Iridescence 25/3/2004 Melb. Australia.

[Ern Mainka]

I've recently added Iridescence Galleries 5 and 6 to my web site.
Gallery 6 has a stunning display recorded on the morning of 25th March 2004.
http://www.ernmphotography.com/Pages/At ... Index.html

(I speak only English)

Ern Mainka

[Michael Ellestad]

Ern,

That is th emost brilliant iridescence I have ever saw. In 2002 I got very vivid iridescence that later on changed over to a corona.

BTW: March 30th I got three rainbows and the last was the best showing the entire arc and thanks to the wide angle lense of the Nikon D-100 I was able to get the entire arc in one photograph at once!! I thnik God saved the best for last.

Best,
Michael

[Ern Mainka]

Thanks Michael.

The Fuji Velvia transparencies show the colors to be even more 'electric' than what I can achieve in scanning and here with monitors that have a lower gamma range. And even the trannies can't capture the full range of brightness/intensity as in real life.

You'll notice in the first frames in the gallery the colors are more soft/pale. This because the exposure is set for a more broader area of the sky rather than the bright highlights. Also, as with rainbows, the colors change in intensity during the event because of proximity to the sun and alignment in relation to the viewer I presume. Setting the exposure for the highlights shows the colors best.

I often see minor iridescence in Alto/Stratocumulus clouds on many days of the year but mostly it's pale in color/intensity. The trees on the horizon also helped to hide the sun from direct view and therefore reduced any overall flaring in the image. Hard to imagine looking at the images but being very bright and close to the sun most people would not have noticed it at all. The last few years I've been paying more attention to the sky and looking out for these optimum event times. The last best event I caught was nearly a year ago on 23 May 2003 (see my other Irid. galleries) similarly in Altocumulus and with an approaching cold front several hrs away.
Ern.