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⏰ Condition Cloner
Remember perfect photo conditions and recreate them as alerts
💡 What is the Condition Cloner?
Ever spotted amazing conditions on your way to work or during a casual outing, but didn't have your camera ready? The Condition Cloner lets you capture those perfect moments for the future.
Example scenario: You're driving to work and see incredible fog rolling over the hills at your favorite viewpoint. You make a mental note of the location and time. Later, you can use the Condition Cloner to look up what the exact weather conditions were at that moment, then save those conditions as an alert. Next time similar conditions are predicted, you'll get notified in advance so you can be there with your camera ready!
How it works: Select the location on the map, enter the date and time when you saw the perfect conditions, and we'll retrieve the historical weather data for that exact moment. You can then save those conditions as a new alert to be notified when they're predicted to occur again.
1. Find Your Location
Search for a location and drop the pin on exactly where you want to photograph.
Coordinates: -
2. When Did You See It?
Select the date and time when you saw the perfect conditions.
Alert Map
Legend
� Help & Guide
Learn how to use Photo Weather Alerts and get the best results
🚀 Getting Started
What is PixelOps Weather Alerts?
PixelOps Weather Alerts is an intelligent weather monitoring service designed specifically for photographers. Instead of checking weather forecasts manually, you create alerts for specific locations and weather conditions, and we notify you when those perfect conditions are predicted to occur.
How It Works
1. Create an Alert: Choose a location, select your desired weather condition (e.g., Few Clouds, Fog, Clear Sky), and set when you want to be there (specific time or relative to sunrise/sunset).
2. We Monitor the Weather: Our system checks weather forecasts multiple times per day for your locations.
3. Get Notified: When your desired conditions are predicted, we send you an email (and optional push notification) on your chosen alert day - same day, day before, or two days before.
4. Capture Amazing Photos: Head out at the right time with confidence that conditions should be ideal!
🎯 Using the Main Features
📊 Dashboard
Your central hub showing recent fired alerts and a summary of all your active alerts. Quickly see what photo opportunities are coming up and review recent notifications.
➕ Create Alert
Set up new weather alerts by filling in:
- Alert Name: Give it a memorable name (e.g., "Golden Gate Fog Mornings")
- Location: Type a city/place name or paste exact coordinates (format: "51.5074, -0.1278")
- Weather Condition: Choose from 15 different conditions - click the ℹ️ icon for helpful tips!
- Time: Fixed time, or relative to sunrise/sunset (±12 hours)
- Alert Day: When to be notified (day of, day before, or two days before)
- Notes: Optional reminders about gear, compositions, or parking
🔄 Condition Cloner
Found a great set of weather conditions and timing? Use the Condition Cloner to:
- Click on a map to select a new location (or search for one)
- Click "Check Current Weather" to see real-time conditions
- If the weather looks good, save those exact conditions as a new alert
- Perfect for planning multi-location photography trips!
📋 My Alerts
View and manage all your alerts in one place:
- Active/Paused toggle: Temporarily disable alerts without deleting them
- Filter by status: View only active or paused alerts
- Search: Find alerts by name or location
- Actions: Edit, duplicate, or delete alerts
- Details: Click any alert to see full information including a map
🗺️ Map
Visualize all your alert locations on an interactive map. Great for:
- Seeing coverage of your photography areas
- Planning road trips based on active alerts
- Finding gaps where you might want to add new alerts
⚙️ Settings
Manage your account and notification preferences:
- Profile: Update your name, email, or phone number
- Push Notifications: Enable browser notifications for instant alerts (highly recommended!)
- Email Preferences: Toggle email notifications on/off
🌤️ Understanding Weather Conditions
☀️ Clear Sky vs Few Clouds
Clear Sky means absolutely zero cloud coverage. While perfect for star photography or capturing pure blue skies, this condition is quite rare and may result in fewer alerts.
Recommendation: For most photography needs, especially golden hour and landscape shots, consider using Few Clouds ⛅ instead. This allows for light cloud coverage (up to 25%) which often creates more interesting skies with better colors during sunrise and sunset.
🌧️ Rain and Snow Intensity
Different precipitation intensities create unique photo opportunities:
- Light Rain/Snow: Ideal for moody atmospheric shots with minimal disruption to your gear
- Moderate: Creates visible precipitation but may require weather protection
- Heavy: Dramatic conditions but challenging for photography
🌫️ Fog and Mist
Perfect for ethereal, mysterious shots. Most common during early morning hours, especially near water bodies or in valleys.
❄️ Frost and Hoar Frost
Frost creates beautiful crystalline textures on surfaces. Hoar Frost is more dramatic, with delicate ice crystals forming on trees and vegetation - spectacular for macro and landscape photography.
⏰ Timing Your Alerts
🌅 Golden Hour Alerts
Use sunrise/sunset offsets to catch the best light:
- -30 to 0 minutes before sunrise: Blue hour transitioning to golden hour
- 0 to +60 minutes after sunrise: Peak golden hour light
- -60 to 0 minutes before sunset: Golden hour approaching
- 0 to +30 minutes after sunset: Golden hour into blue hour
📅 Advance Notice
Set your alert day based on your needs:
- Day of: Last-minute opportunities, ideal for spontaneous local shoots
- Day before: Good balance for planning equipment and travel
- Two days before: Best for planning trips or coordinating with models/clients
📍 Location Strategy
🎯 Specific vs Broad Locations
Use exact coordinates (paste as "latitude, longitude") for specific spots you've scouted.
Use city/town names for more general alerts that give you flexibility in choosing your exact shooting location.
🗺️ Multiple Locations
Create alerts for several nearby locations with similar conditions. Weather can be localized, so having options increases your chances of success.
🎨 Best Practices
📝 Use Descriptive Names and Notes
Name your alerts clearly (e.g., "Lake Sunrise - Few Clouds") and use the notes field to remind yourself about:
- Specific compositions you want to capture
- Equipment needed
- Access details or parking information
- Backup locations nearby
🔄 Use the Condition Cloner
Found a great set of weather conditions and timing? Use the Condition Cloner to quickly create similar alerts for different locations. Perfect for planning a photography road trip!
🔔 Enable Push Notifications
Don't miss opportunities! Enable browser push notifications in Settings to receive instant alerts even when you're not on the site. Works great on mobile devices too!
📱 Keep Alerts Active
Weather patterns change throughout the year. Keep alerts active year-round to catch those rare perfect conditions when they occur unexpectedly.
🎯 Photography Type Recommendations
🌄 Landscape Photography
Best conditions: Few Clouds during sunrise/sunset, Fog for morning shots, Overcast for waterfalls
Timing: ±1 hour from sunrise/sunset
⭐ Astrophotography
Best conditions: Clear Sky (essential), avoid full moon nights
Timing: 2-3 hours after sunset to before sunrise
🏙️ Urban/Street Photography
Best conditions: Light Rain for reflections, Fog for atmosphere, Few Clouds for drama
Timing: Blue hour (just before sunrise/after sunset)
🌸 Macro/Nature Details
Best conditions: Overcast for even lighting, Frost/Hoar Frost for textures, Light Rain for water droplets
Timing: Early morning for frost and dew
Notification Settings
Help & Tips
📝 Creating Alerts
- Alert Name: Give your alert a descriptive name like "Golden Hour at Beach" or "Foggy Morning Downtown"
- Location: Enter a city name, address, or exact coordinates (e.g., "51.5074, -0.1278") for precise locations
- Weather Condition: Choose the specific weather you want to be notified about
- Time: Set a fixed time or use sunrise/sunset with optional offsets (e.g., sunset+1 for one hour after)
- Alert Day: Get notified on the day of the weather, or 1-2 days in advance for planning
- Alert Enabled: Check this to activate the alert immediately, or uncheck to create it disabled
⏸️ Enabling & Disabling Alerts
You can temporarily pause alerts without deleting them:
- Toggle in Detail View: Click any alert card to view details, then use the "Enable/Disable" button
- Visual Indicators: Disabled alerts appear semi-transparent in the list and on the map
- No Notifications: Disabled alerts won't be evaluated for weather conditions or send notifications
- Easy Re-enable: Click the "Enable Alert" button anytime to reactivate
- Best for: Seasonal locations, temporary travel alerts, or alerts you want to keep but not use right now
🗺️ Using the Map
- View Locations: All your alerts are displayed as markers on the interactive map
- Active vs Disabled: Solid markers are active alerts, semi-transparent markers are disabled
- Click for Details: Click any marker to see alert information in a popup
- Auto Zoom: The map automatically zooms to show all your alert locations
🤖 AI Weather Conditions (Beta)
Use natural language to describe complex weather OR seasonal conditions beyond simple weather codes:
- How it works: The AI evaluates if your described conditions are >90% likely to occur
- Two-stage filtering: Traditional weather condition must match first, then AI evaluates your custom criteria
- Weather-based examples: "Perfect Milky Way viewing", "Safe for outdoor camera equipment", "Comfortable for elderly people", "Ideal drone flying weather"
- Seasonal examples: "Poppies are in bloom", "Cherry blossoms blooming", "Peak autumn colors", "Spring wildflowers"
- What AI can evaluate: Temperature ranges, cloud patterns, visibility, wind conditions, precipitation, moon phase, seasonal timing for plants/blooms, comfort levels, equipment safety
- What AI cannot evaluate: Real-time events (aurora, wildlife sightings), soil conditions, subjective preferences without weather criteria
- Costs: AI evaluations cost ~$0.0003 per check (less than a penny per month for daily alerts)
- Notifications include reasoning: When an AI alert fires, you'll see the AI's confidence percentage and explanation
⏰ Condition Cloner
Perfect for recreating amazing photo conditions you've experienced:
- Find Location: Search or click the map to select where you took a great photo
- Pick the Date: Enter the date when the conditions were perfect
- Search Weather: Get the exact weather conditions from that day and time
- Create Alert: Turn those conditions into an alert to be notified when they return
🔔 Notifications
- Email: Detailed alerts with all weather information (recommended)
- SMS: Quick text notifications (requires phone number, charges may apply)
- Push: Instant browser notifications on the device where you enable them
- Multiple Devices: Enable push notifications separately on each device you use
- Configure in Settings: Go to Settings page to set up your notification preferences
💡 Best Practices
- Use Specific Names: "Sunset at Pier 39" is better than "Nice Weather"
- Start Simple: Create a few test alerts before setting up many locations
- Disable vs Delete: Disable seasonal alerts instead of deleting them - you can reactivate next season
- Day Before Alerts: Use "day before" option for locations requiring travel time
- Review Regularly: Check your alerts periodically and disable ones you're not using
- Use Notes: Add details about equipment, access, or parking to remember when notified
❓ Common Questions
Q: How often are alerts checked?
A: Weather is checked daily at 5 AM UTC. Alerts matching the conditions will send notifications.
Q: Can I have multiple alerts for the same location?
A: Yes! You can create multiple alerts with different weather conditions or times for any location.
Q: What's the difference between active and disabled?
A: Active alerts are checked daily. Disabled alerts are not evaluated and won't send notifications.
Q: Will I get multiple notifications?
A: You'll receive one notification per alert when conditions match. The same alert won't notify again for the same conditions.
Q: Can I edit an alert after creating it?
A: Yes! Click any alert card, then use the Edit button to modify any details.
Q: What are AI Conditions and when should I use them?
A: AI Conditions let you describe complex weather or seasonal requirements in natural language. Use them when simple weather codes aren't enough - like "good Milky Way viewing", "poppies in bloom", or "safe drone flying weather". The AI evaluates these conditions only after the traditional weather filter passes, keeping costs minimal.
Q: How accurate are AI condition evaluations?
A: The AI provides a confidence percentage (0-100%) and only triggers alerts at ≥90% confidence. It uses comprehensive weather data including temperature, cloud cover, humidity, wind, visibility, moon phase, and seasonal patterns. Notifications include the AI's reasoning so you can make informed decisions.