A rainbow that can be seen from end to end, in a rural setting, is certainly worth the effort of pulling off the road and finding a vantage point to get the shot. It can be as easy as just pulling off the road and stepping out to get the shot, or, if you feel you have the time, looking for an acceptable background, like an old farm, barn, or the like. The latter usually doesn’t happen because the rainbow has faded, and there’s no longer a shot by the time you get to a prime location. Sometimes, a compromise is in order.
I shot this one at a mobile home court in Marshall County, Kentucky a few years ago. At the time, I had a DSLR with a medium zoom lens At the wide end, it certainly wouldn’t capture a whole rainbow, but I could shoot three shots and stitch them together during post processing. So, that’s what I did.
I started on the left and shot the first frame. As I did, lightning flashed. Did I get it in the shot? I wasn’t sure, and didn’t take the time to check. I went ahead and shot the center frame and then the one on the right before reviewing the photos.
I was surprised at the lightning hook on the first frame, and knew that I had a hard to get shot, which otherwise would have been an average photo of a rainbow in a rural setting. Maybe the shot isn’t as good as it gets, as I didn’t have the perfect background. But, sometimes luck turns an average photo into something special.
