Gary Coombe saw the light coming from his kitchen window, close to town.
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"I had a feeling something was going to happen," he recalled this week.
"Sure enough when I got down there, put the right lens on, bingo, double rainbow come up, beautiful light, it was just extraordinary."
The Beechworth photographer hesitates when asked about his favourite photo ("Gee, it's like asking who's your favourite child") but admits to pride in his snap of his town's post office and two rainbows (pictured above).
This image is just one of many featured in Beechworth, a new book that showcases both Coombe's photographs and the North East town.
The three-year project began when editor and writer Jennifer Reed, who moved to Beechworth about five years ago, saw and admired Coombe's pictures.
"I thought they would make a great book," Reed said.
"He actually documents life on the street really well with his photos, he's been doing it for a long time.
"It promotes tourism, it documents social change, all sorts of things his photos do."
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The pair sat down in coffee shops to work together, with Reed starting by asking to see Coombe's most beloved shots.
"We looked at them and I said 'Oh, we need all the seasons, not just autumn'," Reed said with a smile.
But as well as landscapes throughout the year, the book reveals contemporary and historic life, stories of Beechworth luminaries and popular regional attractions like wine and cycling.
To avoid cluttering images with print, a detailed index at the back explains the context of each picture, some of which have been supplied from museum collections.
One spread shows a Charles Bayliss photo of Ford Street circa 1870 and Coombe's recreation of the shot from the same position about 130 years later.
Other pictures pay tribute to the town's Chinese cultural heritage and people such as police officer and explorer Robert O'Hara Burke, Beechworth's Grand Old Man James Ingram and medical scientist Dame Annie Jean Macnamara.
Digital designer Jeremy Hayne helped compile the book, which can be ordered at coordinatespublishing.com.au.
Coombe is grateful for the positive public response.
"I think the Beechworth faithful have certainly wrapped their arms around it," he said.
Nearly 71, Coombe arrived in the town in the early 1970s.
"Had a kick of the footy, swung a cricket bat around for Stanley, been sort of thrown into the fabric of the town, it's been fantastic," he said.
"I try to shoot pretty straight ... if you get the light right, you're pretty cool."