How to capture rainbows – with myth or science?

[Heroique]

I've just completed a forum-wide title search with astonishing results.

There is no thread – not one – with "rainbow" in the title. (Well, there's actually one about a Sinar rainbow case, and another about Newton or rainbow rings, but that's it!)

Apparently, searching for rainbows right here is just as hard as in the field. :cool:

If you're an LFer who has predicted, chased, or captured rainbows with success, what tips or examples can you share? There must be some entertaining stories out there.

I've done a little research, browsing Galen Rowell's famous "Mountain Light."


"Rainbows," he says, "occur only where water droplets of the proper size refract sunlight, which usually happens during the clearing of an afternoon rainstorm when sunlight hits a wet cloud in the distance. To look for a rainbow in a wet cloud, turn toward the anti-solar point, directly away from the sun. The primary arc of a rainbow always forms at a radius of 42 degrees around this point. Thus, no rainbow can be seen across level ground unless the sun is lower than 42 degrees above the horizon; and that is why afternoon sightings are most common."

Hmm, quite interesting, but I think I'd rather let a rainbow find me than follow Galen's insights. Call it the Zen approach, not a scientific one. But maybe Zen isn't enough. What's your approach?

[Tin Can]

I have only chased rainbows by motorcycle on the backroads of Wisconsin.

God's country!

I was seeking a pot of gold.

Fun, but never got there.

There are zillions of color images of rainbows, never saw a B&W one in person.

I will keep an eye out

[ic-racer]

Photographing a rainbow or mirage is easy. The hard part is getting right under the end of the rainbow or getting right on top of the mirage....

187612

[LabRat]

View camera is probably not the weapon of choice, as they come and go quickly...

But if you can see it, you can shoot it...

Steve K

[Joe O'Hara]

Well, you may be able to capture a rainbow, but how will you keep it healthy and happy? And shouldn't we let rainbows be free? ;-)

Seriously, rainbows are always seen on the opposite side of the sky from the sun. In practice, at ground level at least,
that means that they are seen in the morning, or (more commonly around here at least) in the late afternoon. Otherwise, the
rainbow may still be there, but it is below the horizon from the viewer's position. So you know where to look at least.

It also helps if the sun looks clear and bright from your position. They need directional light to be readily visible.

When I am lucky enough to see a rainbow, the last think I think of is worrying about how to photograph it. But that is just me.

[Mark Sampson]

There have been many rainbows to be seen in the year-plus that I've lived in Tucson; they are far more common here than in the East. I've photographed a few with my phone... have never been able to set up an LF camera in time to capture one on 4x5 film. As i only shoot B&W these days, I think that there wouldn't be much point to the exercise.
Ansel Adams (of course) made at least one successful LF B&W photograph with a rainbow in it; naturally it was in Yosemite. It appears in his book "Examples", and I suspect that he set out to shoot the rainbow to prove that it could be done. Being Ansel, his picture not only proved the point but is interesting to look at, too.

[Vaughn]

I have photographed fogbows in B&W -- even a double one...not all that exciting.

[Alan Gales]

Oh that's easy. Here you go! :rolleyes:

https://cokinfilter.com/products/rainbow-1

[Tin Can]

I want the #2

LOL

[Heroique]

I have never been able to set up an LF camera in time to capture one on 4x5 film.

Me neither. I've seen several threads about predicting fog, cloud inversions, and clearing storms, but your field experience near Tucson makes one curious if rainbow prediction, as Galen Rowell suggests above, has any practical merit.


Oh that's easy. Here you go! :rolleyes:

Hilarious! Thanks Alan, and it's only $29.99!

Here's Cokin's image for everyone's easy reference.

Maybe they'll create a 2-stop GND filter with an embedded rainbow, $39.99.

187634

[cowanw]

There have been many rainbows to be seen in the year-plus that I've lived in Tucson; they are far more common here than in the East. I've photographed a few with my phone... have never been able to set up an LF camera in time to capture one on 4x5 film. As i only shoot B&W these days, I think that there wouldn't be much point to the exercise.
Ansel Adams (of course) made at least one successful LF B&W photograph with a rainbow in it; naturally it was in Yosemite. It appears in his book "Examples", and I suspect that he set out to shoot the rainbow to prove that it could be done. Being Ansel, his picture not only proved the point but is interesting to look at, too.

If a member posted the Nevada Falls image, they would likely get back the diagnosis of light leak/flair:)

[Heroique]

I have only chased rainbows by motorcycle on the backroads of Wisconsin. God's country! I was seeking a pot of gold. Fun, but never got there.

Speaking of Galen Rowell, I'm still browsing "Mountain Light" – he explains that the mystifying behavior of rainbows is true, even when viewed with the clear eyes of science:


"True to legend," he says, "a rainbow appears to recede as the viewer approaches. This happens because a moving person is actually witnessing multiple rainbows. With each step, one rainbow disappears and another takes its place in a new set of droplets. Two people standing next to each other would actually see two different rainbows, reflecting off different water droplets."

To move a tripod and recompose a rainbow sounds, well, problematic at best. Not only is time of the essence, but your subject is "multiple" and on the run. Like trying to reach that elusive pot of gold.

[jeffokeeffe]

187635

I was able to make this image out of complete and utter luck back in May of 2017 at Yellowstone NP. I was out on the boardwalks of the Upper Basin, stopping for a bit to photograph the flows of Grand Geyser when I turned around to the surprise of it going off while I was there alone. The steam and vapor coming off the eruption lasted just long enough for me to see this faint rainbow and to set up an iffy composition. Couldn't recreate it if I tried! My tip is to be lucky!

[Doremus Scudder]

I've shot rainbows in black-and-white a few times; they end up just being a white curve in the sky. This can be effective, but often it's just a let down. Color can be better for some things :)

Doremus

[Tin Can]

The trouble Jeff, is you have proven there is no Pot o' Gold at the end of a rainbow...

Very sad


187635

I was able to make this image out of complete and utter luck back in May of 2017 at Yellowstone NP. I was out on the boardwalks of the Upper Basin, stopping for a bit to photograph the flows of Grand Geyser when I turned around to the surprise of it going off while I was there alone. The steam and vapor coming off the eruption lasted just long enough for me to see this faint rainbow and to set up an iffy composition. Couldn't recreate it if I tried! My tip is to be lucky!

[bigdog]

Go to Iceland’s West Fjords in the summer. There will be waterfalls. There will be rain. Both can create rainbows. Enjoy.

[Alan Gales]

The trouble Jeff, is you have proven there is no Pot o' Gold at the end of a rainbow...

Very sad

No leprechaun either. Very, very sad!

[Mark Sampson]

Well, IF I had color film for my Speed Graphic, and IF I was at home (or had it with me) the next time I saw a rainbow, I could easily photograph it.
However, the last time I saw rainbow, last week, I was stuck in heavy traffic (all too common in Tucson) so there was no way to make a good photograph.
And then, since my Speed uses 3-1/4"x4-1/4" film, the moderators would instantly banish my picture to the Lounge; so I'm afraid that it's a lost cause.

[Heroique]

Ansel Adams (of course) made at least one successful LF B&W photograph with a rainbow in it; naturally it was in Yosemite. It appears in his book "Examples", and I suspect that he set out to shoot the rainbow to prove that it could be done. Being Ansel, his picture not only proved the point but is interesting to look at, too.


If a member posted the Nevada Falls image, they would likely get back the diagnosis of light leak/flair:)

Curiosity made me look for AA's image, circa 1950. (I understand he exposed color film on this day too.) I don't have his book "Examples," so I'd enjoy hearing someone summarize AA's key thoughts about planning for and composing the image. Was it the rainbow that earned the image a place in his book? Any b/w rainbow lessons to learn?

187733

[jeffokeeffe]

The trouble Jeff, is you have proven there is no Pot o' Gold at the end of a rainbow...

Very sad

Just because it isn't there in the photograph doesn't mean it wasn't there to begin with ;) !

[Tin Can]

True, what's your address? :)

I used to live at Bloomingdale Arts Building in Logan Sq...


Just because it isn't there in the photograph doesn't mean it wasn't there to begin with ;) !

[Drew Wiley]

Don't need any approach. They're common enough. Particularly abundant in Hawaii, which appropriately has a rainbow even on its license plate. And as usual, I think Galen was full of bunk, and simply shot them opportunistically just like anyone else would do. Every Junior High science student should know what causes rainbows - well, should know at least. That rainbow over the Potola thing is a Disneylandish cliche as far as I'm concerned. Just another postcard. Only millions of people have been there by now. It's a big city with steady tourist traffic. Not like back in the 19th century when you could get beheaded for sneaking into Tibet. Galen's sense of Zen was about as good as a pocket gopher's sense of flight - it happens, but only if a hawk is involved. As a mountaineer, he would have known that rainbows can occur under all kinds of conditions and angles other than he described. He looked that up somewhere. But maybe it was for sake of sounding like a serious visual technician when you really aren't. Just more of his predictable marketing persona. Maybe we should include Newton's Rings in this thread too. They are the most common kind of rainbows.

[Vaughn]

Easy to do, just hold your stick and make a wish. (Bryce)

Sorry -- MF, not LF

[Tin Can]

Wizard!

[Drew Wiley]

I'm more impressed by flying kites in lightning storms. That can be photographed too, both pre-mortem and postmortem.

[Heroique]

If a member posted the Nevada Fall image, they would likely get back the diagnosis of light leak/flair. :)


I've shot rainbows in black-and-white a few times; they end up just being a white curve in the sky. This can be effective, but often it's just a let down. Color can be better for some things. :) Doremus

Spurred by the comments above, I did some quick research into AA's "Nevada Fall, Rainbow" to share his personal opinion about the 1947 image.

188427

Some interesting remarks from the anseladams.com site:


Despite the lengthy time to consider his set up, Adams didn't capture it exactly as he wanted, as he writes in Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs: "I missed on one small detail which ruffled; the right-hand tree of the two little cedars near the center of the image meets a branch from a nearby tree. I should have lowered the camera at least a foot to avoid this merger."

While composing the image, Adams struggled to keep the camera dry in the mist. He recalled that "'the sound and fury of the waterfall, the clean air, and driving mist were unforgettable."

Later in answer to critics questioning the artistic merit of the photograph, he responded: "Some urban aesthetes claim this photograph is just a bit of scenery and is certainly not art. May they and their opinions rest in peace! I think it is a choice bit of Chaos organized into some kind of expressive Order. I do not desire to impose a definition of creativity on anyone."

I must say that "light leaks" and "just being a white curve" do come to mind. ;^)