Jason Armstrong (aka The Man in Red on Flickr) pasted this really beautiful shot of Upper Yosemite Fall and a BEAUTIFUL moonbow. Jason posted a great narrative along with his photo.
Jason Armstrong: Originally I was up higher on the trail at my favorite spot but got there a little too late to see if a rainbow formed from the sunlight, although perfect to watch the full moon rise over mt starr king at sunset. The conditions were too perfect for night photography so I got delayed until I realized the moon was approaching the highest point it would be in the sky. At this point there was no sign of a bow and I began to think a ridge would prevent the moon light from reaching the base, this was only amplified by the fact that I was one day off from the full moon so the angle was even more than what I was thinking. This left a very difficult decision; stay and miss it entirely, leave and miss everything or stay and watch the chance for a show, leave and catch the chance for moonbow as you approach the falls. Since the moon was approaching the halfway point I figured I would be able to spot the bow at some point on my descent since at the top you’re looking more towards the NE at the falls then down below its more to the N. I only had the night so I was pretty determined to capture the phenomena….heck I can always hike back up 😐
I packed up and headed through the now incredibly large cloud of mist, just after sunset its really neat to see the mist cloud expand but not so much fun being in it. As I approached the first view of the falls I turned and saw a faint unmistakable bow beginning at the base which became more intense and rose higher in the sky as I furiously began shooting the falls/moonbow. Shocked this actually turned out as well as it did considering how much mist was falling, enough to create a double moonbow. 30 seconds was a stretch considering the constant stream of mist but my umbrella put up a good defense. Also you can somewhat determine how much mist is going to be impacting you by watching the flow of the falls and by not shooting when you hear wind. So after doing battle it was a bit after 1 and I hadnt slept in nearly 2 days so I appropriately passed out shortly there after…woke up wet and cold with a big smile on my face.
Nice work, Jason. Thanks for adding it to the Yosemite Blog Flickr Group pool.
Photo by Jason Armstrong.