Why you need to wake up early to go sightseeing

I’m not a morning person but there’s a battle certain times of the year whenever I’m meaning to go out and shoot. Perhaps I just miss taking photos or I’m thinking of all the missed opportunities every day, year-round. Doesn’t matter if you can’t make it to a landmark, like monument circle, or there’s nothing interesting happening in town. Because daily, twice daily actually, the sun may or may not decide to blow a little magic dust your way (if only for a few minutes). I’m referring to nature’s photoshop—golden hour.

While in Indianapolis, technically on a very quick work trip, the Soldiers & Sailors Monument on Monument Circle immediately became my must-see on my off time. Only problem, work would be taking most of my day and evenings, so my options were night and dawn. Cue the violin.

missing the first morning

I immediately missed night one since I was all tuckered out from work and travel.  Day two had an 8am start time, ouch, so I took all the sleep I could get. That morning, I took a random photo from the hotel window just outside the showroom I’d be in that day. The picture’s not much, a small stadium across the street and smoke coming from a manufacturing plant. The black smoke stacks looked old-timey to me and I would’ve enjoyed taking early morning pictures of that thing in action. This tame photo exists because I had a sudden urge to take a picture of something in Indianapolis.  Whether reminder or punishment, I needed to document the regret of not sucking it up and waking early.

Another morning come and gone, another missed opportunity.

night time sightseeing

Night two rolls arounds, and work wrapped up just after 8pm. Monument Circle was nearby so I grabbed my phone and battery pack. I’ll save the night shots for another post, but I was really impressed! Indianapolis knows how to honor the sacrifices veterans made. It was a beautiful sight, a show of strength and the faces on the statues actually displayed emotion.  

I’ll have to do a deep dive in another post. But the stories on these statues, lovers kissing as a young boy holding a rifle pulls the man away. older parents saying goodbye to their adult son. Soldiers on guard.  A man without shoes nor shirt, sitting on the ground, looking at Lady Liberty, a broken chain in hand. A father comforting his young daughter as they both look in the distance, concerned. A major contrast to the traditional stoicism of statues. And these stories are from just one side of the monument.

I needed to see this at dawn.

taking an early morning walk (for the pictures)

Of course, I wake up later than wanted but dawn hadn’t broken yet. I still had a chance but would need to outrun the sun. It was fall, sunrise was popping up at 7:30am and it was a 15-minute walk. Still grey out, maybe a light blue as I made my way. Minutes later, I can see that orange glow behind the city buildings in the far distance, I figured I had 10 minutes, and I was close. The State capitol is two blocks from the monument. Sky was still blue but lightening, a faint yellow begins to trickle into the sky.

As a sucker for architecture, and a maker of poor choices, I took a few minutes at the State Capitol. I still look at those hurried shots today and although I’m glad to have them, I wish I had more time.

I picked up the pace, it was getting too light out as I circled the enormous building to get to the road that leads to Monument Circle. I realized I was never going get there before sunrise. You have maybe 15-20 minutes for peak golden hour, and I was already late.

So I began chasing the sun.

golden hour begins

I needed 10 minutes of that golden light hitting the monument. On the last block before reaching it, I’m seeing the sun and I’m taking pictures thinking, might as well. I knew which side to prioritize once I arrived. The fountain side with a flurry of imagery described earlier. The sunlight starting peeking up behind it. I got shots of the surrounding buildings, which I didn’t notice as much last night.

It was slightly overwhelming since I only had a few minutes of peak golden hour. I arrived just before 7:40am and needed to be back in the hotel showroom at 9am. There was a small gothic church with a mint roof. It came to a point with a small cross instead of the traditional long steeple. The next building also had a mint roof with triangular windows. The rest of the building windows were in grids and stood out in the backdrop as I closed in some of the statues.  The mint also seemed to be a theme around town, along the way I had spotted some mint fire hydrants. I’ll have to get the story on that later.

There was also lots of fencing and wooden boards at the base of the monuments. Plenty of service workers also. I was kind of turned off by all the construction, just my luck to show up at that time. There were still cars moving through this actual road, did I mention the monument doubles as a roundabout?

different in the light of day

Monument circle is a fun area with plenty of shops on the first floor of the buildings, and there was even outdoor seating which was busy last night. Above the shops, there were corporate offices in the tall buildings. One caught my eye as it had tiered roofing on the top levels. It made be think of Tetris as if the cylinder blocks were dropped into place. The next building shorter than rest but had a wide curve, giving into Monument Circle.

Golden sunlight shined on the face of the monument. That morning was an absolute joy to shoot. Despite my trying, words cannot compete with sight.

Everything the sun touched needed to be documented. Lady Victory at the tip of the monument, forever flying the sky. Even the base of a lamppost featuring a bison head. Yes, I took several seconds admiring it. I’m sure it looked a little silly, no regrets.

back to reality again

I caught the sun rising, as if only down the road and flowers fawning over the glowing morning light. It was soft yellow with a tinge of orange, it was bright, and after maybe 10 minutes the spell was broken.

The golden veil lifted; the world was far less impressive. I continued with more shots because I wasn’t over it just yet. It was my last day there and wouldn’t be coming back soon. Church bells rang, it was top of the hour, guess that was my cue. I finished what ended up being my favorite session.