds - casting the crepuscular rays shadows - drift relative to the Sun. Captured from Northcliff, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Sunset from Northcliff, Johannesburg.  Another sunset, this time with some convective clouds - dissipating storm anvil at right, and new storms forming after the sunset at distance, just above the horizon (at left part of the scene). My last timelapse captured from Northcliff, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Bosphorus at sunset.  Clouds above Bosphorus, a place where Europe and Asia meet... Both continents are recently (2012) connected by two bridges, both sequences in this movie show the more southern one of these - simply called Bosphorus Bridge (Boğaziçi Köprüsü). All the ship traffic is incredible there, including many sightseeing ships with tourists - like the one I have taken (MP4, 31 MB). Taken from Ortaköy, Istanbul, Turkey.

My first Ricoh GXR A16 24-85mm timelapse test - setting Sun above a small forest pond at south Bohemia. Taken at Radostovice, district of Tábor, Czech Republic.  In contrary to all the other shorter interval cases taken with GX100 and external timer, this sequence was captured using the internal 2-second option of the GXR camera body itself. I do not plan switching from GX100 to GXR A16 entirely - at good lightning conditions I'll keep "timelapsing" with GX100, and use GXR A16 rather exceptionally - at low light, nigh scenes, or some really unique cases...

Corvus (Raven) constellation at dusk. My first Ricoh GXR A16 24-85mm low-light test. This sequence is based on raw (DNG) files, processed in Photoshop CS5. At the beginning, the sky is still not completely dark, which gives the images a blueish tint. As it gets darker later on, a yellowish tint dominates - a manifestation of light pollution by nearby Tábor town, about 20 km southwest. Taken at Radostovice, district of Tábor, Czech Republic. 

Convective clouds from Observatory Libuš.  Low and mid-level convective clouds, with a stronger wind shear.  See also the Metop satellite image, showing this cloud band northwest of the location from which the sequence was captured, CHMI Observatory Libuš (indicated by a red dot), Prague, Czech Republic.

Scorpio and Sagittarius constellations at dusk. My second Ricoh GXR A16 24-85mm low-light test. In contrary to the one from 25 May, this one was taken at higher ISO (1600) and shorter exposure (8s). As Ricoh uses for the GXR A16 24-85mm unit the dark frame subtraction from 10 seconds on, the 8 seconds exposure enables a more-or-less continuous timelapse of celestial motion, including planes and satellite overpasses. Yellow lights at horizon and yellowish clouds manifest the light pollution, resulting from poorly designed public illumination. See also the still image from 21:30 UTC. Captured from vicinity of Křížkový Újezdec, central Bohemia, Czech Republic. Processed from DNG files in Photoshop. For much better nocturnal timelapse movies see my special "Starry Nights above Southern Africa" gallery from this year.

LP supercell storm.  Right-mover of a small splitting supercell storm southwest of Praha (captured from Kačerov), Czech Republic. Processed from raw (DNG) files. The location of the storm and its splitting can be seen in the CZRAD radar CAPPI 2km loop [MOV, MP4], with red lines indicating the view sector and time of this timelapse movie. In the MSG satellite image and loop (sandwich product) the storm looks insignificant, and the highest clouds appear shifted north due to the parallax effect; red dot indicates ground location and place of the timelapse loop. Radar and satellite data © 2012 CHMI and EUMETSAT.

Shelf cloud above Observatory Libuš. Southern edge of a larger shelf cloud, generated by early morning storms propagating across central Bohemia eastward. Captured from Praha - Libuš, Czech Republic, processed from DNG raw files. See also the radar, MSG2 and NOAA15 images, showing the storms at the time of this sequence (red dot in these indicates the location from which the sequence was captured). Radar and satellite data © 2012 CHMI and EUMETSAT.

Shallow convection above Sopot, Poland. Taken during a lunch break at the 2012 EUMETSAT Satellite Conference.

Sunset from Vyšehrad.  Mid-level and high clouds illuminated by the setting Sun, and boats on Vltava River. Captured from the fortification walls of Prague's Vyšehrad; processed from raw files (DNG).

Shallow cumulus clouds above České Středohoří.  Weak late summer convection above České Středohoří (with the highest mountain of České Středohoří, Milešovka, 837m, at right). Captured from Holý vrch above small village Sutom (district Litoměřice), northwest Bohemia, Czech Republic.

Jizera River, Jizerské Mountains.Fast moving low clouds, in an incredibly clean and crisp air of Jizerské Mountains. Left of Jizera River is the Czech Republic, on the right side is Poland (Kobyla Laka). North Bohemia, Czech Republic.

Wave clouds above the western part of Krkonoše Mountains. Captured from Zlaté návrší, view acrross Labský důl at Vysoké Kolo. North Bohemia, Czech Republic. ... And a detailed zoom of these:  MPG (22 MB), MOV (28 MB) a MP4 (23 MB).

Morning fog above Jizerka. Before sunrise the fog is illuminated by pink high clouds, from which it attains its pinkish color. As the Sun begins to illuminate the central part of the image, bright white rainbow appears shortly. As the Sun gets higher, fog disappears quickly. Captured from Bukovec Hill above Jizerka, Jizerské Mountains, northern Bohemia, Czech Republic. Processed from DNG (raw) files.

Fog with setting Moon, before and at sunrise above Jizerka.  Another foggy morning at Jizerka, with setting full Moon, distinct Earth's shadow (dark belt just above the horizon), and Belt of Venus (pink glow just above the Earth shadow). Captured from Bukovec Hill above Jizerka, Jizerské Mountains, northern Bohemia, Czech Republic. Processed from DNG (raw) files.