This is among the last photos that I made on conventional film, on November 11, 1999 (it just happened to coincide with my parents’ wedding anniversary). I was on assignment in France, had just finished the day’s work, and was en route to my next assignment. As the sun was setting, a squall came in with a brief window under it, which resulted in one of the most spectacular rainbows that I have ever experienced. I had only a couple of minutes to dash across a wet field of grass to a place where I could get the foreground that I saw 
in my mind’s eye and, when I found it, only time enough to make three exposures before the clouds closed in and the rainbow disappeared. This was my favorite. The closest village was Naves, a commune in the Corrèze département in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.
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krikitarts 
Back in the days of Kodak and the roles of film. I much prefer the digital age now, but your photo from back then really shines with that rainbow and the darker backdrop. Very nice, Gary. It has bags of mood, and I like that.
I was keeping a written log of metadata back then, but I can’t find the one that covered that trip. I’m pretty sure, though, that the film was Scotchchrome 1000, a very large-grain transparency film that I loved for its artistic qualities. Here’s another that I posted a few weeks ago: https://krikitarts.wordpress.com/2020/03/06/flashback-friday-canterbury-moon-at-dusk/ (in case you missed it).
Absolutely stunning, Gary. How lucky you were that day.
And lucky not to have tripped and fallen in my rush to get this composition. I was going way too fast for the terrain and light conditions. I’d hate to try that with today’s knees!
Oui, that sure is a mighty rainbow, or ‘arc in the sky” as the French call it.
Oui, oui, oui, all the way home.
But no way no wee rainbow, fortunately for you.
Wow! What a rainbow! It looks like the gateway to heaven.
I remember how excited I was, and how much I was hoping it would last just a little longer!
That’s quite a fabulous rainbow, Gary. How fortunate to be in the right place etc. The only rainbows I get to see lately are ice prisms. This is wonderful. Like Peter says, I prefer digital these days but back in the day film did good stuff and this is evidence.
There really was a sense of mystic alchemy to traditional film processing and print making, wasn’t there? Loading bulk film into cassettes; handling the exposed film oh, so carefully; the olfactory high of the stop bath and fixer; the test exposures; and the pure magic of watching the fine print slowly come to life–what a labor of love! Of course, if we didn’t really love it, we never would have spent all the time that was necessary to do it right!
Yes, it was indeed magical to see something “develop” before our eyes. There isn’t the same excitement digitally. But I don’t miss the chemicals at all.
Let me join the chorus of those praising you, Gary. That is an amazing shot for so many of the reasons that others have mentioned. I managed to capture a rainbow shot while I was in Paris last November (https://michaelqpowell.com/2019/11/13/rainbow-in-paris/), but it was much more of a record shot than an artistic one like yours. I haven’t quite given up on film photography. A couple of years ago I went out shooting with some black and white film with a totally manual Nikon SLR. It was so basic that it had no metering system. It was a fascinating experience taking the shot and then developing the film myself. I was so uncertain that I had done it right that I was overjoyed when I reached the washing stage to see that there were actually negatives visible. (Not having a full darkroom setup, I scanned the negatives and processed them digitally.) I have a dozen or so rolls of film in my refrigerator and this confinement period might be a good time to shoot some of them. I especially want to try out a twinlens reflex camera that I acquired.
First, sincere thanks for the high compliments! I’m delighted–and not really all that surprised–to learn that you are still keen to embrace the older technology. There are definitely times when I still miss it, but then I remember how much time I had to dedicate to it to do it right (and, for me, there was no other way), an the convenience of the digital world rears its lovely head again and I let the temptation slip back under the waves. What twinlens did you get? Toward the end of my pre-digital era, I carried two Yashica-Mat 124Gs with me, one with b&w and one with Fujichrome, and 3 SLR bodies and…and.. and…
Extraordinary! And you know, it really has mystic alchemy. ;-)
Yup, alchemy–I remember thinking there had to be a pot of gold at the end of that one!
Absolutely wonderful, beautiful, striking picture, Gary! :)
I was so hoping it would turn out the way I’d imagined it, and it’s been a favorite since I first saw the result. Thanks, Adrian!
That is crazy beautiful, Gary….wow!
I felt a little crazy sprinting through the wet field, but it paid off!
That looks really otherworldly. So beautiful. I’ve been away from WP for a couple of weeks and will catch up with your ‘Isolation Antidotes’ series!
Great to see you, M, and welcome back! hopefully you have some new delights for us?!
This is the prettiest rainbow I have ever seen on film. These kind of shots come by so rarely, and I am so glad that you shared this one with us. Thanks.
Thanks, Geri, it’s also one of the most dramatic in my experience too. I feel very privileged to have been able to see it and make the photo as well.
Looking forward to more dramatic photos.