Rainbow in the Mist

[Dizzy]

1/200s f/5.6 at 105.0mm

When you live in a mountainous place where it rains as much as it does here, there are
bound to be a few waterfalls. Although this one is miles back into the hills, it will produce
a rainbow almost any early morning that the Sun is shining.

Took several shots at F/8 and F/11, but wasn't quite getting the full effect of the rainbow.
Presumed that this was due to the auto-focus locking in on the rocks behind the mist, and
while the rainbow was being captured, the brilliancy of the colors was not. Thought on the
problem for a bit, and decided to open the lens up to F/5.6 (best this lens can do at 105mm)
and manually focus on the rocks behind the rainbow, then back the focus off just enough to
move the in-focus field just a little closer, and right into the middle of the rainbow itself.

Surprisingly, it worked..


Mike

[Bobobird]

Imaginative solution and a worthy tip.

Nice shot and looks pretty good in an "abstracty" way.

Can you try and maybe back off on the crop and let the shape/light shaft of the rainbow become a bit more prominent?

[JohnC]

Strong colours, Mike.. It seems you intentionally went right in the get these colours so maybe there isn't the crop that Bobo is alluding to.

[FrankMi]

Hi Mike, given the intensity of the colors, is that shot SOOC or did you need to enhance the color in post processing? If it is SOOC, then it is one of the most beautiful rainbow colors I have seen. Owing to the background, it is difficult to pick out the typical curve of the rainbow in this image.

[Donald]

Surprisingly, it worked..

Don't be surprised. Instead, celebrate the technical knowledge and skill that were put into effect to contribute to the creation of such an artistic image.

A highly competent, in my opinion, piece if creative image-making.

[Pandrion]

Really very beautiful_ Looks like a slice of opal, one of my favourite stones.

[Dizzy]

Imaginative solution and a worthy tip.
Nice shot and looks pretty good in an "abstracty" way.
Can you try and maybe back off on the crop and let the shape/light
shaft of the rainbow become a bit more prominent?

Thank you Bobo! Actually, that was cropped in a 1:1, and included the full frame
(top to bottom) from the original; only the sides had been cropped to reduce
the excess rock face.

Here is another image from the series that shows a bit more of the waterfall area.



Thank you John, and you are pretty much correct, as the rainbow effect is what
I was trying to coax into the lens, but I could only get so close to it before the
overspray became a concern, so some of the surrounding cliff area had to be
included.

Frank, here is the SOOC image, with the only changes being I converted from
.NEF to .jpg, and reduced the size for posting here:



Since it was shot in RAW, I did enhance the colors during processing in an effort
to draw out as much of the rainbow as was there. Processed it as Vivid, and
increased both the saturation and vibrancy of the colors that were present, but
didn't add any colors that weren't there to start with.

I also took a photo of the entire waterfall + rainbow from top to bottom, but am
having a hard time processing it to anywhere near acceptable. Have to wonder if
Photoshop might do a better job with this one than Lightroom. I loaded the .DNG
(full file) into MediaFire if you (or anyone) would like to have a go at it. You can
download it HERE. (11.85 MB)

Glad you liked it Mike. Never thought of the "opal" connection until you mentioned it,
but it does indeed have a bit of that look.

Thank you Donald..means a great deal coming from you. Seems I'm one of those knotheads
that could read books and "how-to" articles all day long, but never learn a damn thing from
them until the challenge actually presents itself in real life, and then be understood from my
own point-of-view.

When I was [much] younger I had a 1 iron in my bag, and would hit a bucket of
balls on the range with that thing at least 3 times a week, and after a lengthy period
of time was finally was able to hit the ball somewhat straight. Used it only once on
a long, flat fairway; considered myself lucky to have not gone OB, and then put it
up for good. In short, I'm a hacker that keeps at it until I get it right.... at least once.

(Not sure if it was Nicklaus or Trevino that said it: "even God can't hit a 1 iron!")

[Bobobird]

Thanks Mike for the additional pics. Having seen the others you did make the right choice with the first one. It is indeed more "arresting".

[Dizzy]

Thanks Mike for the additional pics. Having seen the others you did make the right choice
with the first one. It is indeed more "arresting".

Arresting? "Honest officer...I'm completely boser!"

What I would really like to do is get back up there with a ND filter (which I don't have yet)
and see just how much of that color can actually be captured. Another idea is to take
numerous exposures and then stack them for max effect, but not sure how that would play
out.

Paul (Jeeperman) and I will be passing by this waterfall on the 8th, so that will be the
next opportunity to have a 2nd go-round with it.

[MiniChris]

You're right about where I turn to catch the ferry to Friday Harbor - my brother lives out on that end of the US, me at the opposite end.

[MiniChris]

Here are two shots at your image, one minimally addressed, one moreso. The problem I had with the image is having enough water definition to make it stand off the rock face. I did do a different crop, feeling the height would work to the image's favor, rather than a close up section.

Rainbows are fickle because while it appears they stand off from the water (and technically, I guess they do), it is really just the prizmatic effect of light on the water molecules themselves which creates the rainbow...therefore, having the water critically focused does become the essential point.

They make me crazy, so I rarely deliberately shoot them as the primary focal point.

[jambin]

What a beautiful image. It's stuff like this I don't have the imagination/courage to try.

[GeorgeM]

Wonderful shot! I wonder what a much faster shutter speed would do for freezing the prismatic effect Chris alluded to?

[Dave Humphries]

I wonder what a much faster shutter speed would do for freezing the prismatic effect Chris alluded to?

Yes, I tend to agree and also wonder whether less exposure would help - a bit like Colin's theme of under exposing the sky to get more colour in it at sunrise/set.

For me I struggle with this because the colour isn't that prominent and also because I have no sense of scale (not having been there). The foliage helps in the uncropped shot.

[Dizzy]

Here are two shots at your image, one minimally addressed, one moreso. The problem I had with the image is having enough water definition to make it stand off the rock face. I did do a different crop, feeling the height would work to the image's favor, rather than a close up section.
Rainbows are fickle because while it appears they stand off from the water (and technically, I guess they do), it is really just the prizmatic effect of light on the water molecules themselves which creates the rainbow...therefore, having the water critically focused does become the essential point.
They make me crazy, so I rarely deliberately shoot them as the primary focal point.

I like your rendering of the image Chris, and thanks for taking the time to give
them a try.

In reference to the "Rainbows are fickle because while it appears they stand off from
the water", I agree, and that was the reasoning for messing with the focus a bit
for the shot on top (is that what's known as back-focusing?). In this case, the rainbow
is in the mist-cloud that's created as the water smashes on the rocks, and it encompasses
the area 1-3 ft. in front of the fall.

Here's one I did last night Chris, and I reduced the exposure like you did, but only in
certain areas, and also cloned out the larger green shrub:

Yes, I tend to agree and also wonder whether less
exposure would help - a bit like Colin's theme of under exposing the sky to get more
colour in it at sunrise/set.

For me I struggle with this because the colour isn't that prominent and also because
I have no sense of scale (not having been there). The foliage helps in the uncropped
shot.

I think you are right Dave, as odds are I overexposed and didn't adjust for the Sun
glare coming off the water and wet rock face. To allow some perspective, here is the
SOOC (DNG to .jpg) pic of the entire waterfall. The other images (above) were just
cropped on the sides, but retained the full length.



Jim: No courage required...just get out there and shoot the thing!

Honestly, I probably delete 10 for every 1 I keep, but with digital there's only gain
as every one deleted teaches me something to do, or not do.

Thanks George! Going to try that faster shutter, and reducing the exposure next
time I'm back in there (Oct. 8th, if the weather behaves)

Mike

[FrankMi]

Hi Mike, hopefully the weather will cooperate on the 8th and if it does, it looks like you may have more time to experiment than you would with the fleeting rainbows I've been able to capture. It will be interesting to see what techniques produce the best image and what might be learned that can apply to the typical rainbow that is 'out in the wild' so to speak.

I would definitely experiment with image stacking by varying exposure, focus, shutter speed, aperture, distance, etc. Once you can fairly accurately predict what settings will capture the best rainbow colors and definition I'm sure that many of us would like to be able to apply what you have learned when the next 'pop-up' rainbow surprisingly appears in front of us!

Looking forward to October 9th!