nature, Photography

Arc-en-ciel

38 Comments

A few days ago I saw a particularly good rainbow. I didn’t have my camera but these cell phone pictures work okay, I think.

We have been having quite a lot of “sun showers,” where there’s a mix of rain-laden clouds together with sunny breaks.

The rainbow was in a perfect arc from north to south.

Rainbows are caused by refraction, the same process that produces sundogs. It occurs when light from the sun changes direction while passing through a medium denser than air, such as a raindrop. Refraction can produce some very beautiful sights.

The picture above shows that there was also a faint, secondary rainbow above the more defined one.

Happy rainbow Sunday. 🌈

38 thoughts on “Arc-en-ciel”

    1. Agreed; they are challenging at the best of times but I had the added difficulty of using a cell phone camera. Worked reasonably well, considering.

      When I saw it I experienced a sense of wellbeing, so yes, I think we impose that interpretation. Whatever it is, they’re a lovely, lifting sight. 😊

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      1. I’m in the Okanagan Valley of southern British Columbia, Canada. This is a very deep, long valley with major lakes at its bottom; it runs from north to south between two mountain ranges. Weather coming from the Pacific Ocean is forced over the range to the west of us. Those clouds are usually full of rain, and in spring and summer they tend to be single clouds as well, which give us sun showers and make rainbows. 😊 🌈

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  6. I envy your sun showers Lynette. Yesterday, we got 5 drops of rain and another 4 drops this morning. They keep predicting major rain, but the air mass dries out and we stay windy and dusty. Happy Sunday. Allan

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    1. We have fortunately been getting slow, steady showers, so I think we must be okay for moisture although I haven’t looked up our status recently. Northern BC and Alberta are in trouble, though. I’ve read that our weather is supposed to soon start being affected by La Niña which is to bring cooler temperatures and rain, but I’ve also read conflicting reports, too. Whatever the case, I hope you get some good soaking rain soon.

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  7. Gorgeous. Every time the sun peeks out during a rainy day, I run outside to look for the rainbow. We used to get them almost daily during the rainy season when I lived in Florida. I posted a picture of a recent one here.

    Your photos really captured the colors – and over the hills and mountains. Stunning.

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    1. Thank you very much, Lori. 😊 I saw this one totally by accident and then fumbled around with my cell camera when I realised what a good one it was! Florida has good conditions for rainbows because it gets those large, moisture-laden, broken clouds that allow the sun through – I did some flight training at a school in Miami, so I experienced those weather conditions.

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  12. Beautiful shot! When we moved here to the Greater Seattle area, we saw rainbows almost every single day. And then after that, not so much–maybe we’re just not looking closely enough 🙂

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    1. I agree, Terry. They are really are amazingly good, but capturing anything from a distance or taking panoramic shots can be more difficult. I find that I have finer control with a camera. That said, the cell cameras are very easy to carry and work extremely well with most subjects! Cheers.

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  15. Certainly you are right, I used twin lens reflex for years and developed film as well. Often I see folks go on and on about their camera, (not you) cell or bigger, and how many bazillion mega pixels dpi… it has. Then all they use the photo for is a post on instagram or maybe in a blog post. The problem is that 99% of those viewing it could not tell the difference on a screen. Now if you are doing large format printing etc, then the more the merrier.

    I think someone once said that the best camera is the one you have with you, thankfully the one you had with you took some great rainbow pics, you always post such great nature shots, I never even thought about what kind of camera. Keep up the good work.

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    1. Hahaha. 😁 That’s so true. For many years I used an old, very old Canon until it completely died and I now have a Sony but I’m not much into all the camera fripperies or jargon; I find it boring, frankly. I did some of my own developing as well (a very long time ago), but really, all I want is to take pictures that look how I saw the scene. Pictures that I like. I agree that 99% of people can’t tell much of a difference. Definitely the best camera is the one with you!

      Thank you very much for your lovely compliment and encouragement. You handed me a big smile. Cheers.

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  18. What a beautiful rainbow. Glad you were able to take some pictures, even if they were from your cell phone. I’d say they turned out pretty nicely too. The rain isn’t too bad when it’s followed by some sunshine!

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    1. Thank you very much, Linda. Cell phone cameras have really improved a lot and the technology is pretty fantastic but it’s hard to get good distance or panoramic shots with them. That’s why the pictures here show sections of the rainbow.

      This was a particularly good rainbow, and I sure didn’t mind the rain!

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