Last weekend was full moon and I happened to be in Yosemite. Luckily, the sky was clear and the waterfalls roaring. Everything was set for a nice moonbow show.

So what is a moonbow? A moonbow is a rainbow lit by the light of the moon instead of the sun. Sometimes it is also called lunar rainbow. This is best seen with a full moon. Since our eyes don’t see colors well during the night, a moonbow might appear as a white bow. But our digital cameras have no problem capturing colors at night.

I first photographed the entire cliff of Yosemite Falls including the upper and lower falls. There was a hint of color at the bottom of the upper fall. But this was barely a moonbow.

There was just not enough water and spray in the air.

Later (and almost a bit too late) we moved over to the base of lower Yosemite Falls. I expected to get soaked with spray, but was happy when I stayed dry. Even with bare eyes I could see a white bow. I was excited when I saw the color picture on the back of my camera.