Not a rainbow, this photo is of low clouds that carried moisture. As they evaporated over the eastern ramparts of the Rocky Mountains, the late afternoon soon created this “cloud bow” effect.
Last weekend I was at a training session in Boulder, Colorado given by a publisher I work with. The training was very exciting, but I didn’t get much chance to capture photos. Monday afternoon after everyone left I went for a short hike on Flatiron Mountain above Boulder. And found this phenomenon.
Miracle
3 Mar 2006Stunning!
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George
16 Nov 2024I came up on this picture accidentally. Awesome shot! But it’s not what’s called a “cloud bow” or “cloudbow”. It’s iridescence or an extended corona around the sun. A cloudbow is similar to a rainbow, that is, the sun is exactly behind the observer. But instead of the light being refracted and reflected back by rain drops, it is by tiny cloud (or fog) droplets. So it’s mostly white.
The corona and iridescence are also produced by small droplets, but with the observer facing the sun. Check out the Cloud Appreciation Society, it’s not just about clouds, it’s also about
atmospheric optical phenomena: https://cloudappreciationsociety.org/gallery/photo/photo-n-625159/
And I just made this short timelapse video: https://vimeo.com/1029887643