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Ashokan Reservoir, Ulster County, New York.
The goal was a through hike to bag Cornell, Wittenburg and Slide Mountain in the Catskills. We drove, chasing (or being chased by) storms to Woodland Valley. After setting up camp, we chased another storm to the Ashokan Reservoir, hoping for a sunset over the lake. We headed for the dam on a forested road, reasoning it would be one of the few places we could access open space around this upstate water supply for the city. Suddenly out of the woods at the dam, we beheld the rainbow. The rain was passing, down to a sprinkle and then nothing. We took the causeway at a run, looking for a composition while the rainbow lasted. Behind us the sun was setting, throwing mountain shadows of ever-softer blues and bathing the water golden--a rival for the show looking East. And East, the rainbow still arched, above the Esopus where it exited the reservoir heading towards Olive Bridge and, ultimately, the Hudson River. Official sunset finally faded the rainbow, and for awhile longer, the lake view put on a show of its own.
This is an HDR composite of two images, exposing for sky and landscape.