Sunrise Rainbow and Virga Above the Buttermilks

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Sunrise Rainbow and Virga Above the Buttermilks. Sierra Nevada, California. October 3, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

Brief sunrise light produces a rainbow and virga over the Buttermilks in the eastern Sierra Nevada above Bishop, California.

I have a story to tell about this photograph and how it came about. I've been in the Buttermilks, the rounded hills between Bishop, California and the actual Sierra Nevada, on a number of occasions in the past. I've photographed there in the early morning when the early light first hits these hills and the peaks of the Sierra, and I have some potential images filed away in my mind for a time when the light is right. I also know the Sierra well enough now - though certainly not completely nor perfectly! - that I can pick up on some developing conditions even when they might not be at all visible to someone with less familiarity with the range.

On this particular early October morning I was camped up in the Bishop Creek drainage at Four Jeffreys campground. The forecast was for some rain and wind and, sure enough, during the night the wind picked up and it began to rain. I woke before dawn and as the first light began it was apparent that it would be overcast. This is not necessarily a bad thing for photographing fall color, but it can mean that subjects that would otherwise work at dawn might need to wait. I was thinking about how to modify my aspen photography plans when I noticed a bit of incipient color in the still-dim clouds overhead, and it occurred to me that a special set of conditions just might occur. Although I couldn't see to the east from this campground, I know that sometimes the clouds covering the Sierra end a ways to the east over or beyond the White Mountains, and when this happens there is a narrow band of clear sky right above the horizon- and if everything works out just right a strip of dawn light shines through this gap, first hitting the clouds and then working its way down from the peaks to the lower foothills before quickly disappearing and leaving very bland light.

No sure bet here at all, but I decided to dash down the road (past the steady stream of aspen photographers streaming up the road!) and see if I could get to the Buttermilks in time. I left the main road and headed up through the hamlet of Starlite, somewhat resenting their (very reasonable!) 25mph speed limit as I began to see the clouds above the crest starting to light up. As I hit the gravel road on the far side of Starlite the sky began to glow and I sped up, heading for a specific spot where I had photographed this scene before. With seconds I saw the light pick out a band of virga and a rainbow began to form in front of the eastern escarpment of the range as I arrived at the hilltop where I planned to shoot. I quickly set up my tripod and mounted the 70-200mm lens (which I already knew would be the right one for this shot) and literally ran to a close hill which I knew would put the foreground hill in a decent place in the composition. I was ready just as the soft light hit the foreground and I made this photograph. Within a minute the rainbow as gone!

Sometimes you just get lucky...

(PS: Hopefully the very intense colors of this photo balance the lack of color in the photo I posted right before it... :-)

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Taken on: October 3, 2010

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Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II, f/16.0, 1/6 sec, 98mm, ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens:	EF70-200mm f/4L USM
Aperture:	f/16.0
Exposure Time:	0.167 sec (1/6)
Focal Length:	98mm
ISO:	200
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS4 Macintosh
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