Monday, March 13, 2017

Over the Moonbow

(This picture can be enlarged by clicking on it.  Clicking a second time will make it full-sized.)

Betsy and I went to Cumberland Falls State Park in Kentucky to celebrate my birthday and, if possible, to see the moonbow which occurs on clear nights with a full moon.  The night we were there was slightly hazy, and a ranger told Betsy that we wouldn’t be able to see anything.

Although we could see the falls in the moonlight, we did not see any sign of a moonbow at all.  But I decided, since we were there, I would do some experimenting with night photography and time exposures.  I took some 15 second exposures at where we thought the moonbow should be, but in camera, everything was black.

I was surprised, when I looked at the photos on my computer to see, although the photo was very dark, a faint moonbow.  I worked on the image in Photoshop and was able to bring out the moonbow a little more.  This image is noisy, but it is proof that there was indeed a moonbow although we couldn’t see it with our naked eyes.

29 comments:

Jeevan said...

Absolutely a great experiment and experience under the moonlight! Brilliant shot George...

btw. Belated Happy Birthday to you :)

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Awesome shot, Honey.... So glad you DID get to 'see' a MOONBOW on your birthday trip.... I love what you have done to this picture.. WOW.

Love,
Wifey

Jacqueline said...



What a beautiful photo! Happy belated birthday. Jackie

LV said...

Glad you had a wonderful birthday. Wishing you many more. You did an excellent job capturing this beautiful water fall sight.

Dee said...

Hope you had a wonderful "Happy Birthday" up at Cumberland Falls. That makes you older than me. lol (3 months) I love your pictures and I've never heard of Moonbow but it is beautiful. Some of the places you hike to I've seen but others are new adventures.

troutbirder said...

Wow....Amazing! :)

Ruth Hiebert said...

This is a perfect example of the magic of photography. I love the shot, even if it is a little grainy. I was just discussing with Steve the other day, that sometimes a less than perfect shot is better than none at all.

Ginny Hartzler said...

Wow George, it is beautiful!!! It is a water moonbow. Looking so rare and gorgeous.

Lady Fi said...

What a lovely shot.

Arkansas Patti said...

What an amazing surprise waited for you with that moonbow. I didn't know they existed.
A belated Happy Birthday George.

Marie said...

Hope you had a wonderful Birthday, George!!!
happy days to you!
Marie

Lowcarb team member said...

Just had to pay you a visit ...
Hope you had a wonderful birthday

Good wishes

All the best Jan

Rose said...

This is really awesome!

The Furry Gnome said...

Happy Birthday George! Great efiting on that picture.

Linda at To Behold The Beauty said...

What an amazing image, George. And what a nice birthday surprise for you. Happy belated birthday. I can tell it was a good one.

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

Nice to find myself admiring your photo post after a long absence. You take such amazing shots with great passion. I also wish you a belated special birthday wish. Keep well and keeping all you love . Soon the garden roses will be blooming at your place. The ones I planted after seeing yours are now left at the last place we lived. We may try to plant new ones at our new location. We'll see how we can manage it. There is no real prepared flower bed here so it will need a bit of a plan. There is lots of space to make a patch.

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Fabulous George

Terry and Linda said...

A MOONBOW! I have always wanted to see a moonbow!LUCKY YOU!!

Linda said...

Awesome! You did a great job bringing out the moonbow! Belated happy birthday, George!

Nancy Chan said...

I just hopped over from Betsy's blog. Wishing you a blessed belated birthday! Gorgeous "over the moonbow" photo!

Teamgsquare said...

Simply amazing capture. So the experiment is successful and good that you perceived in doing so.

Cheqna said...

Happy birthday George...may you enjoy many more years of hiking and travelling with Betsy.

Small City Scenes said...

How neat you were able to pull the moonbow out of the darkness. Fun to mess around with exposures isn't it. I know nothing of course.
MB

Pat Tillett said...

Very nice! It's so pretty.
Happy Birthday George! (belated of course)

Shug said...

Happy Birthday George......belated as well. Always enjoy keeping up with you and your bride...

thecrazysheeplady said...

How neat! Especially that you caught that it was there...even if you couldn't see it. Good lesson!

Small Kucing said...

so many lovely rainbows from the water. I like rainbows . it reminds me of god's promise to Noah

Small Kucing said...

Just saw Betsy Blog. happy belated Birthday, George :)

Janie said...

Great job in bringing out the moonbow in the photo! It's quite unique and beautiful.