"Skyflow" app (first field test)

The following time lapse videos were created using "Skyflow," an iOS app running on my Apple iPad mini 6. Both videos show the sky over Fairfax County, Virginia USA during the afternoon of 17 December 2025.

I'm still not sure where to focus for maximum depth of field. (Please comment on this blog post if you can offer advice.) In the first video, I think I focused on the top of the red roof. I say "think" because it's difficult to see the screen of my iPad clearly when I'm outdoors.

Facing south-southwest.

In the second video I think I focused on the light blue water tower along the horizon, just left of the center of the screen.

Facing north-northwest.

Notice the wave-like shapes in the clouds, moving from left-to-right across the screen. I'm not sure what caused those features to form but they might be the result of small waves moving through the atmosphere.

Both video clips were combined using Apple iMovie.

What are the take-aways from my first field test?

Skyflow is a robust app that provides the user with much more control over the process of creating time lapse videos than the built-in Apple iOS "Camera" app set for "Time-Lapse" mode.

There is a learning curve to reach mastery of the app. I learned enough to be able to take a couple of test time lapses but feel like I'm just a beginner, despite being a fairly experienced photographer.

The descriptor for Skyflow in the Apple App Store provides a long list of what the app can do but doesn't say how those features work. There is some embedded documentation (see Settings/Help); I skimmed that information and still have unanswered questions. The author personally assured me he's planning to create a tutorial video that explains how the app works. In the meantime, I recommend watching the videos listed under "Related Resources."

My initial impressions of Skyflow are very positive. I'm eagerly looking forward to feeling more comfortable using its many features.

Tech Tips

The first two videos were adjusted using the built-in editor to level the horizon. The first video was also cropped slightly for better composition.

Essentially the first two videos are shown "as is," exported straight from the Skyflow app using the following settings: 4K (2160p); 30 fps; H.264 (MP4); Best Quality; and Smooth Motion.

Related Resources

• Skyflow - Apple iOS app for creating time lapse videos, by Andrei Kovalev
• Best iPhone TIMELAPSE app (3:59) - a YouTube video by Matthew Vandeputte
• Skyflow (Time Lapse App) Walk-Through Tutorial for Beginners (6:49) - a YouTube video by "Cloudage"

Copyright © 2025 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Acceptably in focus

Does the GoPro HERO4 Black action camera autofocus? No, the GoPro HERO4 Black action camera has a fixed focus lens with an aperture of f/2.8. The camera is configured so that it's focused at the "hyperfocal distance."

The concept of hyperfocal distance is easy to understand: focus a lens at the hyperfocal distance and everything in the photograph from some near distance to infinity will be sharp. Landscape photographs are often taken with the lens focused at the hyperfocal distance; near and distant objects are sharp in the photos. Source Credit: Hyperfocal Distance Guide, by Don Fleming.

The following video is a proof of concept example of hyperfocal distance in action. The black rock in the middle of the creek is approximately five feet (~5′) from the place in the stream channel where I was sitting on a Coleman camp stool. The video begins with me looking at a seep that feeds the stream; then I pan left, right, and back to center stage. Notice everything in the video is acceptably in focus because the camera is always focused at the hyperfocal distance.

Habitat for Tiger Spiketail dragonfly.

Tech Tips

Here is a collection of more factoids about the GoPro Hero4 Black action camera that might help you to understand how the camera works.

"The GoPro Hero4 Black has a 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor with physical dimensions of 6.17 mm x 4.55 mm. This sensor has 12 megapixels and is capable of recording video at up to 4K resolution."

Source credit: http://i.stack.imgur.com/a5SKT.png

As you can see, the GoPro HERO4 Black action camera sensor is small, very small!

The 35mm equivalent focal length of the lens is ~15mm. That's a fairly wide angle lens, so photos show some "fish eye" distortion.

When the GoPro HERO4 Black is set for "Time Lapse Video" submode, the camera records MP4 videos with a 16:9 aspect ration (3,840 x 2,160 pixels). File size varies depending upon the duration of the video clips.

The GoPro HERO4 Black records JPG photos with a 4:3 aspect ration (4,000 x 3,000 pixels). Each photo file is ~2.2 MB in size.

"The GoPro Standard Housing is a spare/replacement housing for your GoPro HERO3, HERO3+, or HERO4 camera. A flat glass lens affords maximum image clarity above and below water. Plus, it's waterproof down to a depth of 131', and it features large buttons for easy camera control -- even when wearing gloves or mittens. The housing includes Standard, Skeleton, and Touch Backdoors plus a thumbscrew and Quick Release Buckle." Source Credit: B&H Photo.

Related Resources

• Hyperfocal Distance Guide, by Don Fleming.
• Hyperfocal Distance Calculator
• Habitat for Spiketail Dragonfly - a blog post by Walter Sanford featuring the GoPro CapCam© used to mount my GoPro HERO4 action camera on the bill of a baseball cap

Copyright © 2025 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

December Solstice

The December Solstice will occur at 10:03 a.m. EST on 21 December 2025, according to the Earth's Seasons - Equinoxes, Solstices, Perihelion, and Aphelion page, Astronomical Applications Department, U.S. Naval Observatory.

The Motions of the Sun Simulator can be used to explore the apparent motion of the Sun across the sky on the December Solstice. The following screenshot shows the simulator configured for 21 December at 12 noon. Be sure to set the "animation mode" for "continuous" and "loop day," as shown in the red rectangle on the graphic.

"Motions of the Sun Simulator" set for DEC 21.

Notice the Sun rises along the southeastern horizon and sets along the southwestern horizon. At Washington, D.C. (38.89° North latitude and 77.03° degrees West longitude) the Sun reaches a maximum altitude of ~28° above the horizon, the lowest maximum altitude all year.

Also notice the odd-looking figure eight that is shown in red on the preceding screenshot. It's called an analemma. The crest of the figure eight shows the Sun's maximum altitude on the June Solstice.

Related Resources

• Motions of the Sun Simulator
• Earth's Seasons - Equinoxes, Solstices, Perihelion, and Aphelion - Astronomical Applications Department, U.S. Naval Observatory
• Altitude and Azimuth of the Sun or Moon During One Day - Astronomical Applications Department, U.S. Naval Observatory

Copyright © 2025 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Sky Lapse 360 © 2025 - 04 December 2025

The following panoramic time lapse video was taken during the afternoon of 04 December 2025, soon after shooting the pair of panoramic composite images featured in my last blog post.

04 December 2025. Panoramic view.

The sky was filled with a variety of higher cirroform and lower stratiform clouds, moving from southwest to northeast across the sky.

Tech Tips

The precedinging panoramic time lapse video was taken using my GoPro HERO4 Black action camera mounted on a "360TL" rotating timer. The camera was set for "Video" mode / "Time Lapse Video" submode, using a resolution of 4K and an interval of two (2) seconds.

Related Resource

Halo - a blog post by Walter Sanford (hey, that's me!), featuring panoramic composite images of the sky from the same day as the panoramic time lapse video shown above.

Copyright © 2025 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Halo

A halo around the Sun or Moon means precipitation in 12-24 hours, according to weather folklore. Turns out the prediction was correct as light snow fell the next day.

04 December 2025. Halo around the Sun. (15540 x 3832 pixels)

Another panoramic composite image was taken facing in the opposite direction.

04 December 2025. Facing north. (14468 x 3376 pixels)

The next two photos were "misfires" when I started a "Pano" shot accidentally. Twice. The weather was cold and windy -- my fingers were frozen! (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.) I kept the photos because they show cirrocumulus clouds (Cc) especially well.

04 December 2025.

04 December 2025.

Tech Tips

The preceding panoramic composite images were taken using the "Camera" app on my Apple iPad mini 6, set for "Pano" mode. Both images show a wide view along the horizon.

Here's how to capture very wide views of the sky. Start recording and rotate the iPad camera slowly and steadily on a tripod -- the slower you rotate the camera, the wider your "Pano" will be. Keep rotating the camera until the white arrow (on-screen guide) goes as far as it can -- at that point the recording will stop automatically.

I suggest you record a wider view than you need/want. For better composition, you can crop the image to remove distracting elements from the left and right sides of the composite image.

Related Resources

• Halo Phenomena | International Cloud Atlas - World Meteorological Organization
• What Causes Halos, Sundogs, and Sun Pillars? - National Weather Service [USA]
• Atmospheric Optical Phenomena (except Rainbows and Aurora) - Colorado State University [USA]
• Cirrocumulus (Cc) | International Cloud Atlas - World Meteorological Organization

Copyright © 2025 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Sunset - 22 November 2025

The following panoramic time lapse video was taken just before sunset using my GoPro HERO4 Black action camera mounted on a "360TL" rotating timer. The camera was set for "Video" mode / "Time Lapse Video" submode, using a resolution of 4K and an interval of two (2) seconds. 

22 November 2025. Facing southwest.

Sunset occurred at 4:50 pm EST on 22 November 2025, according to the Table of Sunrise/Sunset, Moonrise/Moonset, or Twilight Times for an Entire Year, Astronomical Applications Department, U.S. Naval Observatory.

Motions of the Sun Simulator

Two motions -- the rotation of the Earth around its axis, and the revolution of the Earth around the Sun -- cause daily- and annual cycles in the Sun's apparent path across the sky. Every day, the Sun appears to move across the sky from east to west as the Earth rotates counterclockwise. And from day-to-day, the apparent path of the Sun across the sky changes slowly due to the tilt of the Earth's axis and the Earth's revolution around the Sun.

The Motions of the Sun Simulator can be used for open-ended exploration of daily and annual motions of the Sun. The following screenshot shows the simulator configured for 22 November at 12 noon. Notice the Sun rises along the southeastern horizon and sets along the southwestern horizon.

Motions of the Sun Simulator. 22 November.

Related Resources

• A pair of panos - a blog post by Walter Sanford, featuring panoramic composite images of the sky from the same day as the sunset panoramic time lapse video shown above
• Sky Lapse 360 © 2025 - 22 November 2025 - another blog post by Walter Sanford, featuring a panoramic time lapse video of the sky from the same day as the sunset video shown above
• Motions of the Sun Simulator
• The Earth revolves in an orbit around the Sun - George F. Cram globe company [courtesy of the Wayback Machine]

Copyright © 2025 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Sky Lapse 360 © 2025 - 22 November 2025

The following panoramic time lapse video was taken using my GoPro HERO4 Black action camera mounted on a "360TL" rotating timer. The camera was set for "Video" mode / "Time Lapse Video" submode, using a resolution of 4K and an interval of two (2) seconds. 

22 November 2025. Panoramic view.

The sky was filled with stratocumulus clouds, moving from west to east across the sky.

Tech Tips

The following photograph shows my "Sky Lapse 360 © 2025" panoramic time lapse rig. 

360TL panoramic timer.

The component parts, numbered in the preceding photo, are listed below.

1. GoPro HERO4 Black action camera
2. GoPro tripod mount
3. 360TL panoramic timer
4. Homemade safety strap

Related Resources

• Stratocumulus (Sc) | International Cloud Atlas - World Meteorological Organization
• A pair of panos - a blog post by Walter Sanford, featuring panoramic composite images of the sky from the same day as the panoramic time lapse video shown above 
• New generic mechanical panorama tripod mount - another blog post by Walter Sanford featuring the "360TL" panoramic timer
• Atmospheric motion - yet another blog post by Walter Sanford, including tech tips about my homemade safety strap

Copyright © 2025 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

A pair of panos

The following time series of panoramic composite images was taken using the "Camera" app on my Apple iPad mini 6, set for "Pano" mode. Both images show a wide view along the horizon. 

22 November 2025. Facing southwest. (15787 x 3094 pixels)

Both images show stratocumulus clouds in the sky during late afternoon, near the time of sunset.

22 November 2025. Facing north. (15652 x 3816 pixels)

"Pano" Tech Tips

Here's how to capture very wide views of the sky. Start recording and rotate the iPad camera slowly and steadily on a tripod -- the slower you rotate the camera, the wider your "Pano" will be. Keep rotating the camera until the white arrow (on-screen guide) goes as far as it can -- at that point the recording will stop automatically.

I suggest you record a wider view than you need/want. For better composition, you can crop the image to remove distracting elements from the left and right sides of the composite image.

Copyright © 2025 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Panoramic image and companion time lapse video

I have settled into a routine in which every "Sky Lapse" photo/video shoot includes recording a panoramic composite image, followed by making a panoramic time lapse video.

Panoramic composite image

The following panoramic composite image was taken using the "Camera" app on my Apple iPad mini 6, set for "Pano" mode. I was able to capture a wide view that shows approximately 270° along the horizon -- about the same field of view as the panoramic time lapse video I captured afterward.

14 November 2025. Panoramic view. (15984 x 3569 pixels)

The viewer is looking southeast along the left edge of the compositie image; north along the right edge.

"Pano" Tech Tips

I discovered how to capture very wide views of the sky. Start recording and rotate the iPad camera slowly and steadily on a tripod -- the slower you rotate the camera, the wider your "Pano" will be. Keep rotating the camera until the white arrow (on-screen guide) goes as far as it can -- at that point the recording will stop automatically.

I suggest you record a wider view than you need/want. For better composition, you can crop the image to remove distracting elements from the left and right sides of the composite image.

Panoramic time lapse video

I created a YouTube video that features a single "Sky Lapse 360 © 2025" video clip taken with my GoPro HERO4 Black action camera mounted on a "360TL" rotating timer. The camera was set for "Video" mode / "Time Lapse Video" submode, using a resolution of 4K and an interval of two (2) seconds.

14 November 2025. Panoramic view. (52 s)

The time lapse video shows a variety of cumuliform and stratiform cloud types moving from west to east across the sky.

"Time Lapse Video" Tech Tips

"Time Lapse Video" submode is the simplest of several ways to create time lapse videos using the GoPro HERO4 Black action camera. There are only two user-selectable settings for time lapse video: resolution; and interval.

Time Lapse Video capture mode | Description

Creates video from frames captured at specific intervals. Time Lapse Video is available only in 4K and 2.7K 4:3 resolutions. Time Lapse Video is captured without audio. Protune™, Auto Low Light, and Spot Meter are not available in this capture mode.

Source Credit: HERO4 Black User Manual, p. 20.

It's noteworthy that Protune™ settings are not used in "Time Lapse Video" submode.

Related Resources

• GoPro time lapse submodes - a blog post by Walter Sanford
• GoPro HERO4 Black User Manual
• New generic mechanical panorama tripod mount - another blog post by Walter Sanford

Copyright © 2025 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Atmospheric motion

The Earth's atmosphere is a fluid. By definition, a fluid is a substance that flows. Time lapse video of clouds reveals atmospheric motion that is often unnoticed.

The following panorama image was taken using the "Camera" app on my Apple iPad mini 6, set for "Pano" mode. By rotating the iPad camera slowly and steadily on a tripod, I was able to capture a view that shows slightly more than 180° along the horizon.

08 November 2025. Facing north. (15355 x 3368 pixels)

Looks like it was a beautiful day, right? Wait, not so fast -- look at the sky in the opposite direction.

I created a YouTube video that features a time series of three "Sky Lapse 360 © 2025" videos. All of the video clips were taken with my GoPro HERO4 Black action camera mounted on a "360TL" rotating timer. The camera was set for "Video" mode / "Time Lapse Video" submode, using a resolution of 4K and an interval of two (2) seconds.

08 November 2025. Facing north, south, and east. (51 s)

The sky was a mix of cirroform, cumuliform, and stratiform clouds. The first video clip shows the view facing north-northwest. The second clip was taken facing south-southwest to east, and the third clip was taken facing south. Notice the clouds were getting lower and thicker as a weather system was approaching from the south.

Tech Tips

GoPro action cameras don't feature a place for connecting a safety strap. The next two photos show a homemade safety strap for my GoPro HERO4 Black action camera.

Homemade safety strap for GoPro action camera (front view).

The gray 1/4" wide cloth strap is looped around the black plastic center pin of a GoPro tripod mount. The strap is secured in place when the camera is bolted to the tripod mount.

Homemade safety strap for GoPro action camera (back view).

I don't know whether my design for the safety strap is original, but I've never seen anything similar. Try it; I think you'll like it. At the least, I think you'll feel much better knowing your camera is secure in case of an accident.

Copyright © 2025 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

More power!

Like Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor, I like more power. (Grunt, grunt.) And like it always turned out for Tim, more power isn't necessarily a good thing.

In a recent blog post I wrote ...

The Ulanzi MagSafe tripod mount (5) is magnetic on one side and connects to the magnet on the bottom of the kitchen timer (4). I wish both magnets were stronger, but the grip seems to be strong enough to hold the time lapse/hyperlapse camera rig securely. Source Credit: Sky Lapse 360 © 2025, a blog post by Walter Sanford.

Imagine my delight when I discovered a video on YouTube that shows how to make an inexpensive magnetic tripod mount for GoPro action cameras. The homemade mount uses a 65 lb. magnet -- now that's a much stronger magnet than the Ulanzi MagSafe tripod mount! All of the parts are currently available from Home Depot, although I'm guessing you can find the same items from other hardware vendors.

Everything was delivered within a few days after I placed my order. It took only a few minutes to assemble the mount. I inverted the mount shown in the YouTube video so that I could connect it to a tripod (rather than a GoPro camera mount) and attach the magnet side with the weaker magnet on the bottom of the kitchen timer.

The following photo shows the modified rig. From top to bottom the assembly includes a black 1/4"-20 (female) to 1/4"-20 (female) adapter/coupler, 65 lb. magnet (magnet side down), and kitchen timer (magnet side up). Not shown: a 1/4"-20 x 1/2" combo round head stainless steel machine screw; and several stainless steel flat washers. 

Magnetic mount modified for use with kitchen timer panorama rig.

The next photo shows a side view of the modified magnet mount. From top to bottom the assembly includes the kitchen timer (magnet side down), 65 lb. magnet (magnet side up), and a black 1/4"-20 (female) to 1/4"-20 (female) adapter/coupler. My GoPro HERO4 Black action camera connects to the top of the kitchen timer using a combination suction cup/ball head. 

Magnetic mount (side view).

So good so far, right? Oh no! When I tested the new mount, I discovered the 65 lb. magnet is so strong it caused the metal kitchen timer to stop rotating unexpectedly, and the bell doesn't ring when time is up. The latter is no big deal, but the former is a deal-breaker for creating panoramic time lapse videos.

I disassembled my version of the magnetic mount and reverted to the design shown in the video. The experiment wasn't a total bust -- I still ended up with a strong magnetic mount for my GoPro action camera.

Homemade magnetic mount for GoPro action cameras.

Tech Tips

A paper insert inside the clear plastic package for the 65 lb. magnet says the center hole is 0.275" in diameter. That's slightly larger than 1/4" (0.25"), and is therefore large enough to work with 1/4"-20 screws like the ones featured on many tripod mounts.

The same information insert says the product is "magnetic on one side only." The silver side of the product is significantly less magnetic than the opposite side where the magnet is located, but it is slightly magnetic due to the strength of the 65 lb. magnet. Just FYI, in case that's a consideration.

Related Resources

• !!!CHEAP!!! DIY GoPro Magnet Mount !!!POWERFUL!!! (6:36) - a YouTube video by Lex_TDB
• Master Magnet 65 lb. Heavy Duty Round Pull Magnets - Home Depot
• Sky Lapse 360 © 2025 - a blog post by Walter Sanford

Copyright © 2025 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

New generic mechanical panorama tripod mount

The following panorama image was taken using the "Camera" app on my Apple iPad mini 6, set for "Pano" mode. Sometimes I like to use a panorama image to set the stage for a panoramic time lapse video.

23 October 2025. Facing north. (5828 x 3816 pixels)

I bought a new gadget for creating panoramic time lapse videos. The vendor calls it "Action Camera 360° Rotating 60min Time Lapse Timer Tripod Head Adapter For Gopro"; I call it the "generic mechanical panorama tripod mount" because there is no name anywhere on the device itself or the box in which it was shipped. Who designed and manufactured the gadget? I have no idea, although there are many similar looking devices that can be found on the Internet.

The following brief panoramic time lapse video is my first field test of the new device. As you can see, it worked but did it work as well as expected? You be the judge. I see at least one time during the video when it appears the device didn't rotate smoothly, and some of my friends said they can see the camera "wobble" slightly near the end of the clip. More about that in the section entitled "The Backstory."

23 October 2025. Facing north. (17 s)

I shot another longer panoramic time lapse video with the camera in a fixed position. My camera was still mounted on the generic device, but I didn't set the timer.

23 October 2025. Facing north. (23 s)

Both video clips were taken with my GoPro HERO4 Black action camera set for "Video" mode / "Time Lapse Video" submode, using a resolution of 4K and an interval of two (2) seconds. Both videos show cumuliform clouds in the sky.

The Backstory

My order was shipped in a plastic mailer. The item was packaged inside a thin, plain white cardboard box with no printing on the outside of the box. The "360TL User manual" is a small, folded piece of paper inside the box. Is "360TL" the name of the product? [Meaning 360° Time Lapse?] The company that designed and manufactured the device isn't provided, at least not in English. The "User manual" provides brief information about "Function," "How to Use," and "360TL Specifications."

Shipping from eBay took FOREVER! Tracking showed my order was stuck in the same facility for nearly a week. The last update was several days before the parcel was delivered. At some point the parcel was handed over to "GOFO EXPRESS" -- a company I've never heard of -- despite the fact that tracking had shown delivery via the United States Postal Service.

The panorama mount was bundled with a basic mount for GoPro action cameras; one of three plastic flanges on the mount was broken. Was the GoPro mount defective or was it broken during shipping? Who knows?

And the top of the panorama mount (the part that rotates) wobbles slightly. Is the wobble caused by a design flaw, or was the mount damaged during shipping? Again, who knows? But I know for certain both items were packed with no protection to prevent damage during shipping.

By now you might be wondering why I bought the product. The answer is simple: tripod mounts. The gadget features tripod mounts on the bottom (female) and top (male) that make it easy to mount the device on a tripod and mount a camera on the device ... securely. But those positive features of the product are outweighed heavily by all of its negatives.

My bottom line recommendation: DO NOT BUY this product!

Tech Tips

Whenever possible, I like to use free applications like the Apple iOS "Camera" app and Apple "iMovie" to create relatively high quality content.

iMovie is easy to use and works well, but it cannot be used to straighten video clips. I know, hard to believe. I discovered it is possible to import .MP4 video clips into Apple "Photos" where they can be edited and straightened. The edited clips are saved as .mov files, but hey, no problem -- both file types are essentially the same format and .mov files can be imported into iMovie.

All of the media featured in this blog post was edited and straightened using Apple "Photos."

Related Resources

• Action Camera 360° Rotating 60min Time Lapse Timer Tripod Head Adapter For GoPro | eBay [Editor's Note: DO NOT BUY this product!]
• "Straighten clips, level horizon - iMovie iPad/iPhone/Mac" (2:11) - a YouTube video by Kurt Papke
• "6 Ways To Convert Video Files On a Mac" (10:47) - a YouTube video by macmostvideo

Copyright © 2025 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Time series of Sky Lapse © 2025 videos

The following panorama image was taken using the "Camera" app on my Apple iPad mini 6, set for "Pano" mode. This is the first time I've used the "Pano" mode of the "Camera" app -- it's simple to use and I must say I'm impressed by the results.

15 October 2025. Facing north. (8716 x 3819 pixels)

I created a YouTube video that features a time series of four "Sky Lapse © 2025" videos, each one approximately 14 seconds in duration. All of the video clips were taken with my GoPro HERO4 Black action camera mounted in a fixed position at four different locations on top of the parking garage for the building where I live. The camera was set for "Video" mode / "Time Lapse Video" submode, using a resolution of 4K and an interval of two (2) seconds.

All four video clips show what I think are mid-level altocumulus clouds. The first clip shows the view facing north. The second clip was taken with the camera facing almost directly overhead. The third clip was taken facing south, and the fourth clip was taken facing south-southwest.

15 October 2025. (1:02)

Video Highlights

Frame grabs from the third video segment should help the viewer notice two things.

First, a Spotted Lanternfly photobombed my shot. The insect made its first appearance near the 01:02 minute mark, highlighted by a red square located in the lower-left corner of the following frame grab. From there the Spotted Lanternfly moved along the top of a concrete wall until it flew away.

Spotted Lanternfly, highlighted by red square (lower-left corner).

Second, "Crepuscular rays" are faintly visible between the bottom of the cloud deck and the horizon during the last part of the third video segment. The rays appear to radiate from the Sun (hidden partially by clouds) toward the ground.

Crepuscular rays (between bottom of cloud deck and horizon).

Tech Tips

I used an aluminum tripod mount for my iPad mini 6, plus the small Bluetooth shutter release that was bundled with the tripod mount in order to start/stop the Pano image shown at the beginning of this blog post.

"How To Use The iPhone Panoramic Mode To Take Panorama Photos - iPhone Photography Coure Part 34" (3:40) by Multimedia Video Marketing provides a good overview of "Pano" mode in the Apple iOS "Camera" app.

Related Resources

• Altocumulus (Ac) | International Cloud Atlas - World Meteorological Organization
• Crepuscular Rays - Google search results
• Crepuscular rays | International Cloud Atlas - World Meteorological Organization
• Crepuscular Rays: sun rays converging on the horizon - WW2010. Department of Atmospheric Sciences (DAS) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. [USA]
• iPad/tablet tripod mount - a blog post by Walter Sanford
• "How To Use The iPhone Panoramic Mode To Take Panorama Photos - iPhone Photography Coure Part 34" (3:40) a YouTube by Multimedia Video Marketing
• 5 Hidden Ways To Release The iPhone Shutter (22:12) - a YouTube video by iPhone Photography School

Post Update: Athought the Apple iOS "Camera" app in "Pano" mode is easy to use and works well, the resulting composite images don't always look perfect. For example, zoom in on the following panoramic image for a closer look at the vehicles along U.S. Route 1. There's some weirdness going on there! So what's the take-away? "Pano" seems to work better for static subjects rather than fast moving objects like cars, etc.

23 October 2025. Facing east. (5590 x 3627 pixels)

Copyright © 2025 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Circumscribed Halo

An Oval Circumscribed Halo and 22° Halo was observed from the Hollin Meadows Swim & Tennis Club, Fairfax County, Virginia USA.

The circumscribed halo is typically a brightly coloured oval around the sun. It is tangential to the inner 22° halo directly above and below the sun and is brightest there. Sometimes local brightenings of the 22° halo are the only sign of it. Its shape depends very much on the solar altitude. Source Credit: Atmospheric Optics.

I used a fence post to block the disc of the Sun and shot the photos at -3 exposure value (ev). The camera LCD was so dark it was like looking at the Sun through welder's glass! Photo 2 (of 2) also shows a contrail.

Photo 1 (of 2).

Photo 2 (of 2).

Halos and other types of atmospheric optical phenomena are caused by high altitude cirroform clouds such as cirrostratus. Cirroform clouds are composed almost entirely of ice crystals. Sometimes the ice crystals are the right shape and in the right orientation to cause optical phenomena such as the halo shown above.

Tech Tips

The preceding photos were taken with my Panasonic DMC-FZ150 superzoom digital camera, using the following settings: ISO 100; focal length 4.5mm (25mm, 35mm camera equivalent); -3 ev; aperture f/8; shutter speed 1/2,000 second.

Related Resources

• Halo Phenomena | International Cloud Atlas - World Meteorological Organization
• What Causes Halos, Sundogs, and Sun Pillars? - National Weather Service [USA]
• Atmospheric Optical Phenomena (except Rainbows and Aurora) - Colorado State University [USA]
• The Formation of Snow Crystzls - American Scientist
• A Guide to Snowflakes - Caltech [USA]

Copyright © 2025 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved,

Stratocumulapse

How long should a time lapse video be? The consensus seems to be the "Goldilocks" duration is somewhere between 10 seconds and 30 seconds.

Two video clips were combined using Apple iMovie: one of the shorter test clips (5 s) featured in my last blog post; and a slightly longer clip (14 s) that I shot after my test clip turned out successfully. Both clips show stratocumulus clouds in the sky over Fairfax County, Virginia USA on 10 October 2025.

10 October 2025. Facing south-southwest. (26 s)

Tech Tips

Both video clips were taken with my GoPro HERO4 Black action camera mounted in a fixed position. The camera was set for "Video" mode / "Time Lapse Video" submode, using a resolution of 4K and an interval of two (2) seconds.

Copyright © 2025 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Stratocumulus clouds

Stratiform clouds are layered, sheetlike clouds that cover all or almost all of the sky. Cumuliform clouds are puffy clouds that look like cotton balls. Stratocumulus clouds have characteristics of both stratiform and cumuliform clouds.

The following 4K time lapse videos were created on 10 October 2025 using my GoPro HERO4 action camera. The camera was set for "Video" mode / "Time Lapse Video" submode. Both videos show stratocumulus clouds in the sky over Fairfax County, Virginia USA.

The first video was taken with the camera mounted in a fixed position.

10 October 2025. Facing south-southwest. (14 s)

The last video was taken with the camera mounted on a mechanical kitchen timer that rotates counterclockwise. Time lapse expert Matthew Vandeputte calls this type of video a "Motion Control Time Lapse."

10 October 2025. Facing north-northwest. (14 s)

Experience has shown it can be challenging to align the camera so that everything looks level as the camera pans around the horizon. Look closely at the preceding video and you should notice the problem easily. Practical suggestions for working around this problem are invited and welcome.

Tech Tips

The time lapse videos featured in several of my recent blog posts were recorded in 4K using an interval of five (5) seconds. Some of those videos look a little "jittery." I decided to try making a couple of short test videos to see whether an interval of two (2) seconds works better than five seconds. I think it does. What's your opinion?

Related Resources

• Stratocumulus (Sc) | International Cloud Atlas - World Meteorological Organization
• Cloud Classification - National Weather Service [USA]
• Clouds and Cloud Chart (PDF) - Environment Canada
• Stratocumulus clouds - Met Office [UK]
• Sky Lapse 360 © 2025 - a blog post by Walter Sanford

Copyright © 2025 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Sky Lapse 360 © 2025

The following time lapse video shows a nearly 360 degree view of the sky over Fairfax County, Virginia USA on 03 October 2025.

03 October 2025. (0.28 seconds)

The 4K video was created using my GoPro HERO4 Black action camera set for "Video" mode / "Time Lapse Video" submode -- the simplest of several ways to create time lapse videos using the HERO4. I used an interval of five seconds. In retrospect I think two seconds would have been better.

Two classes of clouds are shown in the video: lower altitude cumuliform clouds; and higher altitude cirroform clouds. Notice the cumuliform clouds seem to form and dissipate without moving. (My good friend Luis Acosta was the first person who made this observation.) I speculate this might be the result of the Sun heating the Earth's surface, causing convection cells in the lower atmosphere.

Time Lapse or Hyperlapse?

By definition the camera is mounted in a fixed position when making time lapses; the camera moves for hyperlapses.

My action camera is mounted on a one-hour mechanical kitchen timer that rotates 360° counterclockwise, so the camera pans in the same direction. Yet the entire rig is connected to a camera tripod, so I think the line between time lapse and hyperlapse is somewhat blurry in this case. Time lapse expert Matthew Vandeputte calls the type of video I shot a "Motion Control Time Lapse." What's your opinion?

Tech Tips

The following photograph shows my Rube Goldberg machine "Sky Lapse 360 © 2025" time lapse/hyperlapse rig.

"Sky Lapse 360 © 2025" time lapse/hyperlapse rig.

The component parts, numbered in the preceding photo, are listed below.

1. GoPro HERO4 Black action camera
2. GoPro tripod mount adapter
3. Suction cup camera mount (repurposed from RTL-SDR Antenna Kit)
4. Kitchen timer (available from Amazon)
5. Ulanzi R101 Universl MagSafe to 1/4 20 Tripod Base Mount for iPhone
6. Manfrotto 323 RC2 Quick Release Adapter with 200PL-14 323
7. Safety strap

The suction cup camera mount (3) is shown in the following photo. The suction cup itself is approximately the same diameter as the top of the kitchen timer (4). Most suction cups are too wide to work with the timer.

Suction cup included with RTL-SDR Antenna Kit.

Another possible source for a suction cup is available from AliExpress: 6 Types Mini Suction Cup Mount Tripod (select Color Name: 5). The price for a single suction cup seems to be a great bargain but the cost for shipping and handling plus the time it takes for delivery from China might make the "RTL-SDR Antenna Kit" the better option for obtaining a suction cup that fits the kitchen timer.

Of course you might simply use one of the flat adhesive mounts available from GoPro to connect a camera mount to the top of the kitchen timer (4), more or less permanently. I didn't want to go that route since adhesive mounts are difficult to remove.

The Ulanzi MagSafe tripod mount (5) is magnetic on one side and connects to the magnet on the bottom of the kitchen timer (4). I wish both magnets were stronger, but the grip seems to be strong enough to hold the time lapse/hyperlapse camera rig securely.

I used the clip on the GoPro HERO4 Black camera protective housing to connect a safety strap to the camera/camera rig. Better safe than sorry, right?

When it's time to assemble the rig, I recommend aligning the front of the action camera with the pointer/zero mark on the kitchen timer.

The Backstory

Quite a while ago I watched several YouTube videos that demonstrated how to make panoramic time lapse videos using an inexpensive IKEA "Ordning" kitchen timer. (See "Related Resources, below.) That particular model is no longer available so I searched for similar timers with a flat top and bottom. The one available from Amazon is the closest match I found.

Related Resources

• GoPro Hero - 360 Degree Panning Timer - IKEA - Ordning - Part 1 (3:50) - a YouTube video by Travel with Brynmag
• How I Used $10 Egg Timer To Create Spinning Time Lapse - Filmmaking Tips (5:10) - a YouTube video Russo Mutuc {Editor's Note: Believe it or not, I discovered this video after I bought a similar timer.]
• Hyperlapse vs Timelapse EXPLAINED (3:49) - a YouTube video by Matthew Vandeputte
• More "Sky Lapse ©" Videos - a blog post by Walter Sanford

Copyright © 2025 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

"Skyku ©" poetry

"A traditional haiku is a three-line Japanese poem with a 5-7-5 syllable structure. The lines don't rhyme and the poem should be readable in a single breath. ... Content [is] traditionally about nature or the seasons." (Source credit: Google search results for "Haiku format.")

A "Skyku © 2025" poem is a haiku about the sky, day or night. For example ...

Cumiliform shapes.

Nephelococcygia.

Imagination.

The word "nephelococcygia" means looking for shapes in the clouds that resemble animals, objects, etc. 

Fishermen on Accotink Bay

The preceding photograph shows a view from the shoreline of Accotink Bay. I shot the photo on 16 August 2013 at Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge, a 1,200 acre preserve located at Army Garrison Fort Belvoir, Fairfax County, Virginia USA.

Related Resources: Visit the Carl Sandburg Sky Poetry Web page, including Carl Sandburg MS student-authored sky poems. As you will see, we don't just talk the talk, we walked the walk.

Copyright © 2025 by Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

More "Sky Lapse ©" Videos

The following "Sky Lapse © 2025" time lapse videos were created on 15 September 2025 using my GoPro HERO4 Black action camera. The camera was set for "Video" mode / "Time Lapse Video" submode -- the simplest of several ways to create time lapse videos using the HERO4.

Tech Tip: For best results, press the gear icon in the YouTube video player and set the "Playback speed" to 0.50x.

15 September 2025. Facing west-southwest. (~5 s)

Two classes of clouds are shown in both videos: puffy cumuliform clouds made mostly of small water droplets; and thin, wispy cirroform clouds made mostly of ice crystals.

Notice the lower altitude cumiliform clouds seem to be moving faster and in a different direction than the higher cirroform clouds. Meteorologists call that vertical wind shear.

15 September 2025. Facing north. (~10 s)

What are the take-aways?

My last blog post features time lapse videos created using the Apple "Camera" app. The time lapse videos in this post were created using my GoPro HERO4 Black. Both methods make it easy to create time lapse videos that look good straight out of camera. Question is, are the results equally good?

I think the GoPro's 16:9 aspect ratio looks more cinematic than the default 4:3 aspect ratio of the Apple "Camera" app. And I like the fact no frames are dropped in GoPro time lapse videos, in contrast with the somewhat mysterious process Apple uses to create time lapse videos.

On the other hand, "the best camera is the one you have with you" [Source Credit: Chase Jarvis] and there's no doubt people are more likely to be carrying an iPhone than a GoPro action camera, especially one that was released during Fall 2014. Having said that, I like the results I'm getting with my 11 year old GoPro! 

More Tech Tips

There is no viewfinder screen on the back of the HERO4 Black, only a small "Camera Status Screen" on the front of the camera. Although it’s possible to operate the HERO4 Black manually using only the small screen on the front of the camera, it’s less than ideal for navigating menus and making settings.

In my opinion, it’s much easier to pair the camera with either a smart phone or tablet running the GoPro “Quik” app and use one of those devices to control the camera remotely. In this case I used the GoPro "Quik" app [Version 13.20.2 (18532)] running on an Apple iPad mini 6.

It's very difficult to see the screen of my iPad in bright sunlight. I like to prepare the "Quik" app in a shady spot such as Level 6 of the parking garage for the building where I live before going to L7 (the top level) to shoot "Sky Lapses © 2025."

Hey, that's me!

I recommend turning off Notifications and turning on Airplane Mode. Turn on Wi-Fi and connect to your GoPro camera. Launch the "Quik" app and connect the app to the GoPro camera. Be sure the camera is set for "Time Lapse Video" Mode with an Interval of 5 seconds and a Resolution of 4K at 30 fps.

Go to the shooting location and compose the scene. The red record button toggles recording on/off. Press the red record button and wait patiently.

Battery life and duration of video clip highlighted by red rectangle.

Press the red record button when you're ready to stop recording.

Related Resources

• GoPro time lapse submodes - a blog post by Walter Sanford
• Both Sides Now

Copyright © 2025. Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Both Sides Now

As a result of collaboration with a good friend, I was able to achieve my goal of looking at clouds from both sides. Simultaneously. Well, almost.

Rows and floes of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
Looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and they snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way

I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all

Source Credit: Both Sides Now, by Joni Mitchel.

Looking up

The following "Sky Lapse © 2025" time lapse videos show approximately 10 minutes of elapsed time compressed into ~20 seconds of video. Both videos were created using my Apple iPad mini 6 to record the sky as seen from the top of a seven-story parking garage at my home in suburban Washington, D.C. (USA). [For technical details, see "Tech Tips" (below).]

15 September 2025 beginning at 1:40 p.m.

15 September 2025 beginning at 1:53 p.m.

Notice the vertical wind shear shown by the cloud motion in both videos.

Looking Down

The following image was captured from Meteor M2-4 -- one of two Russian polar orbiting weather satellites -- on 15 September 2025 by Luis Acosta, my good friend and amateur radio guru. Luis's ground station is located in New Jersey (USA) but as you can see the view shown in the satellite image includes my location in Northern Virginia (USA). Although the time of the satellite pass (3:00 p.m. EDT) isn't perfectly synchronous with the times of my time lapse videos it's close enough, or as we say in Washington, D.C. it's good enough for government work.

Zoom in on the mid-Atlantic region. Notice Luis's weather satellite image (below) shows the same mix of cumuliform and cirroform clouds as is shown in my time lapse videos (above).

Meteor M2-4.

Tech Tips

The Apple "Camera" app can be used to record time lapse videos on iOS devices such as my iPad mini 6. The process is simple and straightforward, and works well. How to shoot TIMELAPSES on iPhone (7:15), by Matthew Vandeputte, time lapse guru, is a helpful how to video that provides step-by-step instructions for shooting time lapse videos using the "Camera" app on an iPhone. The same process works for Apple tablets too.

Luis's weather satellite receiving ground station includes the following hardware and software: Raspberry Pi 4 running the RaspiNOAA V2 image; RTL-SDR V3; Generic wideband LNA; and DIY QFH antenna.

Related Resources

• How to shoot time lapse videos on Apple iOS devices - a blog post by Walter Sanford
• More "Sky Lapse (c)" Videos

Post Update: I received a message from Luis Acosta that said "You inspired me." Hyperlapse on a Saturday afternoon (2:50) was created by Luis using the Camera app on his Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra smart phone to create the time lapse video. Luis recommends a recording speed of 15x to 30x. Well done, Luis!

Copyright © 2025 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.