I'd been out for the day, driving around in the car and looking for photo opportunities, and I had the invite to join a friend who was shore fishing in Schull Harbour. The days showery weather was being guided by a brisk Northerly wind, and after a couple of hours dodging and sheltering from driving rain and hail, and failing to make any satisfactory photographs, the chance of a chin-wag and a little banter seemed like a welcome relief. The footpath leading to where my friend was fishing passed alongside a burial ground and the ruin of St Marys Church.
There's an enormous sense of time and history here regardless of the viewing conditions, but at the time I arrived the sun was shining low in the West, lighting up the church and surroundings. It had just stopped raining and everything was glistening. As I walked to where my friend was, I took a few pictures ,though they really were not up to much, and were a great example of how, sometimes, it's just better to look and enjoy something that is beautiful, without wanting to do something with it.
I managed to find where my friend was fishing, and I spent some time catching up on things and sharing news. Before long a dark line beginning to appear along the Northern horizon and a lack of fish became a good reason to stop and pack things up. The rapidly approaching rain storm began to swallow up the sunlight and the first bullet sized raindrops started to fall as we both walked back up the path.
By this time the sun was still just shining and as we turned North towards where the cars were parked I saw the rainbow growing as veils of heavy rain falling to the North East were being lit up by the sun. I had just enough time to setup the camera and take this photograph before it all closed in and all weather of hell broke out. A quick sprint to the car meant things didn't suffer any water damage.
When working on the image in the comfort of my home I have been reminded of a book I read many years ago during my college days. It was The Making of 40 Photographs by Ansel Adams. In his description of how he made his 'Moonrise Over Hernandez' picture he speaks of having to move quickly to ensure the crosses in a burial ground were lit by the dying light of a rapidly descending sun. Without making any claim of equivalence to his masterpiece it was the same for me; but my eyes were on the fast approaching rain shower, a rainbow and a camera that I didn't want to get wet.