Burney Falls in northern California showing a moonbow

 

We have photos of Yosemite Falls that show a moonbow in both the lower and upper falls. We also have photos of moonbows in two waterfalls in Idaho, Shoshone Falls and Upper Mesa Falls. Now we've proven the Burney Falls, in northern California, can also produce a moonbow. We had our doubts when we first started considering looking at these falls for the moonbow possibility because the cliff that the water flows over is north-facing. That means it is in shadow from both the sun and the moon. However, during a previous visit, we saw a rainbow in the mist far away from the cliff face, which made us think a moonbow might be possible.

So we visited over the September 5th weekend during the time of the full moon, hoping to get a good result. The night of the 5th was cloudy, causing a dimming of the moon's light. The night of the 6th, however, was clear and we got the results we were after.

This image by Rick is the result of taking three vertical images and merging them together to get the entire width of the cliff. The moonbow appears at the lower right corner, where the mist from the falls gets past the shadow into moon light. The first of the three images was captured at 11:30 PM.

Fuji GFX 100S (45mm, f4, ISO 8000, 20 sec) 3 vertical images with overlap and merged

Burney Falls, after midnight, light painting

 

Burney Falls is a waterfall famous for its unique geology. The stream, Burney Creek, flows over the brink after being split into two streams that fall to the pool below. The rest of the cliff face has springs gushing from it that make it look like a very wide waterfall. The estimated amount of water flowing from this cliff is 100 million gallons per day. We visited McArthur-Burney Falls State Park during spring break 2021. 

In a way, Burney Falls is challenging to photograph in that it is north-facing and doesn't receive direct sunlight. We managed to get a better image of the falls than usual by taking this picture after midnight and using a flashlight combined with a long exposure time to light the scene in a way that couldn't happen during the daytime. This image was actually taken around 12:43am with a 30-second exposure, ISO 800, f5.6, and a focal length of 18mm. It needed a wide-angle setting on the lens to get all of the falls in the frame, plus we wanted to be physically closer so the flashlight could be more effective. This process of using a flashlight (or torch as the British call it) to light the scene is called light painting. It appears to bring out the colors of the ferns better than a daytime photo when the cliff is in shadow.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

McArthur Burney Falls and double rainbow

The centrerpiece of McArthur Burney Falls Memorial State Park in Northern California is Burney Falls.  The two main streams you see in the center of the photo is from Burney Creek, while the rest of the waterfalls you see here are from springs emerging from the cliff face.  Some 100 million gallons of water flow from this waterfall every day.  It creates quite a spectacle.

Since this cliff face is pretty much north-facing, it almost never gets direct sunlight, but the mist from the waterfall can catch the rays and produce rainbows during special times of the day.  Here Bob was able to capture a double rainbow in the mist.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.