Rainbow starts somewhere

All rainbows start somewhere

This picture was shot from my appartment. My appartment provides a clear view of the meadows of the “Veenzijdse Polder” near The Hague. The previous photo of the plants covered in dew, the photo of the curious cow, the photo of the sunrays from before and this photograph of that beautiful sunrise were all shot in that meadow. Having a rainbow starting from that photo location was therefore extra special for me.

My appartment gives just this amazing vista over the meadow between The Hague and Leiden (the flats on the left side of the photo are in fact in Leiden). I anticipated on this photo because the weather app on my phone indicated the rain and from the other side of my appartment I already saw some clear spots in the sky. I therefore had put my tripod ready. When the rainbow appeared, it was more bright than I had ever seen before!

I used my 75-300 mmm lens because I wanted to focus on one end of the rainbow. It just appeared on the location of this great tree that stands out. However I wanted to show the surroundings also, so I choose the widest angle with that lens. At that time (in 2013) I was not yet on full manual mode; the setting was on shutter priority. The reason for that I just can’t remember anymore. Perhaps because I had my camera on my tripod and could get away with a longer shutterspeed. With an ISO of 100, the camera decided that the best aperture would be 11. In post I did not do anything. The picture was in my eyes already great.

The picture was made on the spot, without any fancy settings, any gear nor any post production. That made this shot a great impulsive photo!

Camera settings:

Location