My wife reminded me last night that I've been neglecting the blog! I've been working like a horse to get somewhere in the neighborhood of a thousand images into the Getty Images archive; hopefully this will fund many more storm chases in the future. :)
Today's photo is a beautiful double-rainbow. I shot this while covering some Vortex 2 probe trucks running "transects" (basically just driving back and forth and collecting data) in western Nebraska on June 6, 2009. I'd given up following them because the hail was approaching golfball-size and my windshield was already cracked form hitting a bird on I-80 a couple days before. Rainbows are caused by refraction and reflection as light enters a drop of water -- in this case, a drop of rain. A double rainbow occurs when light enters a drop of water and reflects twice inside the drop before exiting at a different angle. One interesting thing you'll notice is that the secondary rainbow -- the one on the outside -- has the colors in the reverse order of the inside rainbow -- this is because the second reflective "bounce" inside the raindrop inverts the image of the colors. Of course, you aren't seeing all the colors of a rainbow being refracted from one drop, but rather from many, many drops that are at different angles relative to you, with each drop giving you a slightly different color. The best diagram I've seen that explains this is here.
If you want to view this image at Getty.com in order to license it, just give it a click.
4 comments:
Goodness gracious! That is lovely! I am speechless with envy. Gorgous picture.
Wonderful photo! I have seen a double rainbow before but have never noticed the reverse in colors. Should I be so lucky as to see a double rainbow again, I will be sure to check that out! Love your blog!
What a great shot of a beautiful double, and thanks for the link with more info about rainbows as well. We just had a double here last week and noticed the reversed order of the colors. And, tell your wife your photo fans thank her for reminding you about the blog.
How awesome. I've been enthralled by double rainbows since I was little, and always amazed my friends by showing them the reverse colors-something most people don't notice. We just had one here in Lansing, MI the other day on my way to work. Unfortunately it didn't last long enough for me to pull over and grab my camera.
Post a Comment