That Blue

At the weekend, we went to the beach.  It's the first time in weeks due to lockdown and we purposefully chose out of the way beaches to visit.  It was a beautiful hot day and the colour of the sea was divine.  I couldn't get enough of it.  I took so many pictures, trying to capture the colours.

It's been noted by many that the colour of the sea has been exceptional this year and it's so very clear.  It actually has nothing to do with human activity (or lack of), it's all about the weather.  The period of high pressure has had a noticeable affect, allowing everything in the sea to settle.

Cornwall also has shallow waters that gain that lovely turquoise colour and there is a lack of sediment to cloud the water.  The sand is heavy and remains at the bottom.  We also don't have huge rivers bringing masses of fine particles in to the sea.  

When the conditions like this, there is something about the blue that is just perfect.  It's not just the colour, but the quality of the light and that is much harder to capture.

I remember a few years back, my husband and I went to Malta and a visit to the Blue Grotto, also known as Il-Hnejja was at the top of my list of places to visit.  As a teen I had been to Malta with my family but the day we visited the grotto, it was too rough for the boats to go out.  I was really upset.  I guess, notably so...  One of the gentleman at the cove remembered me after all those years.

I remember being stunned by the colour.  The light shines under the water in to the cave and it's like...  floating in blue light of the most amazing colour.  The photo's I have seen struggle to capture the quality of the light.  

There is another such cave on Capri which has a similar affect on the light but I have not been there, though it's on my to do list.

Although water is clear, it absorbs light that is in the red part of the spectrum.  The blue light is not absorbed so it is the light that reaches our eyes.  It is actually the water in our atmosphere that makes our sky look blue.  Blue light has a shorter wavelength than red light and this also means it is more likely to be scattered and this means it is more likely to bounce back and reach our eyes.  

There is a clip of Brian Cox on youtube from his BBC series, Wonders of the Solar System, where he goes up in a plane to see the thin blue of the atmosphere around our planet.  In fact, the whole episode, The Pale Blue Dot is great.  He also goes diving in incredibly clear water in a rift in Iceland and demonstrates how it gets bluer the deeper you go.

The colour of the sky does have a huge affect on the colour of the sea.  So often in winter the sea has a slate blue grey colour.  Sometimes its a green grey colour.  On darker days or in shadows, it can appear inky.  The way the ocean interacts with light is fascinating.  Endless patterns across it's surface.  I went on a cruise one time and spent a lot of time just photographing the surface of the water where it was disturbed by the ship.

I also love how the surface of the water looks from underneath, light glistening.

Honestly, I always loved that colour...  but after the weekend I really wanted to attempt to bring it in to my work and That Blue Bracelet was born.  It's a mix of blues, some edging beyond turquoise to green.  The beads also have a variety of finishes which helps give it a mixed response to light.

I have saved a few images on a pinterest board here.