An incredible photo of a Bowen Island passenger ferry appearing to sail through the tail end of a rainbow as it hit the water in British Columbia is sparking people’s interest.
“For a brief few minutes, it was sunny and rainy at the same time, which means there’s going to be a rainbow.”
Sparling didn’t have his camera with him but ran down to the dock to snap a quick picture using his iPhone anyway, citing his friend’s advice: “the best camera is the one that’s with you.” Sparling’s photo turned out to be a showstopper.
“Bowen’s little ferry lined up perfectly with the rainbow to create this surreal moment,” Sparling wrote. To date, the beautiful ethereal image captured on camera has garnered over 28,000 Instagram likes and has been reported by numerous media outlets.
Rainbows appear when sunlight is refracted and dispersed by water droplets, often in the event of sunshine and rain occurring simultaneously. The spectrum of colored light usually forms a circular arc in the sky, and if viewers are lucky enough, they may be able to identify the end of the rainbow as it falls to Earth.
Contrary to certain mythology and imaginings, it isn’t possible to actually reach the “end” of a rainbow (at least not in our world), for rainbows are simply optical phenomena apparent only to a viewer from a certain position relative to certain conditions of light and airborne water droplets, nothing more. They are not objects that occupy a position in space, though they may appear to be. They are an optical illusion, much like a mirage.
“Whooaaa talk about perfect timing,” wrote one netizen. “Wow,” another commented, “pictures like these inspire me so much!”
“Proof that a good photographer can take great photos with the most basic device,” yet another person added.
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