Purple Rainbow with Acorns
I had originally shot this to capture the acorns in the sunlight, and when I got home and saw the "purple rainbow" lens flare, I laughed out loud. Ha...
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I had originally shot this to capture the acorns in the sunlight, and when I got home and saw the "purple rainbow" lens flare, I laughed out loud. Happy accidents can be the absolute best!
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Canon EOS 80D
Aperture f/1.8 ISO 100 Shutter 1/1600 Focal Length 50/1 
Port Austin, Michigan, US
Jun, 2019Views
219
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Awards
People's Choice in Refractions Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Genius
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at a small roadside park on the Saginaw Bay, near the tip of Michigan's thumb, just south of the small coastal town of Port Austin.Time
This photo was taken in early evening as I waited for the sunset over the Saginaw Bay.Lighting
The lighting is what completely made this photo. The sun was shining at a fairly low angle from the right of this photo. I was just trying to capture the acorns in a small depth of field shot. What I didn't know was that the sun shining in caused a purple lens flare across the image. I discovered it the next day when I got the photos I'd taken on my computer screen! If I'd have put my lens hood on, I would never have captured this cool image!Equipment
I shot this hand-held with my Canon 80D and 50mm f/1.8 lens, ISO100, f/1.8, and 1/1000s exposure.Inspiration
I had purchased my new camera in October of the previous year, and the spring weather finally got me out of the house to shoot a cool sunset over Saginaw Bay. While I was waiting, I explored the small roadside park, named Jenks Park, for other subjects. I spotted these acorns laying at the base of a tree, and shot a few images of them with a wide open aperture. I had just wanted to play with depth of field, and got this gem!Editing
Yes, I used Luminar 3 to process the image, doing some slight color corrections and cropping.In my camera bag
I typically carry my Canon 80D with five lenses (Canon 50mm f/1.8, 10-18mm wide angle zoom, 18-55mm zoom, and 55-250mm zoom, and Tokina 100mm macro prime lens). I also have my Haida M10 pro filter holder with a 10-stop ND and 3-stop GND filter and circular polarizer. Of course, I always have my standard accessories like spare batteries, lens hoods, memory cards, etc., and I carry a Godox V860-II speedlight with MagMod Sphere & MagBeam flash modifiers with color gels and gobos. I also have my trusty tripod!Feedback
My advice is always simple...soak up everything about where you are, and feel the story that starts to reveal itself about your subject and your surroundings. I'm always amazed that eventually a compelling story begins to emerge, and my job then becomes how best to capture that story. Sometimes that's easy to do, sometimes it's damn hard, and sometimes I'm not able to do it at all. It's those times that I just enjoy the story and the moment, and then later it drives me to get better at my craft so in the future I can perhaps succeed.
