When I'm on holiday abroad, it's not uncommon for me to wake up stupidly early in pursuit of a sunrise. Sometimes I'll get dressed, other times I'll just slip my flip flops on and leave the room quietly in my pyjamas, heading to a previously scouted-out spot in time to see the sun breaking the horizon. I've started the day on the top floor of hotels, on beachfront promenades and on dramatic clifftops, across Europe and beyond, all in pursuit of sunrise shots, safe in the knowledge that having supervised the start of the day, I can crawl straight back into my hotel bed and sleep off the rudely early awakening.
But I've never done it at home. There just isn't room in my daily life of working, eating, sleeping, swimming, blogging and all the rest of it for a 4.30am wake-up call. Until now, that is. It's 2020, coronavirus rumbles on, and I'm still furloughed from work. So I set my alarm for 4.30am, threw some clothes on and headed to Tonbridge Castle, just a couple of miles from my house, in time for the 4.44am sunrise.
I was excited to capture some beautiful photos of my hometown, but equally thrilled to be reunited with my tripod and camera, normally loyal and regular companions in my life as a journalist. They come with me to work at least once a week to capture the latest afternoon tea/light festival/ street art wall that London has to offer, my camera rarely leaving my desk in between shoots, and my tripod never quite being put away in its rightful spot behind my wardrobe. But since March, the tripod's been out of sight, gathering dust, and my camera's only been called on a couple of times, to take some indoor photos for this blog. So I brought the gang back together for a sunrise shoot.
I didn't pass a single other vehicle on the drive there, so was surprised to find a man and his dog already positioned at the top of the castle motte, ready for the action. Not deterred, I set up my tripod at a respectable distance from him, and waited for the show to begin. Though the sun wasn't yet visible on the horizon, the sky was already light, a gorgeous, soft bluey-purple, diagonally streaked with what I first thought were plane trails (remember them?) but later turned out to be clouds, right above the imposing shape of Tonbridge Castle gatehouse.
That looming gatehouse was intended to be the star of my shots, but as the sun rose and created a fiery orange and pink backdrop, St Peter and St Paul Church fitted better into that role. It silhouetted perfectly against the colourful sky, its weather vane and empty flag pole adding exquisite details to the frame. I snapped away until the sun was fully risen, before making my way back down the chicane path to the Castle Lawn, and home.
Having my camera back in my hands again triggered something in me, so after returning home and sleeping off the early start - the first time I've rolled into bed at 6am for... a while - I resolved to find some local sunset spots. Anyone who follows me on Instagram knows I'm a sucker for a good sunset, capturing them everywhere from London high rises to Caribbean beaches - but again, rarely in my hometown of Tonbridge.
So come 8.30pm I set off again, this time heading for Bidborough Ridge, a road overlooking a valley, with excellent views to the west. I arrived in plenty of time for sunset, but a combination of overgrown bushes and a hazy atmosphere made capturing the money shot unlikely, and sent me back towards Tonbridge Castle. I parked my car in the same space it had occupied 13 hours previously, climbed the same winding path, and arrived just in time to catch the sunset. I plonked my tripod down on the same spot, simply rotating it 180 degrees to capture the sun ending its day, rather than starting it.
There's something incredibly satisfying and wholesome about bookmarking my day by seeing sunrise in and sunset out from the same spot. It's not something I'll be making a habit of, as I still don't consider 4.30am to be a friend, but I would like to capture some more sunrises and sunsets in my local area while I've got the time to do so. Watch this space (and also this one) - I might even share some of those sunset shots in the next couple of days.
