Twin Rainbows Photo

Photographer’s Note

Kiama has a couple of things going for it, besides the Blowhole and the Lighthouse. It has a nice rocky shore out at Blowhole Point Park, which faces east, out to sea. This provides for some great wave crashing shots, with the sunrise, or in this case when a storm is at sea, it provides for some very nice rainbow shot opportunities with the setting sun at your back. The sun also very nicely lights up breaking waves and the headland, seen on the right.

My wife and I had dropped in to Kiama hoping to see the Blowhole. When we first arrived, the first thing we saw were people standing in the park, on the bluff, shooting the rainbows out at sea. They had nothing between them and the rainbows, but below them were the rocks you see here with waves crashing against them. I just moved down to the rocks, to combine the two. (If you want to do this, be careful; people in the past have been swept off these rocks – I was able to remain on dry rock for this shot).

Shooting rainbows isn’t difficult. You need water mist of some kind in the air (with rain or a waterfall), and you need to get between this mist and the sun. If the sun is low, so much the better. I like to get something else in the shot, and use the rainbows as a backdrop. There is a good article on shooting rainbows which explains it much better than I probably have here: http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/finding-rainbows.html.

Workflow was as follows:
About a dozen shots taken of this combination with the waves – kept 4 of these
Shot taken in Raw with JPG reference – (ISO 200 27mm @f4.8, 1/125)
NEF files adjusted for exposure, shadow, vignetting and brightness
Levels – not used
Curves – S-curve for contrast
Added saturation layer +20 to master
Added an overlay layer and dodged and burned with 5% opacity black and white brush
Saved as a tiff
Cropped to accentuate the wave, resized, added a layer for sharpening with USM, modified sharpening with a layer mask (50% opacity black brush), framed and saved as a jpeg.

scobert, mvdisco, skippy007, angela926, Matthew-Watt, belido, jhm, pierrefonds, alftrek, bakes888, migzal, jusninasirun, markogts, PixelTerror, tigra, xavshot, daddo has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

scobert (5333) 2008-04-09 18:45

Hello John,
Wow! This shot is unbelieveable! Perfect timing, composition, technique and a double rainbow to boot! Simply outstanding work!
Stan

mvdisco (11557) 2008-04-09 20:06

Hi John,
Beautiful catch of this wave and rainbow, perfect timing and well composed picture, beautiful colors and sharp picture, well done John,
Michel

skippy007 (7149) 2008-04-09 21:40

Hello John,
you are either very very careful or are nor worried I'm talking about getting the D200 wet & not falling in the water. Excellent detail, sharpness and colour, not to mention the splash & double rainbow. Excellent idea to get there among it. Like your note & thanks for the workflow.
Thanks
Santo
PS can you please expand on the added layer for sharpening with USM.

dvlazar (6488) 2008-04-09 22:23

Hi John,
The rainbows complement the action of the photo well - that is the crashing waves. Youve snapped the wave a good moment - and frozen it well.
Cheers,
Dave

angela926 (1882) 2008-04-09 22:36

Hello John,
Great capture, fantastic action of the water, excellent composition and good point of view, fantastic colors, nice rainbows, very good sharpness and nice depth of field, well done.
Angela

MarcT (21103) 2008-04-10 1:35

Hi John,
Very dynamic picture. The waves create a nice contrast and excellent movement in this landscape. And then, of course, there are the raibows in the sky.
Well done
Marc

Jeppo (11990) 2008-04-10 3:16

Hi John,

I like the double rainbow...the contrast with the lead-grey sky and the sharpness of the exploding foam!

ciao
Silvio

belido (16627) 2008-04-10 4:15

Hi John,

it's not easy to catch one rainbow but two is a great realization. Your image is well composed and a lot attractive. Perfect timing. Great work!
Regards,
Carlos

jhm (82759) 2008-04-10 4:38

Hello John,

You create a very nice picture with high waves and the white foam.
Also the both rainbows are superb, pleasant colours and good presentation.
Thanks for sharing.

Best regards,
John.

pierrefonds (26407) 2008-04-10 4:43

Hi John,

This is a spectacular scenery, the wave in the foreground and the double rainbow in the stormy sky which are assets to the composition. The subject is well framed. There is a good contrast between the colors. The scenery is showing a sensation of power. Have a nice day.

Pierre

alftrek (2827) 2008-04-10 7:20

Hi John,

I always like your notes and the workflow. they are really helpful.

This is an incredible shot and you surely know how to get the best out of the weather conditions within a split of a second. Simply outstanding!

TFS
Alfred

Cormac (26449) 2008-04-10 7:43

Wow, this is a very attractive shot. It's amazing that you were able to catch the wave at the perfect time, with the water in mid air, and combine that with the unusual double rainbow. The result is remarkable and beautiful. Well done!

crckt (7078) 2008-04-10 18:58

HI John,
WOW! Does this get even better? After I saw your last post, I thought that was great, after seeing this one I don't know what adjectives to use. I wonder what the next one will be. Thanks for sharing these amazing photos.
Regards,
Shaeri

bakes888 (18257) 2008-04-11 1:03

Hi John. Well timed both for the wave and rainbow. Good composition/cropping, you have only what’s needed in the frame. Nice work and thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

migzal (485) 2008-04-11 22:50

Hello John,
Impressive shot of the waves. you have captured the splash well in a diagonal formation. i noticed you've taken multiple shots of this which is very important. the rainbow and the landscape in BG is an excellent element in this composition. I'm impressed.. just make sure you camera is well protected.
thanks for sharing,
Miguel

MeAT (1174) 2008-04-12 7:23

Dear John,

This is quite a spectacle. Nice enough to catch the jumping water, but add two rainbows to it and this gets pretty unique.

Thanks for the tip on rainbows!

MeAT :)

pablominto (40876) 2008-04-12 7:28

Hello John,
This is a fascinating image with good action!
Seems like the situation is quite dramatic with the dark clouds hovering over an ocean in fury...
Double rainbows are quite rare, and the second weaker one is always inverse in colours!
Excellent light and a fine composition...
Greetings,
Pablo -

jusninasirun (10211) 2008-04-14 8:18

Hello John.

This
is
my favorite.

All being said and all I can add is just another two points. Best regards. Jusni

UnTrained (0) 2008-04-16 7:50

Hi John,
must have done something wrong as I am sure to already made a critique here. hm..
But anyway, one part was a thanks for the link, I bookmarked it. And the other was just to tell you that the fine light here works well on the twin rainbows and the good foam makes it to a wonderful one. The layered composition with the rocks in front and land in the back is also well done.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

delkoo (34442) 2008-04-18 0:34

hi john
i couldn't missed this one , cause my last photo is also double rainbows, this one is very beautiful too, with the huge white wave on the foreground .

nice one
didier

pboehringer (770) 2008-04-30 18:49

John,
it seems to me that your'e the absolute rainbow champion at TE. There is no one else that has so many rainbows combined to such high quality shots as you do. Incredible! How do you manage that? Is Australia all about rainbows so that there isn't any effort in getting them? I don't get a single on here in California and certainly not with such a wonderful moment as you did it here.
Peter

PixelTerror (86282) 2008-05-01 1:31

Hi John,
It does not require much to get a nice photo, most often be at the right place at the right time (or wait there 'til the right time arrives) and do the right thing, you got here spectacular water highlights against the rainbow colors and it shows in terms of visual impact, the splash adds dynamism, alltogether a very nice image.
Have a nice day JY

Dyerco (9126) 2008-05-02 6:54

Hi John
I don't know how I missed this one of yours. It's a wonderful shot and the lighting is superb. You caught not only this wave just right but the small one in the BG to the right is also crashing at the same time. the waves and the rainbows each have an echo. Full marks old chap.
Phil

tigra (2966) 2008-05-07 14:26

Wow!
Such a beautiful capture! You know, the double rainbow is a rare phenomenon.
I was told that if you make a wish looking on this effect, it will come true.
Katia

xavshot (62685) 2008-05-16 11:34

Bonsoir John
il n'est jamais trop tard pour découvrir la galerie de quelqu'un sur TE et j'apprécie les photos que j'ai vu dans la tienne. Je m'arrête sur celle-ci pour la superbe gestion des couleurs et le joli mouvement des gouttes d'eau. Très jolies photos.
amicalement
Xavier

emka (21744) 2008-05-16 23:46

Hi John,

Stunning view of the double rainbow behind this splash of water. Regards

Malgorzata

westozman (2877) 2008-05-20 1:58

G'day John!
Your work is always impressive - and this is no exception! In addition, you certainly take the prize for the best "Photographer's Notes" on TE - my compliments to your precision and patience!

Best wishes,
Jeff

daddo (11335) 2008-06-05 16:51

Hi jofn. Lots of atmosphere in this one. Dynamic composition with the wave crashing upon the rocks. The sky looks great thanks to the brooding colour. And by contrast we have the gentle forms and colours of the rainbow. lovely combination of elements. Regards. Klaudio.