Insomnia, Sunrise & Photography
I woke up early this morning. Apparently, the current phase of the moon has decided to interfere with my sleep. If that's not a solid foundation for a spectacular midlife crisis, I don't know what is.
But since I was already awake, I figured I might as well do something useful. The problem was that I had absolutely no idea where to go to take photographs.
So, at least initially, the camera stayed at home and the dog got a proper walk instead. I had made up my mind that I wasn't going out to photograph anything. Photography should be something you enjoy, not something you force yourself to do.
But apparently, my good intentions lasted about five kilometres.
By the time I had finished walking the dog, the sun still hadn't risen. The downside of a bad night's sleep suddenly became the perfect excuse to grab the camera and head out to capture the morning.
With sunrise approaching, I didn't have time to go far, so I drove to Alsterdalen, not far from home. Once I arrived, I found a scene I liked and decided to stay right there and wait for the sun to come up.
One of the mistakes we often make as photographers is simply not staying in one place long enough. We keep moving, looking for the next composition, and in doing so we sometimes miss the moment when everything finally comes together.
Light is, after all, the most important ingredient in a beautiful image.
Luckily, my daily exercise quota had already been taken care of during the dog walk, so I could simply stand there, and enjoy the moment.
The photograph itself turned out to be nothing extraordinary. But the moment was. And sometimes that's more than enough to make for a pretty good start to the day.
So perhaps there really are some advantages to getting older.
You sleep less, wake up ridiculously early for no apparent reason, and suddenly find yourself standing in a field waiting for sunrise with a camera in your hands.
And honestly, I don't mind one bit.
If this is what an ageing crisis looks like, bring it on. I've always believed that the different phases of life, including the inevitable crises that come with them, have a way of adding something to the story.
Besides, apparently one of the perks of becoming an older man is that you eventually stop sleeping properly.
And that's excellent news for a landscape photographer.