We can all appreciate the mysterious beauty of a rainbow – they’re colourful, magical, and an uncommon occurrence. Unfortunately, they can be a tricky subject to photograph well. Today we’ll be offering a few tips on how to make sure you get the perfect rainbow image.
What is a Rainbow?
So, what exactly are we looking for? Rainbows occur when sunlight intersects with water droplets – whether that’s rain, mist, waves, or a waterfall. Anywhere that you can see bright sunlight and moisture will be a good candidate for rainbow spotting.
The most spectacular rainbow shots can be taken when half of the sky is still dark with cloud, and you are positioned at a spot with clear sky in the direction of the Sun. You’ll be able to capture a bright rainbow that stands out against a dull, rainy background.
Keep Your Background Clear
The most important thing to remember is that a rainbow isn’t a solid object – it’s a combination of light and moisture. This means that it’s often best to have a relatively clear background behind the rainbow.
This could be cloud, blue sky, the sea, or anything else similar. By all means incorporate other elements into different areas of the frame, but the background directly behind the rainbow itself is best kept clear.
The End of the Rainbow
There are generally two types of rainbow shots; those that show the arc, and those that show the point at which the rainbow intersects with the ground. I find the latter category to be more compelling and unique.
Try to find an angle that allows you to make this a prominent element in the image, and experiment with photos that show the rainbow crossing interesting subjects.
Look for the Second Arc
Whenever you can spot one rainbow, there’s usually a second arc slightly higher in the sky surrounding the main rainbow. The colours of this are reversed, and it’s a really interesting element to incorporate into your shot.
Somewhere Over The Rainbow
It’s rare and unlikely, but if you get a chance to observe a rainbow while in an aeroplane or helicopter, you’ll see something interesting. It’s possible to see the whole circle of a rainbow – not just an arc.
Obviously this is even more difficult to photograph, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye out for!
Make Your Own
If you’re wanting to experiment with this type of photography, you don’t necessarily need to wait for the environmental conditions to be perfect. A sunny day and a garden hose on the “mist” setting should give you a subject to experiment with straight away!
Share Your Images!
Have you taken a rainbow shot that you’re particularly proud of? Feel free to leave a link in the comments below – I’d love to take a look!
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By David Appleyard
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Nice tips, rainbows are really cool subjects, but depending on your geographical location rainbows can a be a rare concept, good thing you can always make your own, thanks for this article David.
My best Rainbow photo until now.
This is a Trailing suction hopper dredger from the company i work for.
http://www.guidoakster.nl/images/phocagallery/Dredging/thumbs/phoca_thumb_l_CDK_wingeb_0629.jpg
bye
Guido
Cool tips. I’ll try as soon as possible. Yhank you !
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oljudet/3980272749/sizes/o/
double rainbow. i only had my iphone so i took 5 pictures and made some sort of panorama in photoshop.
>maritn
Hey Martin how’d ou get it so that the borders of the picture were visible or in other words u could distincly make out each frame? I think that’s a really neat photo and technique especially since it was taken with an iPhone.
Is it me, or is there only actually one tip…?
Here’s my best Rainbow shot:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kgartner/3878807909/
This won April/May Photolife “rainbows” contest, which I’m pretty proud of
This photo was a Panorama HDR, taken with my LX3. If you want more info, you can watch a timelapse of the Photoshop editing session here:
http://blog.isotropy.ca/2009/09/double-rainbow-photoshop-screen-cast/
Hope you like it!
Great article!
I took this picture yesterday, because the rainbow was quite odd. it was directly over me and it was a straight-ish line
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zakmilofsky/4652474113/
it can be an ice halo (http://www.atoptics.co.uk/rainbows/notabow.htm)
Also there’s the nighttime equivalent, often called a moonbow.
http://www.anervoussausage.com/Photos/YosemiteFallsMoonbowApril2008/
Bill
Meteorological phenomena are always wonderful to view. This link is to the best double rainbow I have seen in my life. Happened just before sunset and it was a complete double bow from horizon to horizon. I would have loved to have more time to compose but circumstance did not allow that. So here is one of the better photos that came out.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pnplibi/4656287761/
I think you guys should make a tutorial showing how to create our own rainbows!
I would appreciate it!
In the section “Somewhere over the rainbow”, the image contains a glory, not a rainbow !!! To read more about this optic phenomenon read here: http://www.atoptics.co.uk/droplets/glorair.htm
Please edit that section. Thanks
If we all were to make our own rainbows wed get this crazy lady chasing after us:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV9gRFv5Kgc
Anyway, heres a photo of a rainbow I won a local photography contest with:
http://zamoht.deviantart.com/art/TWO-pots-of-gold-94432082
The darn thing almost made me crazy, making me get up so early.
I found your site from a link shared by C.C. Chapman. Thanks for a terrific resource!
I have a couple of rainbow shots Im proud of:
with Sunflowers:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bjmccray/666169596/in/set-72157601062761330/
Double rainbow with hay bales:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bjmccray/3809678815/in/set-72157601062761330/
Rainbow photography is always magical.
But one thing, why is it heaps brighter in the inside of the rainbow (inside the semi-circle thing) and outside the rainbow its dark? I know its not related to photography, but I have always wondered. Is it kind of like a huge lens flare or something?
Cheers
Good article. Thanks for the information.
My wife and I witnessed a once-in-a-lifetime rainbow after a heavy deluge while tramping at Mt Taranaki in New Zealand. The rain had stopped, the sun was settling, and the clouds had also brought snow for the mountain top. All people in the hut stood outside in awe.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ks_marks/4513729660
I beautiful rainbow appeared at my job and the only thing I had was my little 2MP cell phone cam. I tried, but all that showed up was a grey arch, no colors.