Over the years I’ve made numerous attempts to take a decent picture of a rainbow and, without fail, they’ve all been fairly poor; to say the least. This picture started out as yet another attempt – this time of a double rainbow – but as with my previous efforts this one was rather hopeless too. Obviously it is possible to photograph rainbows, but I’ve not managed to get it right thus far.
So, more as an excercise in exploring Photoshop than anything else, this picture is the end result. I can’t remember exactly what I did with this image (other than the final step, which was to apply a ‘plastic wrap’ filter) but it involved using the Channel Mixer to alter the colours, the Lens Flare filter, and some increase in both contrast and brightness.
Overall I quite like the end result, though, in this instance, it’s more down to protracted experimentation than creative vision; i.e. I had no idea as to how it would turn out when I started.
I did think about including the original shooting data but, given the massive changes to this image, there really didn’t seem much point ;-)
comment byemese at 10:59 AM (GMT) on 12 November, 2003
Nice! I've always wanted to capture a good rainbow picture myself and found that my results were mostly quite mediocre (if you ever figure out how to do it, let me know). This particular piece looks very modern artish.
comment by djn1 at 07:30 PM (GMT) on 12 November, 2003
I think the problem is perceptual as much as technical: it's like when you look at the moon – it can appear stunning but when photographed it resolves to a much smaller than expected image. Perhaps it's the same with rainbows; that we see them in a way that isn't true to how they actually are. Anyway, if I do manage it I'll be sure to let you know.
comment byJeremy at 12:10 AM (GMT) on 20 July, 2005
Lovely. The final image is the result of your creative decisions. Process is good and the end result is always a learning experience.
Over the years I’ve made numerous attempts to take a decent picture of a rainbow and, without fail, they’ve all been fairly poor; to say the least. This picture started out as yet another attempt – this time of a double rainbow – but as with my previous efforts this one was rather hopeless too. Obviously it is possible to photograph rainbows, but I’ve not managed to get it right thus far.
So, more as an excercise in exploring Photoshop than anything else, this picture is the end result. I can’t remember exactly what I did with this image (other than the final step, which was to apply a ‘plastic wrap’ filter) but it involved using the Channel Mixer to alter the colours, the Lens Flare filter, and some increase in both contrast and brightness.
Overall I quite like the end result, though, in this instance, it’s more down to protracted experimentation than creative vision; i.e. I had no idea as to how it would turn out when I started.
I did think about including the original shooting data but, given the massive changes to this image, there really didn’t seem much point ;-)
Nice! I've always wanted to capture a good rainbow picture myself and found that my results were mostly quite mediocre (if you ever figure out how to do it, let me know). This particular piece looks very modern artish.
I think the problem is perceptual as much as technical: it's like when you look at the moon – it can appear stunning but when photographed it resolves to a much smaller than expected image. Perhaps it's the same with rainbows; that we see them in a way that isn't true to how they actually are. Anyway, if I do manage it I'll be sure to let you know.
Lovely. The final image is the result of your creative decisions. Process is good and the end result is always a learning experience.