It’s been a long time since I did a proper inspiration post, and this week I thought it would be a good thing to do otherwise all you’ll hear about will be editing or studying. Again!
Back when I started these, I had intended to use this picture taken looking over the Irish sea. I didn’t at the time because I wanted to give it more attention, but actually that just means it has never been used, and I really wanted to share it.
So here it is. With super-giant watermark, where I’ve been playing with Photoshop, sorry!
I love this picture. A better photographer could have made more of it I’m sure, but to me it’s absolutely magical. The hidden sun gives it a mysterious element and the lighter patch of sky makes me think of a pantheon of gods and goddesses looking down.
This, in other words, is a landscape that could launch a thousand legends.
I didn’t write a poem, or do a freewrite for this: the location is tied to so much history (my reason for being there!) I knew I’d end up with something based on Druids, the Mabinogion or Arthurian legends so I simply thought about how this scene could tie into stories I’ve heard.
For example – there is a long-held idea that King Arthur was a Welsh king – and can’t you imagine the shining lights underneath the water being a sign of the Lady of the Lake, reaching out to the hero of ages? Or perhaps those shimmering clouds are the Celtic gods looking down at the place their followers were destroyed. Or can you imagine being in a ship setting sail for the unknown, unseen land on the other side of the horizon?
Perhaps this image brings something to mind for you. Think of it as a dreamscape, where anything is possible – and let your imagination run free.
Happy writing
EJ
🙂
Becoming a writer 
This scene is absolutely, EJ. It inspires all manner of hidden history and legends. You could write an entire story based on this picture 😀
Thanks Dianne – that’s why I was so keen to share it in one of these posts: whenever I see it I can feel the writerly cogs turning in my brain. It was such a dramatic place; this light was very fleeting but fitted to mood of the place completely.
🙂
Beautiful picture, very serene and yet there is so much mystery going on beneath the waters and behind the clouds! Thanks for the share!
Thanks Lee – I just wish I was a more competent photographer to do justice to the beauty of the place. Not long after this was taken the fog rolled down the mountain and the whole scene was hidden from view, which changed the feel of the place completely.
Oooooh, did you snap the foggy scene?
Sadly not – we have a few photos of the mountain top disappearing but none showing how much the scene changed. Some of the later pics probably are fog-affected, but they just look like it was any old grey and miserable day!