The first and last hour of the day, when the sun hangs low and washes the landscape with soft glowing light, is known as The Golden Hour. Artists and photographers wait for this moment, to capture an image full of long cool shadows, and warm diffused light. When the sky is full of colors from the sunrise or the sunset, then you have a full chromatic range of hues. Reflect all of that across water and you have… Magic.
Here in the islands, in the hour before sunset people quietly come out and find a spot to watch the sun go down. Everyone is very peaceful, and you see people holding hands or sitting with arms around each other. It is as if everyone is holding their breath, waiting to see what magic will spread across the sea and up into the sky tonight. It is like a whole congregation of people silently walking in to a church to meditate on one perfect rose.
As the sun drops lower the golden light begins to sparkle across the tops of the waves, and it reflects off the wet rocks at water's edge. Even the children know it is The Golden Hour, and they quietly look for shells and rocks while the adults gaze out across the water. The waves dance upon the shore as they have every night – for millions and billions of sunsets – but somehow you know this one's just for you.
The sun drops below the horizon, and the water quickly turns an inky-purple. In the twilight you might see a sea turtle in the shallow water, or in the winter perhaps the silhouette of a whale breaching the surface. Several years ago, standing in this same spot where I took this photo tonight, there were 2 mother whales and 2 babies just off the shore…the babies playing and jumping out of the water over and over again. Pure Magic.
How do we capture those perfectly magical moments and bring it back into our lives, to inspire us in our creative endeavors, and to comfort us when things seem dark? We do it with colors, with images, and stitch it into a pattern that somehow whispers to us of the Magic Hour. When we have our quiet moments, we can listen to the rhythm of the waves in our hearts, as we look for that inner sparkle of reflected Golden Light.
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