Who Needs a Sunrise
by Richard Keshen
A couple of weeks back I was invited to join a group of photographers for an exclusive sunrise photography session from the top of Toronto’s CN Tower. We were asked to meet at the foot of the tower at 6am to take the elevator up to the observation deck. The sun was expected to make it’s appearance at around 7am that morning. For me this meant getting up at 4:30am, even though the CN Tower is a 20 minute walk from my home. Waking up this early was a feat in itself as I love my sleep. Two coffees and a hit of ginseng later I was ready to join my fellow photographers for what we hoped would be a spectacular event.
For those that aren’t familiar with the CN Tower it was once the tallest free standing structure in the world. It held that title for 34 years until the Burj Khalifa in Dubai was completed in 2010 and is 250 metres taller than the CN Tower. Today the CN Tower is a must see for tourists and a great place to get a 360 degree view of the city from 447 metres up. Ask any Torontonian if they’ve been to the top of the tower and they won’t remember the last time they were up there. Ask any tourist and this is one of the sites that’s top of their list to visit.
So on that day a couple of weeks back I, along with 50 other photographers, became tourists in our city in order to witness and photograph the sun rising from the highest point in town. All seemed to be going well as everyone had their gear ready for what we hoped would be an impressive show. There was only one problem. It was an overcast morning and there was no way that the sun was going to make an appearance. So...to make the best of it the street photographer in me kicked in. I composed a series of shots of the other photographers in the group setting up for the sunrise that never was. Maybe next year when this group gets together to once again capture photos of the sunrise the sun will actually make an appearance. Either that or I’ll be back to capturing photographers as they attempt to photograph that elusive sunrise. After all, who needs a sunrise to make good photos.
