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.

The top 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

The second photo is by Bob and is a single photo taken with a Fujifilm GFX 100s at 20 mm, 20 seconds, f/5.6, and ISO 6400. Again the moonbow is in the lower right corner.

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

Alamere Falls in Point Reyes National Seashore, lit by flashlight at night

 

We attempted to determine if Point Reyes's Alamere Falls could produce a moonbow during the July full moon period. We hiked along the beach from Wildcat Camp while the tide was changing from high to low. This also was one day before the full moon, which means an earlier start to the moonbow, if it happens. We didn't find a moonbow, but we may have arrived too late. We still have hope that it can happen here. 

While near the base of the falls, we set up our cameras and tried taking moonlit images and light-painted images. Light painting involves using a source of light combined with a long exposure to artificially light up a night-time scene. This one worked out quite well.

Fuji GFX100S: 30 sec, f5.6, ISO 1600, 45mm (36mm equivalent)

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

Yosemite, Lower Falls Moonbow in June 23-24, 2024, from bridge and "the wall"

Here's an image of Yosemite's moonbow in the lower falls as viewed from the bridge over Yosemite Creek. Moonlight tends to make soft shadows and a less sharp photo. Here's the link to our YouTube video: What is a Moonbow? - https://youtu.be/S_ay06ZPjqA

ISO 3200, f4, 60 seconds

And this is an image of the moonbow in the Lower Falls of Yosemite from straight on. You can even see some of the Upper Falls at the top of the frame, along with some stars. We were up well past 3am getting these moonbow images. There is a predicted time online for viewing it from the bridge, but we found that moving to a different perspective allowed for much more time to view the moonbow. Most of the other photographers there that night had already left after the predicted time ended, but we kept at it and that action paid off.

ISO 3200, f8, 50 seconds

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

 

Upper Yosemite Falls Moonbow from Cooks Meadow, Saturday to Sunday, June 22-23, 2024

 

A second night of moonbow chasing for us (see the previous post).

This is the moonbow in the Upper Yosemite Falls as seen from Cooks Meadow during the night of Saturday into Sunday, June 22-23, 2024. 

This was part of our trip to see Yosemite moonbows from all three of the viewpoints that Brian Hawkins predicts on his website yosemitemoonbow.com.

For more info about these phenomenon, check out our YouTube video "What is a Moonbow?" Link: https://youtu.be/S_ay06ZPjqA

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

Moonbow in Upper Yosemite Falls as seen from Glacier Point, Saturday, June 22, 2024

 As we have tried to do just about annually, we visited Yosemite Valley to see, photograph, and videograph moonbows in Yosemite Falls. On this trip, we made a point of visiting all three of the vantage points that Brian Hawkins predicts on his yosemitemoonbow.com web site.

We started with Glacier Point, especially since Rick hadn't seen the moonbow from that viewpoint before. Here is one of the photos that we got from there on Saturday, June 22, 2024, the night of the full moon. From this perspective, the moonbow doesn't really show up as an arc of white light like it does from the Lower Yosemite Falls viewpoint, which makes it more difficult to discern when the moonbow is actually happening.

Please check out YouTube video "What is a Moonbow?" to learn more about this phenomenon.

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

Moonbow in Upper Mesa Falls, Mesa Falls Scenic Byway, Caribou-Targhee National Forest, Idaho

 After our successful photo trip to Shoshone Falls to see a moonbow in its mist (see the previous post), we headed to the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway to see if we could photograph a moonbow in Upper Mesa Falls along the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest in eastern Idaho.  We had heard from a forest supervisor about a year ago that she already knew that someone had photographed a moonbow in Upper Mesa Falls, so we knew it could happen.

We hadn't modeled the terrain and moon's path ahead of time, so we didn't know where the best vantage point was or when it might happen.  We headed to the main observation platform the night of the full moon, Monday, July 3rd.  The moon was rising behind a cloud bank along the eastern horizon.  As soon as the moon cleared the clouds, its light shot up the canyon making the whole streamcourse glow up to and beyond the Upper Mesa Falls.  We saw this moonbow almost as soon as the moonlight set the canyon aglow around midnight.  It appeared fairly close to the waterfall itself and progressed toward the waterfall as the moon rose.  It soon seemed that the moonbow would be drowned out by the waterfall itself.

We moved to another observation platform to our left and caught sight of another moonbow and watched it as it progressed to the right, toward the waterfall, just like the previous one had done.  We left around 2 AM with that moonbow still visible, but getting very close to the waterfall and we presumed that it was about to disappear.

The photo above is of that initial moonbow sighting and is a vertical in order to show the stars in the sky to prove that it was taken at night.

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

A Moonbow in Shoshone Falls, Twin Falls, Idaho

 We have for the last dozen years or so been making a nearly annual pilgrimage to Yosemite to see the famous moonbows in Lower and Upper Yosemite Falls.  We have long thought that moonbows might occur in other waterfalls, but that few others have thought to look for them there.

 With that in mind, we headed to Twin Falls, Idaho to visit the "Niagara of the West," Shoshone Falls, east of the city along the Snake River.  We got special permission to spend the night there on the night of Saturday, July 1st, two days before the night of the full moon.

Much to our delight, we did see a moonbow in the mist of the gushing waterfalls that is Shoshone Falls.  It first appeared in the far left end of the mist cloud just before midnight and progressed to the right as the moon climbed higher in the sky.  When we left at 2 AM, the moonbow seemingly had pressed itself against the cliff to the left of the waterfall in this view and had shortened to just a stub.

But that means that a waterfall that wasn't known for producing a moonbow, not only produced one for us, but that it lasted for some two hours two nights before the full moon night.

Thanks to Wendy Davis of the City of Twin Falls Parks and Recreation Department for allowing us the opportunity to photograph and videograph the moonbow in Shoshone Falls.  Check out our YouTube timelapse video of this event in our Nature Observations playlist.

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

Upper Yosemite Falls moonbow closer-in, Yosemite Valley, California, June 2, 2023

This is a tighter shot from the previous posting.  Read the story there behind this photo.

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

Upper Yosemite Falls with moonbow and reflection, Yosemite National Park, California, June 2, 2023

 After a very wet winter the waterfalls in Yosemite Valley were gushing.  So, it was that we visited Yosemite the night before the full moon, June 2, 2023 to observe the moonbow in Upper Yosemite Falls.  We had gone to Lower Yosemite first, but the mist kicking off the falls was so heavy that we got drenched in a short order.  Only an occasional favorable wind kept us dry before the mist would hit us with a good soaking.

So we decided to go see this night's moonbow in Upper Yosemite Falls instead.  It turned out to be gorgeous.  When the predicted time for the moonbow to start came up and we weren't seeing much happening, we thought we might be disappointed with tonight's display.  The colors of the rainbow started in the main stream of the Upper Falls in a narrow band that wasn't very extensive.  We hoped that eventually the moonbow would work its way downward and eventually hit the big cloud of mist coming off the base of Upper Falls and that's what happened.  Eventually, the moonbow extended across the entire mist cloud to the base of Upper Falls.

Also, thanks to the wet winter, Cooks Meadow, where we shot this from, had a large pool in front of us that provided us with a nice reflection of what was happening up on the granite walls of Yosemite Valley.

If you've never heard of a moonbow, or lunar rainbow, be sure to check out our YouTube video "What is a moonbow?"

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

Moonbow in upper Yosemite Falls, from the trail.

After hiking up the Yosemite Falls trail in the dark, we were able to find a dramatic viewpoint from which to get images of the moonbow at the base of upper Yosemite Falls. Part of the Middle Cascades shows through the moonbow. This entire scene is lit by moonlight and you can see stars in the sky. This excursion took us well into the early morning hours. This photo was taken at 12:15 am.  We took photos from this spot for 3-1/2hours total, before hiking back down to Camp 4. Thanks to Brian Hawkins for his moonbow predictions which we verified by being on the scene. The most was starting to form a second moonbow above the first.  It's much fainter, though.

The photo details are ISO 1600, f6.7, 20 sec exposure. vertical orientation.

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

 

Moonbow and Yosemite Falls from OMG Point, Yosemite National Park, California, May 13, 2022

 This is a nighttime 3-shot panorama of Yosemite Falls from top to bottom showing Upper Yosemite Falls, Middle Cascade, and Lower Yosemite Falls.  Bob took this from OMG Point, aka Oh My Gosh Rock, a short unpublicized spur trail off the Yosemite Falls Trail.

We were there to see the moonbow on the night of Friday, May 13, 2022.  The moonbow is visible at the base of Upper Yosemite and the top of Middle Cascade.  We arrived there at 10 PM and stayed until 2 AM.  The moon shadows of our tripods and cameras are in the lower left corner.

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

Upper Yosemite Falls, moonbow, and Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California, April 24, 2021

 Bob was looking through his photos from April 24, 2021 and realized that he captured a moonbow in this photo.  He was trying to capture a moonbow from this perspective, but thought that clouds from a passing storm wouldn't allow enough moonlight through to create a moonbow or that the angle from this perspective was wrong for seeing one.  See our other postings on moonbows for a description of what they are.

In this photo, which he shot from the Yosemite Falls Trail, is Upper Yosemite Falls, the moonbow hovering over the Middle Cascade, and Half Dome.

Moonbow in Upper Yosemite Falls as seen from Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park

 This is a moonbow shot that Bob took on the night of May 24, 2021 from Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park.  Looking like some kind of frozen confection, Upper Yosemite Falls shows a moonbow in its mist.  Focusing in the dark is difficult, so Bob didn't get the sharpest focus on this shot, but it showed the most color of all the photos he took that night.

According to Brian Hawkins of Yosemite Moonbow Predicitions (yosemitemoonbow.com) the appearance of the moonbow in Yosemite Falls as seen from Glacier Point only happens for about 15 minutes and is a broader arc thanks to the fact that you're viewing it from so much farther away than the other vantage points that he does predictions for.

The park was conducting prescribed burns the week Bob was there and Yosemite Valley and Half Dome were almost completely obscured by the smoke from Glacier Point, but, fortunately for him, the smoke cleared out just in time for the predicted appearance of the moonbow.

See our previous post for more information about moon bows.

Oh yeah, and while Bob was at Glacier Point, he met Brian Hawkins who predicts the occurrence of moon bows in Yosemite Falls from various vantage points on his website Yosemite Moonbow Predictions (yosemitemoonbow.com).

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

Moonbow in Lower Yosemite Falls and Big Dipper, Yosemite National Park, May 25, 2021

 

This is a photo of a moonbow, or lunar rainbow, in the mist of Lower Yosemite Falls in Yosemite National Park.  Bob took this shot on the night of May 25th, 2021.  The park was conducting prescribed burns in Yosemite Valley, so he was concerned that the smoke would diminish the moonlight enough that the moonbow wouldn't show up.  Fortunately the smoke dispersed enough that it didn't interfere.   In fact, Bob thinks this was one of the best moon bows he's ever seen, because it persisted through almost the entire predicted window and was a strong and, for the most part, broad arc of light.  In our previous visits to see the moonbow in Lower Yosemite Falls, the moonbow has appeared and disappeared depending on which way the wind was blowing the mist.

Moonbows occur when moonlight strikes the mist of a waterfall or misty rain during a storm at a 42 degree angle from the observer and creates a rainbow just like sunlight can do.  The difference is moonlight is much dimmer and is only bright enough two days before, the night of, and two days after the full moon to create a moonbow.  Also, because moonlight is so much dimmer, the colors of the rainbow don't usually show up to the naked eye.  The human eye sees color with retinal cells called cones, which require a brighter light intensity than the moon provides, in order to be stimulated enough for you to perceive color.  To the naked eye, the moonbow appears as a ghostly white arc of light.  The colors do show up in photos thanks to the longer exposures that cameras provide.

The Big Dipper and other stars are visible in the sky above Lower Yosemite Falls.

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

Yosemite Falls with a moonbow in the lower fall, Yosemite Nat'l Park

This image of Yosemite Falls, with the upper and lower fall visible, is lit up by moonlight. You can see stars in the sky above the falls. The rainbow in the mist of the lower falls is caused by moonlight, not sunlight. When we viewed this scene with our own eyes, we couldn't see the colors, but the camera picks them through a long exposure of 30 seconds, ISO 800. We were just at the falls getting moonbow pictures in the lower fall, but as we were leaving, we decided to look back at the whole waterfall and see if the moonbow was visible from this other perspective.

This natural event can happen 2-3 days around the full moon in the spring and early summer in Yosemite Valley, especially when there's enough water flow.

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

Yosemite Moonbow, Memorial Day Weekend 2018

In Yosemite National Park, California, in spring and early summer and around the time of the full moon, the mist from Yosemite Falls can form a moonbow, or lunar rainbow or a waterfall mistbow. A moonbow is a rainbow caused by moon light, rather than sunlight. When viewing this phenomenon, most people can't see the color of the spectrum because the moonlight is too dim to stimulate the color receptors in your eyes.  We have encountered some people who claim that they can see some color in the moonbows,  however.  With a long exposure, 20 to 30 seconds, with a camera, the colors appear in the final image. The night of the full moon is the brightest, but up to 2 days before or after the night of the full moon could also work.

For the above images, Bob went on the night of the full moon on Memorial Day 2018 to Lower Yosemite Falls.  Although the images look like they could've been taken during the day, he included stars in the sky to prove that they were nighttime shots.  In the vertical image, the Big Dipper hangs over the Lower Yosemite Falls and the moonbow.  When Bob first got to the falls, the moonbow was fairly high above the mist from the falls, but as the night went on, it got lower and lower until it was in front of the mist.

One of the great challenges of taking this sort of image is that you need the mist from the falls in order to get the moonbow, but then if the mist reaches high enough, it can make the rest of the image look fuzzy. There's also a very good chance that you'll get wet  depending on how great the water flow over the waterfall is and on which way and how strongly the wind is blowing.

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

Yosemite Falls by moonlight, reflected in Cook Meadow's pool, with the Big Dipper above

This image was taken in June 2011,  when there was still a large pool in Cook Meadow. We tried to get pictures of the moonbow in Yosemite Falls, the lower end, then moved back farther, to the Sentinel parking area, to see if the upper falls showed a moonbow, as well. After getting out of the car, Rick noticed that Yosemite Falls was being reflected in the pool. After spending some more time examining the scene, he noticed that the Big Dipper was just above the falls, as well. This image is the result of 3 images being merged seamlessly together, was lit by moonlight and each image was taken for 30 seconds. You can see the reflection and a little of the bottom of the pool at the same time. It has been cropped to an 11x17 ratio.

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

Yosemite Falls, upper and lower, with a lunar rainbow, or moonbow, with stars.

The mist from Yosemite Falls can turn moonlight into a moonbow, or lunar rainbow, around the time of the full moon. It also depends on how much precipitation the area had during the winter and sping, since the misting water droplets coming off the falls is what separates the white light into the spectrum of colors. The moon-caused bow is dim enough that human eyes can't distinguish the colors. We have rods and cones in our eyes, cells that respond to light. The rods respond to brightness and don't detect color, but the cones do respond to color, but only if their light has enough intensity. Moonlight isn't usually intense enough to trigger the cones. When looking at this moonbow, we only saw an arc of ghostly white light, but the camera's time exposure, 30 seconds, does pick up the colors that our eyes can't see.

This perspective also includes the upper falls and stars so that it's easier to tell that it was taken at night. To get here, you have to be willing to do a little scrambling off of the paved path over granite that is sometimes slick, right up to the base of the cliffs, but it's well worth it. You also should bring along a dry cloth to wipe the droplets off of your lens, since it will get wet. Wearing rain gear to keep yourself dry and protected from the wind is a good idea, too. Waterfalls create their wind. The falling water drags air down with it. 

This image was two shots, lower and upper, then merged together to create one larger image. The two were taken on June 2, 2012. We tried again this year, 2013, but last year's results were better.

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