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This IS a real rainbow (no compositing). Does it look real to you?
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Image Description
A case of being in the right place at the right time. This is the iconic Astoria-Megler bridge connecting Oregon and Washington. It’s 4 miles long!
Looks real to me! What gorgeous light. I can see a second rainbow to the right of the main one.
A couple things strike me. It looks like your horizon is a bit tippy down to the right. And I don’t think that foreground dark bridge support or the straight line of the bridge coming into the frame are adding to the scene. I could see a square crop of just the right - that would give you two nice sweeping lines of the bridge and rainbow. Maybe like this:
Scott, yes, the rainbow looks very real to me. I am intrigued by the second rainbow on the right. Is the refraction causing it not to look parallel to the first rainbow? I do agree with @Bonnie_Lampley 's assessments and cropping suggestion. I think it would strengthen the parallel nature of the bridge and rainbow. What a beautiful scene you witnessed and captured!
I think it looks real. I increased the size to its maximum and it looks great! I like how there’s another rainbow to the right. Would have liked to see more breathing room there. But I know how that goes, you sometimes don’t see that. I would have missed it for sure. I also love the light that’s hitting the right side of the bridge. Have you tried doing a vertical orientation? Cropping out the left side of the bridge, putting the brighter part of the bridge in the center? Just a thought. But it’s your image.
I also loved the longer shutter speed to smooth out the water. Looks really nice. Beautiful image!
Quick edit to my original comment. I didn’t see the piling question. Little bit. But then that vertical orientation might remove that piling. I’d love to see it again if you tried that.
I think this is awesome scene and quite believable. The arc of the bridge matches the rainbow so well and I love the light on the right half of the bridge!! But I don’t agree with the crop – it leaves the left end of the bridge hanging in space. The piling anchors that end on the massive structure. It might be lightened a bit in the raw file to preserve details.
I’d love to see you go back to the original file and correct the serious distortion. At 82mm I’m not even sure how it got that way unless it was done in post to make the sweep more prominent. I’d love to see it with the horizon level and the piling vertical. I hope there is enough more at the base to be able to do that. Then the sweep of the bridge could possibly be emphasized with some localized warping.
This image is so good, it deserves the best treatment.
Thanks for the comments! I will definitely fix the horizon and perhaps lighten up the pillar and play with warping. I am not sure where you see the distortion though?
The horizon needs a lot of CCW rotation and may be bowed up but that may be an optical illusion. The pillar is leaning to the right. Leveling the horizon might fix it though. I hope there is enough canvas at the bottom to fix it.
I can imagine the excitement when you saw this scene, and the quick draw camera move to get this shot!
I’ve always been a huge fan of old bridges and I’ve seen quite a few images of this bridge. I live on the east coast but during my travels I was fortunate enough to have been on this bridge a few times.
I’ve seen a few really good images of this bridge, some were taken in late evening with slow shutter speeds that show streaks of headlights and taillights. However, I find that this image stands head and shoulders above the others I’ve seen because of the rainbow, the arch of the rainbow follows the peaks of the bridge very nicely!
I’ve always been fascinated by rainbows as well, the colors are always in the same order and they directly represent of the colors of the sun which of course are ROY-G-BIV (acronym for Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet - Although some argue that Indigo should be omitted).
I love the way the rainbow highlights the bridge and, the exposure, tones and colors were very well handled! I like the framing you chose because the frame adds a visual support for the portion of the bridge left of the concrete pylon
Having been an architectural photographer for awhile, I find the geometry to be a bit off but to me it’s an easy fix if you’re interested.
I had to give it a try and I found that a CCW rotation of 2 degrees brought the steel support base and horizontal steel cross members to level.
Even with the CCW rotation, the perspective was a bit off because the vertical lines were slightly less than plumb, the fix was to use the transform>perspective tool in Ps, then take the top corners outward by negative -1.5 degrees, it’s pretty minor but IMHO, it does make a difference for those who are somewhat picky about level and plumb (uh, like me ).
The edit below is the result of the CCW rotation and perspective adjustment.
I hope you don’t mind me doing the example edit!
BTW, I would be willing to bet that the controlling agency for this bridge or maybe even one of the welcome centers would love to have a copy of this!!
That’s better!! I’d start with the raw file and get the best lens and then perspective correction possible. And now I see that the segment of water left of the pillar doesn’t quite match. If nothing else, reduce the contrast there.
Thanks so much for your detailed evaluation! I like what you have done, and will play with the ideas. I used to own a home in Astoria where this was taken. I looked out my window and saw the rainbow, then scrambled to grab my camera. Timing!
Scott, this is a fine showing of this bridge, the rainbow and (as a rare addeded benefit) the reflection rainbow. (A reflection rainbow is caused by sunlight reflected off the water, explained here). As presented, the bridge is at least as important as the rainbows and maybe more so because of its size, so cropping does seem valuable depending on the story that you want to tell and the audience.
Wonderful image of the Astoria-Megler (or McGowan) bridge. We have a place in Long Beach, WA so I am very familiar with this scene. It has the longest continuous truss in America (1232 feet) which I am sure you already know. How fortunate for you to have lived there and with the great view! I really like what @Merv has done to make your spectacular image even better. One nit: it looks like there is a reflection from windows on a house in the lower part of the rainbow. There are a couple of them in the forest there. Hope to be there in October for the Great Columbia Crossing 10K.
Thanks Mark for the comments! I tried cropping out the left side, but really don’t like what it does to the image, so keeping the current crop. The horizon will be straightened and a few other edits.
Scott, Wonderful image - we have been over this bridge a couple of times. The rainbow looks real alright. Wonderful image! Your point of view looks like you shot this from a low angle that displays the bridge and double rainbow well. The light on the side of the bridge also makes the image work perfectly with the rainbow. Some might think of this as non-nature, but it’s nature to me. We need more images that show peoples impact on nature. Thanks for this one.
I also love the light that’s hitting the right side of the bridge. Have you tried doing a vertical orientation? Cropping out the left side of the bridge, putting the brighter part of the bridge in the center? Just a thought. But it’s your image.
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