Brocken Spectra, a photo from Highland, Scotland

Photographer's Note

Image 6 in my Scottish Highland travelogue.
Not a very good photo, but the main theme of TE is learning about the world around you, so I though it was worth uploading anyway.
You need to look quite hard to see the 'Brocken Spectra' which is a natural phenomena. You can see a rainbow halo around what looks like an angels shadow - this is in fact my own shadow cast on a layer of mist/cloud below me. The camera angle is looking steeply down into a valley from a mountain top. I've seen this phenomena only on rare occasions over the years. I hope you like it.

arbroathscott, glitch, lucinka, nilolabrador, djnik2004, hispic, GrahamB, bpelvan, SophieL oznaczył to zdjęcie jeko użyteczne

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arbroathscott (52) 2004-11-18 4:56 [Comment]

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glitch (763) 2004-11-18 5:09

Hi David,
Yes i see your brocken spectra! Well caught! I've mever heard of this so am really pleased you decided to share.
I think it was good to include the foreground to the right of this phenomenon, otherwise your POV would have been harder to see.
Well done!

alainh (33209) 2004-11-18 6:55

Bonjour David.
phénomčne etrange et rare.
tres bien capturé.
amicalement
alain

GrahamB (939) 2004-11-18 7:07

Very curious effect and well captured. As you say, very much a TE shot. I think including the bit of maountain in the forground was a good idea as it gives the scene some depth.

nilolabrador (1469) 2004-11-18 8:09

Yes, excellent and rare picture of a natural phenomena.
This picture could make an Earth science picture of the day.
EPOD

bpelvan (3798) 2004-11-18 8:57

This is a pic just for TE. Very well captured David. Everything is perfectly visible. Inclusion of the mountain piece to the right is a good idea to show the depth of the scene.

This is the first time I've ever seen such a thing like this. The theme of TE is working sometimes.

Well done David and thanks for sharing...

Benedetto (437) 2004-11-18 9:19

Beautiful photo.!!!!
I like it.
Regards.

SophieL (6042) 2004-11-18 9:36

Very interesting! And nice picture. I like the way you composed it, managing to make a very good picture while you could just have shot the halo to share this natural phenomenon. The presence of the rocks on the right and the light on them gives balance to the picture.
The halo around your shadow is very well rendered, the size of the shadow and the fact that we don't see at first glance what is in the background gives a very mysterious, almost mystical, atmosphere.
I have never seen this myself but I have seen a picture of the same rainbow halo, caught from a plane flying above a sea of clouds, the halo was seen around the shadow of the plane on the clouds. If anybody has a scientific explanation, I'm interested!

KyleIda (121) 2006-02-28 13:44

Love the depth in this shot. Your shadow seems to be all the way down on the valley floor. I also find the rocks in the corner interesting - they mirror the colors in the rainbow.
As a nod to this picture and the comment before mine, pilots call their aircraft's shadow on the clouds (often surrounded by a rainbow due to the moisture up there above the clouds) an 'Aviator's Cross' because at least for fixed wing, it looks like a cross, especially when the sun is directly behind you. The rainbow is simply a question of the moisture refracting the sunlight, exactly like a rainbow after a rainstorm. Digressing even further, if a rainbow is God's promise not to flood us out again, well, the Aviator's Cross sounds even more 'romantic'. I like the angel shadow in this picture.
Alright, sorry if I've gone on too long. I'm glad to see some pictures that aren't the 'height of artistic skill' they often show the most about the rest of the world.

Regards,
Kyle

ben4321 (9875) 2006-04-28 3:57

I've been hillwalking since I was a kid and I've never seen one of these. I'm envious, its a very interesting shot. It seems to me that you focussed on the rocks in the foreground rather then on the Brocken spectre. Focussing manually would have made it easier to focus on the spectre, although I suppose that would have been quite difficult with a compact camera.