Sunflowers Under Rainbow Arch - Photo moment of the year and how it all happened?

It all started on a Wednesday morning in August, when the weather forecast showed impressive conditions for the next morning. It promised a morning with fog and few clouds. I thought I would keep an eye on the weather forecast for the rest of the day and in the evening I would decide whether I would go on a photo tour tomorrow morning or not. The plan was to visit Mukri bog, where I hadn't been for a long time, and check to see if the bog had already started to change into autumn colors. In the evening, the weather forecast was just as promising as in the morning and I prepared my camera bag so that I could start moving quickly and carefree in the morning. At that moment, I had no idea what unreal moments nature had chosen for me that morning.

FROM MISTY MORNING TO RAINY MORNING The sun rose at 6:05 in the morning. The drive to Mukri bog took me about 1 hour. I started at 4:30 to be there half an hour earlier. I always like to arrive at the landscape a little earlier and take my time and prepare myself when the first light starts to caress the landscape. There were some clouds in the sky, but for the most part the sky was clear. During the drive, I saw fog in many places and these views already caused positive anxiety. I was almost 100% sure that I would be a part of epic conditions and would capture great photos. As soon as this thought came to my mind, clouds started to form in the sky in the second half of the drive. The closer I got to Mukri bog, the less often I saw fog in open fields and elsewhere. I reached the Mukri bog parking lot, looked up at the sky where I was greeted by partly cloudy skies and the first light raindrops fell on the car window. At that moment, I wondered how I had gotten so caught up in this whole event. I still flew the drone in the dim light and checked the condition of the bog moors. There were already a few autumn colors, but that was all. I packed up the drone, got in the car, and scratched my head, wondering what to do next.

FIRST HOPE At one point I thought about maybe driving somewhere else to a bog, where the sky is clearer and maybe even foggy. Since it was already too late for such a drive, that idea was scrapped. I decided that whatever, I would drive back the same way I came and if I see cool views on the way, I would capture them and that's it. It often happens that you just go home empty-handed with the idea of ​​taking a photo and have nothing to do. Since I live in a new place and this road to the Mukri bog was new to me, I turned on Google Maps on my phone on the way back so that I wouldn't miss a turn at any point. After driving back home for a while, I woke up from my thoughts and realized that I had missed a turn at one point and Google Maps was showing a suspiciously longer road. The road passed through a place where I actually wanted to check out a sunflower field anyway, which was very sparse with sunflowers about 3 weeks ago. I was hoping that the sunflowers had started to bloom more over time, which would give me the opportunity to capture some special moments in the future that I had planned. While driving, I suddenly noticed an interesting rain cloud in front of me and after a while it was already pouring rain. Suddenly, the sun peeked out from between the clouds above the horizon. Looking over my shoulder in the car, I saw a strong rainbow. I stopped the car and just took quick snaps to capture the situation. Of course, I couldn't get any decent photos, because there was a power line on one side of the frame and there weren't any interesting elements to frame that would form a more thoughtful photo with the rainbow. I sat back in the car and smiled to myself that it would be really cool if the sunflower field I was on my way to would have the same rainbow as it is now. I looked at the clouds in front of me and how they were moving and I realized that it wasn't that impossible. There was still about 10 kilometers to go to the sunflower field. At that moment, I didn't know if the sunflower field had grown more flowers over time or not.

THE MOMENT THAT MADE ME FEEL ALIVE I remember letting out some strange positive cries in the car when I saw that more flowers were blooming in the sunflower field. The rain was drizzling softly and I hoped that the sun would start to peek out. This combination would bring out a rainbow. I parked the car in a wider area next to the road. When I got out of the car, I looked at the sunflower field and saw that the sunflower flowers were facing the sun, which was behind me. If a rainbow were to appear, then everything would be perfect in terms of composition. The sunflowers were facing me and the light coming from behind would form a rainbow above the sunflowers and in front of me. I took the camera with the SIGMA 16-28mm lens from my camera bag and put the SIGMA 28-105mm lens in my jacket pocket. Hoping that they would be enough. I quickly put the extra battery in my pocket. At one point I thought about whether I should bring a tripod, but then I took a quick exposure measurement with the camera. There was enough light to take a sharp photo by hand! I left my tripod behind.

There were tractor tracks next to the sunflower field and I was able to quickly navigate along them. After about a couple of minutes the sun was out, the rain was still pouring and the rainbow arch was completely over the sunflowers. I immediately realized that this was the most unrealistic moment that nature had given me this year so far. I was already quite soaked with water, along with my camera. I took the first photos with a completely wet lens. Luckily, I noticed this and cleaned the glass. I took photos from different angles and whatever my eyes saw, to get the corresponding quick compositional thoughts in the frame. Suddenly, a blurry second rainbow was also forming! Unfortunately, it didn't fit in the frame with the 16mm lens and I didn't have the wider 14mm lens with me. I did take a quick panorama with vertical shots, but I screwed it up and the photo didn't come out. I finally took everything I could and then quickly switched to another 28-105mm F/2.8 lens to capture the details. I knew I didn’t have much time and had to get this last one quickly. In between shots, I quickly took a few more videos with my phone to share these moments on social media later. Suddenly, the colors of the rainbow started to blur, the sun went behind the clouds and it was all over. I glanced at the sky again and realized that the direction of the cloud layer was not favorable for the sun to come out from behind the clouds again. The rain also started to fall. This whole moment had actually only lasted about 10 minutes. I quietly walked towards the car and suddenly started laughing lightly at the whole moment that had just happened. It also felt a bit strange to be alone here laughing and giggling, but as a photographer, after experiencing such a moment, many people would probably start acting a bit strange :D .In the car, I quickly reviewed the photos on my camera and was confirmed that these were some of the best moments and photos of this year. The moment was even more special for me because I had never seen sunflowers with a rainbow before. The first time in 9 years, I guess you could call it special.

HIGHER NATURE FORCES Looking back on that morning, what makes this whole adventure special is the journey I took to finally get to that sunflower field.

The decision to drive back home on the same road. Accidentally falling asleep at the end of the road, where I had to turn around. In the meantime, I actually saw a moose with beautiful horns, who was working in a beautiful field. I was very close to stopping the car and going to try to capture this animal. I would have gotten an awesome photo of the moose in a beautiful environment. I don't know why I decided not to do it at that moment. The thoughts that arose while capturing the first rainbow, what if..... Finally, the sunflower field was there in all its glory with the rainbow. In such situations, I usually feel that some higher powers have intervened and there are quite a few of them who give you such conditions. In a positive sense, a little scary too. Maybe your thoughts actually have a pretty strong power to turn moments in life into reality? How is this modern concept here today - manifestation? :).

One decision led to another and there I was. Maybe in the 9 years that I have been taking pictures, I have finally become friends with nature, that I am occasionally given such moments. In conclusion, I am very grateful that I was able to take part in such moments and this is one of the big reasons why I photograph nature and everything related to it. These very special moments that make you live!