Fogbow (d-041119-023)

In gallery: Photos of the month (2004)
Related photos: Atmospheric optics Light in water droplets Fog bow

This fogbow was a quite unusual appearance in the state of New Mexico (USA). A shallow layer of fog lay over the Rio Grande in the morning of November 19. The bow appeared in this fog, while I was standing at the perimeter of the fog patch, looking away from it (and the sun). This view had the blue sky as background rather than white fog, and resulted in good visibility of the bow. A fogbow is similar to the common rainbow, but the droplets are much smaller and the bow colors are dispersed and overlapping so much that the bow appears mostly white.

Taken with Nikon D100 digital camera, using 18-35mm zoomlens at 18mm, exposed according to light meter. A circular polarizing filter was used to increase the contrast between the white polarized bow and blue background. The fog was very patchy and dissipating right before my eyes. I had only about 20 seconds to record the fogbow - something I have been looking for for many years.