Log colorbar

I have image data 2d array with values that spans several decades. It
would be extremely useful for me to be able to plot this data with
imshow using a colorbar/color scale that is logarithmic. In the past I
have just taken the log of the data, but that solution is not really
acceptable for me. Any suggestions would be welcome. Perhaps someone
could give me a idea on how to modify matplotlib to have this
functionality. Thanks.

R Kuehn