35AWARDS Rainbow Photography Contest Reference
A rainbow is an optical phenomenon: the refraction and dispersion of white light in water droplets or facets of transparent materials into a spectrum. For a photographer, this is primarily about working with light — you need to catch the moment when the sun, water, and your shooting position align in one line.
We are looking for shots where the rainbow is the main character. Not a background, not a random stroke, but the semantic and compositional center. It's important not just to "see and click," but to construct the frame: find a foreground, fit the arc into the composition, catch the right light. A rainbow can be in the sky, in a puddle, in a droplet on glass, in a beam through a prism — the main thing is that the phenomenon is captured consciously and technically competently.
Accepted:
- Shots where a rainbow or spectral highlight is an unconditional visual dominant, not a random element on the periphery
- Photographs where the optical phenomenon is clearly readable: the arc itself is visible, a pure spectrum, rainbow iridescence, or light dispersed in a beam
Not accepted:
- Shots where the rainbow is barely distinguishable, hidden in the background, or serves merely as a color accent without being the semantic center of the composition
- Artificial imitations: digital gradients, neon signs, rainbow flags, or painted objects not related to the physics of light
- Random flares, overexposures, and optical artifacts on the lens mistakenly taken for a rainbow
