I have no doubt that you have seen better pictures of rainbows and probably even double rainbows. What’s noteworthy about this photo is that Death Valley gets about 60mm (less than two inches) of precipitation a year. Compare that to the annual average of Los Angeles at 380mm (15 inches) or Phoenix at 200mm (8 inches). Perhaps you see where I’m going with this. The chances of a double rainbow in this part of the world are extremely small so while my first reaction was: “Why does it have to rain precisely when I’m here?” this approach soon shifted to “Wow, what a beautifully rare occasion.” Most of my other photos convey what you’re more likely to expect from the area, you can see some of them here.
{ 5 comments }
Alan White 10.28.18 at 10:55 pm
Nice photo especially in these circumstances. It reinforces my humbling experience of some of my best pictures as a result of pure luck.
JRLRC 10.29.18 at 12:16 am
Nice!
Dr. Hilarius 10.29.18 at 5:52 am
Dramatic and beautiful.
Bill Benzon 10.29.18 at 11:44 am
Alan White: We can all benefit from pure luck. The trick is to recognize when we’ve been lucky.
Eric 10.30.18 at 9:01 pm
Nice shot! And good luck.
Quibble:
60mm / 25.4in = 2.3622
Also, as an aside it is quite common in certain desert areas for rain to start falling and then evaporate before hitting the ground. I don’t know about Death Valley, but I saw this kind of thing fairly often in northern Nevada. Still, the angle of the sun must be right to get the rainbow.
Look up ‘virga rainbows’
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