If you can’t photograph a rainbow… build one.

Last Friday night, as the sun set, I headed toward the parking garage where Cardachrome sits during the weekdays.  Just as I reach my parking structure, I look up at the rainy sky.  The rain had subsided, the setting sun was peeking out through the clouds, and – whoa.  Rainbow.

And I’ve got my Nikon F100 in the car, and it’s still got about 20 shots of Kodak Elite Chrome slide film in it.  Opportunity.

I sprint to the car, snag the camera and dash up to the roof of the parking garage.  There it is.  A big fat Genesis 9:13 rainbow, clear as day.

I’ve photographed a rainbow before with my D700 digital SLR a couple of years ago, but this would be my first chance at capturing a rainbow with slide film.  And it was a full rainbow, you could see both ends – two pots of gold.  If this was Texas No-Limit Hold’Em, I’d be holding A♥A♣ right now.

I start taking photos, and it’s only then that I realize – the only lens I had available on the camera was my 85mm f/1.8, which I was using for another photography project.  I should have used my wideangle to get this image, not my telephoto.  And my wideangle 28mm f/2.8 is home.  Rats.  My poker hand just went to 2♥7♣ in nothing flat.

Still, I couldn’t waste a chance at getting a rainbow on slide film, so I took a few shots, marveled at the beauty of God’s covenant, and got in my car.

Next time, I vowed.  Next time I see a full rainbow, I’m gonna have the wideangle lens on the camera, the camera in the car, film in the camera – and this won’t be a problem.

Of course, nobody bothered to alert Chuck that the next rainbow sighting would be the very next afternoon.

Yep.  I’m in Watervliet on Saturday, buying some groceries at the local Price Chopper, when lo and behold, there’s another rainbow.  And I’ve still got the 85mm f/1.8 lens on the camera.  Dang it.  Procrastination is not a virtue, Chuck.  Make a note to deal with your procrastination issues at some time in the future.

Still, I had about eight shots left in the camera, so I shot as much of the rainbow as I could.  May as well take what I can get, I figured.  Snap. Snap. Snap.

Again, I cursed myself.  I had the perfect opportunity – twice – to get a full rainbow, and now all I’ve got are a few sectional shots.  It’s not a full rainbow, it’s just a few pieces of a rainbow –

Wait a second and a half.  I may not have gotten the rainbow in a single photo, but I did get it from one end of the bow to the other in a series of photos…

And maybe… just maybe… Could I have actually… the gears in my brain are starting to turn…

Only one way to find out if I was successful.

That Monday, I dropped the roll of 35mm slide film off at McGreevy Pro Lab.

The next evening, I acquired the developed slides.  They looked good.  I took the slides home and scanned them into my computer.

I scanned in each photograph… then angled them so that the rainbow would be complete.

And this was the final result.

Okay, it’s not an award-winning photo – yet.  I should have shot something across the bow, cause right now it just looks like I caught a rainbow without anything to frame it against.

But it’s a start.  It’s the next step.  And eventually, the next time a rainbow happens to float by…

I’ll be ready.

At least I hope so.