We went down to the beach late one day, and found the sun was punching tiny holes in the rumbling cotton clouds. The effect was dazzling with infinite golden shafts, rays of sunlight, fanning out across the rolling waves. It seemed that the light once through was trapped to bounce forever between ocean and cloud, leaving us a shimmering mirror of lights beauty, reflecting endlessly back to itself. An infinite reflection on the silver sea.
Looking away towards our right the light was softer, muffled and absorbed by the gentlest looking storm clouds. They were gathering with barely a whisper of wind, and with such infinite patience that we hardly noticed. Everything seemed so still, even the waves were sleepy, slowly licking the soft sand with just a sigh. The light was butter soft, and the horizon rolled away into the timeless distance. It was as though infinity had filled the space and slowed down time to a gentle trickle. An infinite moment of perfect beauty at the edge of the endless sea.
Then, before our eyes, as the sun continued his daily fall towards the horizon, the clouds thickened enough to change. The sky was divided between left and right, and in that liminal space where the two edges meet, beauty fell from the sky. Dark clouds created soft rain over the sea, shrouding the horizon in mysterious infinity, hiding the edges of the earth. In a moment of utter brilliance the sunlight was fractured into all its parts, and a rainbow tumbled out over the waves. It’s magical beauty was reflected from the still water of the sea, which held her breath in wonder. The infinite hope of life was bringing beauty and change into our world, and it was all happening right before our eyes. The sun and the sea had woven their endless, timeless spell of healing, and in the unweaving of the light, beauty had fallen into the world.
There are endless more posts about infinity at this weeks wordpress photo challenge.
clicking on any photo will bring it up full size and in full resoloution on your screen……. enjoy 🙂
breathofgreenair 
Beautiful photos. Scotland seems to be the land of rainbows. Our Edinburgh apartment looks out over to Fife and we so often get full-bow rainbows, and double ones too – glorious! 🙂
I’ve been perusing your blog. Your photographs are spectacular. I’ve truly enjoyed myself. Thanks. 🙂
That’s wonderful to hear Elizabeth, I’m delighted to hear that you enjoyed your peruse 🙂
The brillance on the first photo is really amazing..
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Reblogged this on Maxima.
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I adore your butter-soft light 🙂 Such a treat for us!
Thanks Paula it really was so achingly beautiful, changing by the moment into yet more beauty….nature at her best 🙂
Really beautiful 🙂
Thanks 🙂
love the first one with ice cream coloured sunshine….saturday was quite lovely and a lovely October surprise
It was gorgeous wasn’t it….I live the idea of ice cream coloured sunshine 🙂 yummy!
cool rays in the first picture 🙂
Thanks Joshi, I love it when I catch the sun doing rays through clouds. It’s as though we’re being shown something special with a golden spotlight 🙂
The post I referred to above is duly posted. The pictures don’t convey it the way yours do, though.
Lovely photos and a great story:-)
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Glassy!!
I thought so too…all that reflected light bouncing around between water and clouds 🙂
Sorry, I didn’t see the rest of the pics too!! Nice captures!
This is so beautifully written. Seonaid, you really do paint pictures with words. (The pictures are gorgeous too!) 🙂
Painting with words, I like that. I just let my self get swept into the place and it’s energy. And they are places I love, perhaps that helps too. So lovely to hear you enjoy the results 🙂
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That little bit of rainbow showing up between water and cloud really lights up the entire picture, connecting heaven and planet in a magical way.
I loved that rainbow….it became a double a couple of minutes later….and seeing it reflected off the ocean was a real treat. It was changing moment to moment, so I snapped quite a few shots 🙂
Wow! Magical moments … captured in pixels and in words. Really, really nice Seonaid. Thanks for both. D
Thanks. David, it really did feel like a magical time. The air was so still and warm, and even before the storm gathered itself the light was so beautiful…..then came the rainbows 🙂 a photographers dream!
Endless beauty absolutely describes that first photo, Seonaid. So lovely! 🙂
Thanks Jo, I love the way that the same beach can look so different depending which way you’re facing. All that shimmering shifting light is so uplifting….now wonder the sea makes me smile 🙂
Seonaid you are truly gifted.
Gilly coming from you that means so much to me. One gifted soul to another 🙂
Blessings Seonaid.
“An infinite reflection on the silver sea” – you stole my heart there, but honestly, this entire post is so… totally amazing – thank you!
Wow, what a gorgeous comment. This beach steals my heart on nearly every visit, so I’m delighted to hear your heart was stolen too. The ocean…..she’ll do that every time 🙂
Bravo Seonaid! 🙂 Amaizing photos!
I was really playing around with my camera settings, taking lots of shots to see the effect. Some of them came out even more beautifully than I had hoped for. The sea is so ephemeral and sometimes it’s hard to really capture her moods and beauty. On this occasion she was very cooperative 🙂
Absolutely splendid.
Why thank you 🙂 Moments like this soothe my heart for months…..long after they have passed. That’s what I love about photography…..catching a drop of that fleeting beauty of light.
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Completely stunning. I was earlier remembering the ethereal quality of light one gets there, while preparing a post on a place with a differently striking quality, but one which arouses the same feelings of awe.
Thanks Colin, ethereal is a great word for this space where the light bounces around so beautifully.
All are magnificent, especially that rainbow…like a hope that is always present – visible or not 🙂
Thanks Ese, I was star struck and breathless when the rainbow appeared on what had already been a wonderful day. Even a storm brings its own dazzling beauty, and the hope of a new day 🙂
Ahh, Seonaid, more beautiful words – such perfect pairings you post between picture and prose. 😉
Lynne it’s always such a delight to read your lovely comments. It’s great to hear that you like the combinations woven with words and images 🙂
“Beauty fell from the sky…” Oh Seonaid, what a wonderful line…very fine photos too! interesting isn’t it, how many nuances there are to the quality of life? one part of the sky vs another, or one moment to the next
Indeed Penny, infinite nuances if only we have the time to notice and reflect. I’m so glad you like that line….it was bouncing around all day begging to be released into a post 🙂
Well, I’m glad you found that great line a home! Sometimes we have a great line (or even whole vignette) and we’re dying to use it, so we stuff it into a story, but we know deep-down it doesn’t fit. So tempting to leave it, but it’s no good. This time, it was totally right. Hurray.
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Breathtaking – especially the last one.
Thanks Colline, rainbows are just so magical when they appear. A little moment of fleeting beauty and joy 🙂
Beautiful shots and there is nothing more alluring and hopeful in nature than a rainbow. The sun will come up tomorrow …
So true Judy, the promise of a new day, a new beginning. The visible beauty of the combination of water and light…..and a photographers dream 🙂
Beautiful pictures Seonaid, and a very restful description. There is always a warmth to your photography and your words echo my own thoughts on the healing powers of the landscape.
Restful us a great way of describing the day. Thanks for the lovely feedback, warmth seems to be a word people keep using to describe my photos, and I live that. Perhaps it’s my love of the subject shining through. I can only agree that landscapes can have the power to heal 🙂
Seonaid you have captured in words and pictures the miracles of natural beauty and light that we all are constantly surrounded by. I have printed out the last picture as a reminder to a class I am teaching today – Decrease Anxiety, Indulge Inner Peace – that the natural world is a companion to visit and be aware of often to instill peace, calm, awe and wonder. Thank you!!
The miracle of natural beauty and light is a wonderful way of putting it Gaye. How wonderful to think of my photo being used in a class all the way across the ocean. That’s another miracle right there, sharing and touching the lives of others. I hope your class went well 🙂
I love the way you caught the wave in the first photo and that rainbow is, of course, amazing. All lovely photos and your words are as well.
janet
Thanks Janet, it was a gift of a day, and the rainbow was incredible the way it appeared. It lingers long in my memory.
Wonderful wonderful watery light
Indeed, water and light always make such a good combination. Loved your coastal photos too.
all your photography is so beautiful, but the second picture with what looks like distant rainfall is poetry in itself 🙂
Thank you, and yes it is distant rainfall. It never reached the beach, but it split the sunlight into that beautiful rainbow. I love the feeling of peace in that second photo….it was as though time had slowed down…a peak experiece I think 🙂
What a wonderful experience. Nicely captured, too.
It was a very memorable afternoon, and I love the photos I caught…..that light was delicious 🙂
Gosh how incredibly beautiful. I’m not sure which I am more swayed by- your wonderful photos or the words you have used to describe your experience. Either way – you have captured that experience of intimations of the infinite beautifully.
it was an incredible late afternoon, and I felt as though I had been transported beyond the normal world….the way the light was being reflected and bounced around the estuary was very otherworldly…and then came the rainbow 🙂 So glad you enjoyed the combination of words and photos.
The last shot is not from this world, love it 🙂
Thank you, I almost couldn’t believe it when this rainbow appeared. the light was so gorgeous anyway and I had caught some lovely shots I was really pleased with….and then this. Like an over sized cherry on an already delicious cake! A couple of minutes later it became a double rainbow…..a gift from nature which left me grinning ear to ear!