Every summer here in Penedo, Itatiaia - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, there is a conjunction of natural phenomena that can culminate in this rare and ephemeral specta...
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Every summer here in Penedo, Itatiaia - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, there is a conjunction of natural phenomena that can culminate in this rare and ephemeral spectacle: the golden rain.
To the left of this great chain, which belongs to the Serra da Mantiqueira, there is a set of smaller mountains. In a short period of summer, the sun sets in a position that aligns with this mountain corridor, forming a beam of lateral light, which propagates in front of the mountain and inside.
With the formation of heavy clouds, if the rain happens in the way of this natural spotlight, we can contemplate this spectacle for a few moments.
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To the left of this great chain, which belongs to the Serra da Mantiqueira, there is a set of smaller mountains. In a short period of summer, the sun sets in a position that aligns with this mountain corridor, forming a beam of lateral light, which propagates in front of the mountain and inside.
With the formation of heavy clouds, if the rain happens in the way of this natural spotlight, we can contemplate this spectacle for a few moments.
Read less
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken on a farm at the outskirts of the village where I live: Penedo, Rio de Janeiro - Brazil.Time
This record is the result of an extensive personal research that I have been doing since 2016. I am even writing a book about this process that started in 2009 when I witnessed this phenomenon at first time. After photographing it for the first time in February 2016, I started a consistent work to photograph the sunset with timelapses since the summer from 2019 culminating with this photo of January 17, 2022, 6:29pm.Lighting
To the left of this great chain, which belongs to the Serra da Mantiqueira, there is a set of smaller mountains. In a short period of summer, the sun sets in a position that aligns with this mountain corridor, forming a beam of lateral light, which propagates in front of the mountain and inside. With the formation of heavy clouds, if the rain happens in the way of this natural spotlight, we can contemplate this spectacle for a few moments.Equipment
This HDR photo was extracted from a timelapse using a Canon EOS 90D with a Canon 8-15mm @15mm f22 lens on a tripod without filters.Inspiration
One late afternoon in the summer of 2009 in Penedo, after a walk to photograph butterflies, I was talking with friends in the reception area of Vivenda Penedo inn, when a soft rain started. Almost immediately, the light around us started a color show: a soft salmon orange, which changed to shades of yellow, pink, purple, and then returned to salmon until it gradually faded into a bluish purple. Everyone fell silent, went to the garden and the spectacle took over, astonishing everyone. With a camera in hand, I didn't even think about taking a picture. Maybe stunned, I just enjoyed the moment.Editing
From the original RAW files, I made an HDR output file in DNG format which was later developed in Adobe Lightroom. My photographic vision for digital development is a quest to represent the phenomenon with maximum color, light and shadow realism.In my camera bag
For this landscape photography project, I always carry two tripods, two DSLR cameras (EOS 90D & EOS 77D), a wide angle lens (I initially used a Canon 10-22mm) which I upgraded in 2022 to a Canon 8-15mm; a fixed 24mm lens and the classic Canon 18-55mm that I upgraded in 2022 to a Sigma 17-50mm.Feedback
As I explained, this was not the recording of a random moment in time. After realizing the necessary conditions for the occurrence of this phenomenon, I programmed myself to be present at the astronomically favorable moments with all the equipment described in order to do photojournalism. The most unpredictable factor that tested my resilience was the weather, which often thwarted the outcome. While working to make this record, with two cameras shooting photos every 20 seconds, the most stressful job was drying the surface of the lenses from raindrops (umbrellas are not a solution when using angled lenses).