Rainbows Far and Near


A rainbow is just light coming from a particular direction, so it doesn't have a position in space and has no physical end. Although the apparent diameter of a rainbow is constant its height will depend on the altitude of the sun, the lower the sun the higher the bow. Depending on the position of the rain and landmarks the illusion of a position in space can be quite strong.

The clouds hide part of the bow giving a sense of depth.

Full rainbow between clouds

I had to take this panorama quickly because of the moving cloud.

Rainbow's end in a valley Rainbow ending in a field

Rainbow's End might be an appropriate name for this house, but all you can say about this one is that the rain is between the houses and the distant hill.

In this shot some of the drops forming the bow are in front of the hedge, but most of the light comes from drops further away. Digging for the legendary 'pot of gold' here would produce a rather long trench!


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