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

Storm base and shelf cloud. Weaker storms captured from Děčínský Sněžník, NW Bohemia. First part of the timelapse movie (with camera aimed to the south) shows inflow area of the cloud base of the storm, at its early stage, with precipitation forming further southeast. Second part of the movie (after shift of the camera approx. eastwards, with Děčín in center of the image) captures the storm at its mature stage, with formation of a vigorous, northward (in the movie to the left) propagating shelf cloud, followed by heavy showers. See also the radar loop for this case (data source: © CHMI), with a red dot indicating location from which the timelapse was captured, and red outline indicating the period of the timelapse series.

Nocturnal fog and wave cloud. Valley fog, high clouds, and mid-level wave clouds (Ac len), illuminated by yellowish city lights of Jílové (right) and Děčín (left) and by crescent Moon (4 nights after the Full Moon). Captured from Děčínský Sněžník, NW Bohemia. 

Děčínský Sněžník (Hoher Schneeberg, 723 m), with its old tourist tower, restaurant, nearby cliffs, and morning cumulus clouds above these ...

Light-polluted night sky of northwest Bohemia. The industrial region just southeast of Krušné hory (Ore Mountains, Erzgebirge), stretched between the towns of Ústí nad Labem and Chomutov, belongs among the most light-polluted parts of Bohemia.The movie shows Milky Way as it passes above yellowish sky of Ústí nad Labem (left part of the image) and Teplice (middle). As it makes its way westward, above much darker sky of Krušné hory (right), rising Moon (at its third quarter) begins to illuminate the sky. In the Suomi-NPP DNB image from the same night, the location from which this timelapse movie was captured (Děčínský Sněžník, NW Bohemia, Czech Republic) is indicated by a red dot, while the red bars depict the range of the camera view. 

The tower of Děčínský Sněžník and Milky Way.  The old tower dates back to 1864, being originally built for geodetic purposes, soon afterwards being modified and opened for tourists - serving this purpose even nowadays. In this sequence the tower is lit by a light from nearby Restaurant and Pension under the Tower, a very nice place to spend several days ... . 

Busy sky above central Bohemia, and green airglow. Heavy air traffic over most of Europe (and other densely populated areas of the World) is another obstacle for wide-field astrophotography. Even if you happen to find a relatively less light-polluted countryside, lights of airplanes are very difficult to avoid. Notice also the greenish tint which spreads over the sky in the second half of the sequence - airglow (emission of atoms of oxygen near the mesopause). See also the Suomi-NPP DNB image from the same night, the location from which this timelapse movie was captured (near Radějovice, central Bohemia, Czech Republic) is indicated by a red dot, while the red bars depict the range of the camera view.

This movie is a result of complex processing of the camera raw files (SRW) in Photoshop, and consequent fine-tuning of the movie (filtering of the temporal noise - flicker of details in the individual frames) in NeatVideo plug-in of VirtualDub. Here is the same movie before filtering, and a demo-movie showing the filtering effect on part of the scene only (inside the green rectangle); the effect of filtration is best visible when displayed on large full-HD screens or TVs.   

Śnieżne Kotły, Krkonoše. Game of light - rays and reflections - above one of the lakes in Wielky Śnieżny Kocioł on the Polish side of Krkonoše (Karkonosze, Riesengebirge), mountains on the borders of Czech republic and Poland.

Cumulus clouds above Labská louka, Krkonoše. Shallow convection above western parts of Krkonoše (Karkonosze, Riesengebirge), captured from meadows at south-western slopes of Vysoké kolo (1509 m). The Labe (Elbe) River springs from the meadows in central parts of the image, Labská louka (Meadows of Elbe), at elevation of about 1380 m. 

Starry night at Krkonoše.  Milky Way on a moonless night above scattered trees of Labská louka (Meadows of the Elbe), with agglomeration of Liberec and Jablonec (about 30-40 km away) shining at the western horizon. When playing this timelapse movie on a higher quality screen or TV panel, you may notice weak waves in greenish airglow, moving from the bottom part of the movie upwards (from the west eastwards). Short temporary darkening of the movie approx. in its first quarter was caused by dew on the lens of my camera. Captured from vicinity of the spring of Labe (Elbe) River, at elevation ~1350 m., westward view.

As above (20160831-0901 case), this case is also a result of complex processing of the camera raw files (SRW) in Photoshop, and consequent fine-tuning of the movie in NeatVideo plug-in of VirtualDub. Here is the same movie before filtering, and a demo-movie showing the filtering effect on part of the scene only (inside the green rectangle); the effect of filtration is best visible when displayed on large full-HD screens or TVs. 

Dance of cloud waves. Orography cloud waves above northern, Polish side of Krkonoše Mountains (Karkonosze, Riesengebirge). Highest mountain of Krkonoše, Sněžka (Śnieżka, Schneekoppe, 1603 m, highest mountain of the Czech Republic) is on the right side of the scene. Captured from clifs above Kocioł Malego Stawu, eastward view.