Tamworth Spring Sunsets
01/10/25
The start of October had me heading down to Tamworth to run one final animation workshop before starting my new position at Scott Group (both of these will definitely need their own blog posts down the road). To make life a little easier, I decided to travel down a day early and spend the night with my sister and my nephews and niece, so I’d be fresh in the morning. Travelling down, running a workshop, and then heading home all in a single day is more tiring than you might think, then again, maybe working with children is exactly as tiring as you’d expect…
The area of Tamworth my sister lives in has been under heavy development for the past year, with a new shopping complex being built. It saddens me a bit, the spot used to be all rolling hills full of kangaroos, but I guess that’s the march of change, as they say. It was sunset, the conditions were perfect, and I couldn’t resist heading out to see how the development was progressing.
I don’t think anyone would be surprised to hear that my niece Summer loves being in front of the camera. She’s certainly easy to photograph, though I prefer catching her when she doesn’t know, the moment she spots the lens, she puts on the most awkward, forced smile imaginable.
Archie, the oldest of the three, is much more relaxed around the camera. His photos always end up looking so natural and effortless, that is, if you can pry him away from his Nintendo Switch long enough to take one.
Jax is a funny one. He can be incredibly dynamic when it comes to photos and usually loves showing off for the camera, but just like Summer, my best shots of him are almost always when he doesn’t know I’m looking. He was quite moody on this particular afternoon, mostly because he’d been told he had to wear his helmet. Apparently, it made him “very uncool.”
We ended up walking for maybe an hour, doing a bit of a loop. It wasn’t the most exciting adventure in the world, and I didn’t get that many great photos, but I did manage to grab a few nice ones along the way. I always try to make the most of the sunsets when I visit, because their home absolutely basks in golden light every afternoon. My own place is surrounded by hills, which block most of that warm glow, so between the light and the family, it always feels like a crime not to force everyone out for a stroll.
And then there is this photo…
The final photo from the day ended up being my favourite, perfectly imperfect. The sun had gone down, blue hour had settled in, the streetlights were on, and Summer was tired and cranky. I didn’t expect much when I took it, but when I got around to editing, I fell in love with it. Between the blue hues and the way Summer’s head sits perfectly between the three glowing streetlights as she wistfully looks off-frame, yeah, I love this one. It’s absolutely going in the portfolio. Never an expectation on a trip like this, but always a welcome surprise.
