Ski rainbow station
- 📍 Location: Valberg, Alpes-Maritimes, France
- 📅 Date: 2021
A storm was clearing off the valley and a rainbow came down out of the cloud and landed almost exactly on the village. The resort was in full sun, the sky above it was still black, and the cloud was pouring over the ridge behind: three states of weather in the same frame.
I framed with the rooftops along the bottom and gave the rest to the sky, because the rainbow needed its full height and the village only needed to be recognisable. The dark cloud is what makes the colours read; against blue they would have been half as strong.
No filter and no saturation added. A rainbow is already the most saturated thing a sky can produce, and the only real decision was exposure: keeping the village bright enough to be lit without letting the roofs blow out under the dark half of the sky.
Mountain weather changes faster than any plan survives, and this lasted perhaps ninety seconds before the band drifted off the slope and dissolved. Most of the day had been rain. That is generally the arrangement: you pay in hours and get paid in seconds.
Limited-edition fine-art print from the Skywaven Studios collection, available in several sizes, papers and framing options.
