Tuesday night, about an hour before sunset, we felt like we were in the Land of Oz! Retrieving the mail, we saw this rainbow hovering above our house. Actually, it was a double rainbow. By the time we found the camera, the sky began to darken. At least we caught the rainbow's last hurrah. Every photographer deserves to capture a rainbow at least once. Tuesday was our night! If you haven't had your chance, we hope it will come your way soon. Some rainbow trivia.........
A rainbow's arc is directly opposite the sun. In a double rainbow, color order is reversed. To see a rainbow, the angle of light refraction needs to be 42 degrees from the observer's eyes. Iris was the Greek goddess of the rainbow. You can only see a rainbow if the sun is behind you. New York is the US state with the most number of families with the surname "Rainbow." Finally, if you have three and a half minutes, we encourage you to listen to the now-deceased Hawaiian Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole's version of "Over the Rainbow." The combination of his voice and ukulele playing is heavenly. If our You Tube link doesn't work, please search out the video where he sings; not just the instrumental-tribute.
Great shot, you don't often see double rainbows and I like the way you zoomed in on it, perfect.
Posted by: Martha | Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 10:46 PM
Marvelous photo, the colors are outstanding.
Have a great weekend.
Guy
Regina In Pictures
Posted by: Guy D | Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 10:52 PM
You really hit the jackpot with that beautiful photo.
Posted by: James | Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 10:57 PM
Only seen a double rainbow once. A great sight.
Posted by: Bill B. | Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 11:11 PM
wow, those colors are so bright. nice job.
Posted by: Jim K | Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 11:24 PM
What a wonderful photo. You've captured the rainbow beautifully.
Paz (breaking out in song)
Posted by: Paz | Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 11:42 PM
How splendid! It's so pretty. I do hope I catch a rainbow some day. I enjoyed all the trivia too. Do you use a photo editing program? If so I'm curious which one. Thanks for visiting my blog.
Posted by: Danielle | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 12:07 AM
Wow! What a spectacular photo!
Posted by: Sally in WA | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 12:34 AM
One of the best rainbow photographs that I have seen.
Sydney - City and Suburbs
Posted by: J Bar | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 01:58 AM
I have never seen a picture of a rainbow where colours are finely dispersed in a uniform strata. The accompanying scientific and mythical information is equally interesting too.
Posted by: Bonnie Bonsai | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 02:03 AM
That is an amazing shot of the rainbow!
Posted by: Nat@London Calling | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 04:21 AM
Danielle:
Photographer's note: We use iPhoto. However, usually we edit photos as little as possible. As necessary, in iPhoto, we alter the exposure to lighten or darken a photo; straighten a photo, or push the contrast. We also convert a rare few photos to black and white or sepia. In the case of the rainbow, we lightened the exposure a little and pushed the contrast. To manage our Photo library, which is approaching 20,000 photos, we are hoping to switch to Aperature. If anyone has experience with it, please let us know.
Posted by: Greensboro Daily Photo | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 06:11 AM
I always feel like celebratg when I see a rainbow..wonderful colours..
Posted by: lakshmi | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 06:25 AM
Oh gorgeous, I've never caught one so brightly, let alone a double one! Have a great weekend!
Posted by: cieldequimper | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 07:12 AM
That's an amazing shot. Perfect rainbow just for skywatch. Happy weekend.
Posted by: Carver | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 07:47 AM
Breathtaking sky!
Great post!
Léia
Posted by: Léia | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 07:49 AM
Fabulous! Fabulous! I have never seen such a saturated rainbow. hum... you gave me a good idea! Will show you something on 30th.
Btw thank for skywatch Friday advice.
Posted by: Irina | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 07:54 AM
Wow - spectacular! The pot of gold looks like it was right in your own backyard!
Posted by: susie of arabia | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 08:33 AM
Great shot. Might be your best posted photo to date.
Posted by: David Burke | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 09:30 AM
Your rainbow photo took my breath away! I am happy you were able to capture it and share it's beauty with us, thank you... Have a wonderful weekend.
Posted by: Pam | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 09:50 AM
Unfortunately, I haven't the skills or software for photoshop so I use picnik.com it's wonderful! Sorry no info about Aperture.
Posted by: Danielle | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 11:21 AM
Breath-taking! Enjoyed the rainbow information, also. I stumbled across that singer and song last year. Wonderful. Thank you.
June
Posted by: June | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 11:23 AM
Stunning sky!!
Thank you for sharing... gotta love SkyWatch Friday!
Posted by: Kirsi | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 01:08 PM
Wonderful post, picture and music (the youtube link works fine) Nature is amazingly beautiful. Have a great weekend, thanks for this beauty and greetings from MC.
Posted by: Carraol | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 03:33 PM
Such a lovely rainbow!
Posted by: East Gwillimbury WOW! | Friday, April 24, 2009 at 06:30 PM