Maybe that should be pots of gold as I counted at least 7 distinct rainbows here. There was no pot of gold at the end of these rainbows of course, just the lovely valley between Selworthy and Luccombe that leads to Porlock - although arguably that is just as good. No, my pot of gold was something else.
Back in November last year I missed a wonderful rainbow over Derwent Water in the Lake District. It came and went in far too short a time for me to reset the cumbersome 4x5 camera. It was that day I stated to mull over the idea of a camera I could take with me for such occasions and the conclusion of my mulling was the purchase of a Panasonic GF1 two weeks ago.
I took it out with my 4x5 camera for the first time yesterday afternoon on a trip to Exmoor. My aim was to photograph the flowering heather and gorse that can be found all over Selworthy Beacon and the surrounding hills overlooking Porlock at this time of year. Having made a couple of exposures over the Holnicote Estate from Selworthy Beacon I walked over to Bossington Hill. I decided this location would work better in morning light and then noticing a heavy rainstorm approaching from the direction Porlock Hill chose to make a tactical retreat to the car.
When I reached the car I saw a rainbow starting to form. I knew just the spot to photograph the rainbow but I didn't have much time and would need to make a quarter of a mile dash. There was no time for my 4x5 (nor was I in any hurry to run that distance with a heavy kit bag on my back!) so I grabbed the little Panasonic and ran up the hill to the best patch of heather I could find.
I was rewarded with a handful of images of a rainbow, the like of which I have never seen before. I've seen double rainbows before but this must be my first multiple rainbow.
I took it out with my 4x5 camera for the first time yesterday afternoon on a trip to Exmoor. My aim was to photograph the flowering heather and gorse that can be found all over Selworthy Beacon and the surrounding hills overlooking Porlock at this time of year. Having made a couple of exposures over the Holnicote Estate from Selworthy Beacon I walked over to Bossington Hill. I decided this location would work better in morning light and then noticing a heavy rainstorm approaching from the direction Porlock Hill chose to make a tactical retreat to the car.
When I reached the car I saw a rainbow starting to form. I knew just the spot to photograph the rainbow but I didn't have much time and would need to make a quarter of a mile dash. There was no time for my 4x5 (nor was I in any hurry to run that distance with a heavy kit bag on my back!) so I grabbed the little Panasonic and ran up the hill to the best patch of heather I could find.
I was rewarded with a handful of images of a rainbow, the like of which I have never seen before. I've seen double rainbows before but this must be my first multiple rainbow.
Then I realised there was quite a light show playing out over the valley but my 4x5 was still down the hill in the boot of my car. Panasonic to the rescue once again. With a strong backlight in the sky I would have normally grabbed my neutral density graduated filters to prevent over exposure in the sky but no prizes for guessing where they were right now. Nevertheless the Panasonic performed flawlessly and had enough dynamic range to squeeze everything in. The application of a graduated filter in Adobe RAW Converter soon corrected the balance of the image. I have not done any direct comparisons, but I would not be confident my Nikon D2X would have coped with this dynamic range.
So, my pot of gold was that little Panasonic. The very camera I was inspired to buy after I missed a spectacular rainbow ended up capturing another spectacular rainbow on it's very first proper field trip.
So, my pot of gold was that little Panasonic. The very camera I was inspired to buy after I missed a spectacular rainbow ended up capturing another spectacular rainbow on it's very first proper field trip.
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