Somewhere There's A Rainbow
I've been seeing a lot of rainbows the past couple of months, but I've had no luck photographing them. They're either just small sections of arc, or they don't last until I can find a spot to shoot, or it starts raining and I can't get the shot. But I got lucky today. I spotted this full arc as I was on Gandy Blvd, in St. Pete, and I had time to drive down to the bayshore to shoot some shots. The sun was still pretty high in the sky behind me, which worked to my advantage. That meant the bow was low to the ground, and I could fit it all into the frame. However, when the light got really bright and conditions were just right, I couldn't get the entire secondary bow into the shot. Maybe next time. I think these shots really show the difference in light levels above and below the bow. It's darker above because the light that should be there is making the colors of the bow. You can see the difference quite clearly in the two close-up shots below. The shot at the bottom, which is the one that showed the most of the second bow, shows that the dark area is darkest between the two bows. I believe that's called Alexander's Dark Band.
For the second time since I sent my camera in for repairs, I see a rainbow. Not a piece of a rainbow, not a little slice of color in the spray from a garden hose, but a full blown, horizon-spanning, afternoon thunderstorm rainbow, with a hint of a double rainbow if you look closely to the left. This was at my parent's house, so Mom offers to let me use her camera, which is my old camera. It was like going back to a Brownie after you've gotten used to your Leica. Of course the batteries were dead, so I had to get that fixed first. Then I had to remember how to turn it on. Then I had the realization that it's a fixed lens, meaning no zoom. Anyhow, what you see is what I got. No adjustments, no nothing. Enjoy! (I won't tell you how bad this picture looks on Mom's old, dark monitor. I hope it looks better for you...)