Re-visiting locations for perfect shot?

ToddB · Sep 22, 2014

Hey guys,

I was wondering if I'm beating a dead horse.. Have you guys re-visited locations to photograph to try to get the perfect shot? Those crazy dramatic clouds are doing their thing today, I have the urge to visit that cemetery again armed with a roll of Delta 100 120 and my Rollei.

Todd

Rick A · Sep 22, 2014

Why ask us when you obviously should be shooting.

BrianShaw · Sep 22, 2014

Yes, many times.

Barry S · Sep 22, 2014

Absolutely--the light and weather make or break a location.

Vaughn · Sep 22, 2014

I have been going to the same stretch of Prairie Creek for over 35 years. Still looking for perfection (but not too hard -- I'm not going to let that get in the way of a great image!)

I found these trees (actually three redwoods snags) back in the early 1980's, then "lost" them for a decade or so when the trail was moved away from the creek. Then I found them one day while carrying an 11x14 up the creek...made a nice image with the 11x14, but returned again with my boys and the 8x10...

Two versions -- carbon print and a platinum/palladium print (using different negatives for each process). The neg for carbon printing (on the left) was 60 seconds exposure time, the negative for Pt/pd was a 30 sec exposure time.

Can't say I am done with those snags yet...

PS -- When I am out and about, I tend to look for light to capture on film, rather than a particular place -- so I tend to just walk about looking at the light, rather than looking for a specific object/place to photograph.

snapguy · Sep 22, 2014

do it again

I worked in a small town on the Pacific coast where they grew 3,000 acres of flowers for seed. It was a riot of color. But it was foggy a lot of the time and, also, you had to wait for this or that field to be ready. So I spent most of a year going back and checking out the various fields. I even bought a huge cast-iron-bodied wide angle camera that shot 120 film -- 2 1/4 inches by seven inches. The thing got a 90-degree wide angle view without distortion. It was worth the effort.

ToddB · Sep 22, 2014

Thanks guys, There is a huge thunder head cloud making it way into town near that cemetery, should be perfect by the time get out of work.

Todd

Poisson Du Jour · Sep 22, 2014

Absolutely yes. Whether it be for having been thwarted by unsatisfactory weather, wandering people, bad light or some other circumstance, or even returning to a place to test out a new lens or film, no harm in doing so. But after a long period of time going back to that one place you will get bored of it and need to expand horizons. Going back with a purpose or a plan is the best approach. Much of my experimental work and equipment testing has taken place in just two pockets of a rainforest in conditions many people would shy away from. It teaches you a lot about the management and measurement of light, its quality and nuances. And the environment, enriched with leeches in winter and snakes in summer, educates as to the dangers of the Australian bush. Probably my first visit was back in the mid-1980s. I really could not hazard a guess how many times I have returned. And I must be due for another trip yonder soon...

gzinsel · Sep 22, 2014

I THINK MOST PEOPE REVISIT. How many times? i do not know??? but, I can safely assume "that awesome" photograph you just looked at , was probably a re-shoot.

rince · Sep 22, 2014

I have places I revisit for years now to get that shot right. Will I ever get what I want? Probably not. Does it get old to revisit the same location? No, not to me. Even though I am not always taking an image back home, I start taking a learning experience back home. I started keeping tighter records of what I shoot and how I shot it and it helps me immensely to understand what to do better the next time or why I like certain renditions better than others ...

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jp80874 · Sep 22, 2014

The advantage of a local place is that you can go back, correct your mistakes, add images to a series, see the subject in a new way. It gets pretty expensive in time and $s to do that half way across the country.

John Powers

ic-racer · Sep 22, 2014

ToddB said:
Hey guys,

I was wondering if I'm beating a dead horse.. Have you guys re-visited locations to photograph to try to get the perfect shot? Those crazy dramatic clouds are doing their thing today, I have the urge to visit that cemetery again armed with a roll of Delta 100 120 and my Rollei.

Todd

I agree with John.
Maybe not by design, but after now living in same place for 14 years, I do wind up going back to the same places over and over again. The good thing is that there is constant change; there is always something new.

Trail Images · Sep 22, 2014

Yes, I like the challenge of trying to improve upon certain scenes.
Additionally, a varied angle, lighting, and weather can provide a totally new look. It gives me recall to a scene I shot years ago with two friends who were also using LF gear. Standing side by side and using ones own lens of choice the images were not even close to looking alike in the end.
So, although it maybe a repeat visit it does not always mean a repeat shot.

bdial · Sep 22, 2014

I have a couple of places I re-visit regularly that are close by. And a couple of more that aren't close but I go if I get the chance.
The worst are the places that have changed completely in the in-between time to a point where the picture is no longer there.

winger · Sep 22, 2014

Definitely. There are some spots I've been back to more times than I can count. I'm still trying to get the "perfect" shot, which mostly will come down to getting there when the light is just right rather than just getting there when I can. And there are places where I go back with different formats because my first shots (which aren't bad) might be improved upon. And I go back (especially at Ohiopyle) because whether I get a great shot or not isn't the whole point - the place just grounds me (and boy do I need Ohiopyle right now).

tkamiya · Sep 22, 2014

I do that routinely.

Sometimes, I get to a location and look at something. I KNOW, there is a great image in the scene but I just can't seem to pull it off. I keep going back. Just recently, I happened at such a location for n'th time but this time, right after rain. I took a shot anyway. I think I like that version better than any other I've done before. It took care of the harsh concrete problem I didn't know how to correct. Yay.

removed account4 · Sep 22, 2014

i have photographed the same place for 10 years
and not been able to get the "perfect shot"
maybe i have but i didn't realize it ...

Jeff Kubach · Sep 22, 2014

I do it all the time myself.
Jeff

NedL · Sep 22, 2014

Vaughn said:
I have been going to the same stretch of Prairie Creek for over 35 years. ...

Hi Vaughn, I know you have. You'd be surprised how often I think of you going to the same stretch of creek, I find that very inspirational. When I walk through a park that I've walked through 300 times before, I know there are still new things to find and new ways to see.

OP: I have a notebook with a list of places I can get to in 10 minutes or less, and next to each it lists what part of the sky is visible from that location. All have views w/o power lines... When there is an amazing sky ( not often ) I can grab my notebook and quickly decide which one to go to!

ME Super · Sep 22, 2014

Absolutely! I've got a couple places within a 10-15 minute walk of my you're that I've revisited a couple times. One spot in particular, if you shot from the right angle, the trees look like giant Tootsie Pops. I've visited this spot with the camera in different seasons, different cameras, different film, you name it, and every picture is different. Recently I visited this spot with a roll of Rollei IR400S, a red #25 filter, a blue #80A filter, and a 720nm (#89A?) filter and just tried out a few different filter combinations to see what the picture would look line with the different filters (and combinations in one case) to decide which filter and EI setting I liked best on a bright sunny day with a few clouds in the sky. The amount of wood effect with the #25 and #80A filters was surprising!

I know Ansel Adams went back to the same locations over and over again. I saw a show of some of his prints at a museum last year and there were at least two pictures in the show that were taken within feet of each other but art different times. One of those two was "Clearing Winter Storm" taken in Yosemite Martial Park, I think. So yes, revisit local locations when possible. Every time it will be just a little bit different.

pbromaghin · Sep 23, 2014

Hell yes. After 10 years, I'm still trying to get the perfect shot of the view of the Rocky Mountains from my backyard. It just never happens.

TheFlyingCamera · Sep 23, 2014

Of course. I love the adventure of heading out the front door, camera in hand, to see what I'm going to discover today. There's always something new to see, and documenting the changes in the neighborhood is fascinating. Not that I don't love to travel with my camera - I do - but there's just as much fun at home as there is on the road, just different.

mooseontheloose · Sep 23, 2014

Of course -- I think by nature most photographers do. Or I like to think that most do -- you find an area that appeals to you photographically, and return there often. I've lived in some pretty obscure places here in Japan but often my favourite locations were within a 1-15 minute walk from where I lived. That being said, now that I'm in Kyoto, I have yet to find a place I like to return to -- partly because I haven't had much time to explore due to my new job, or perhaps there's just too much choice here. That being said, sometimes the images I like best of a certain place are the ones I took the first time I was there. These are not usually local places, but places I've had the opportunity to travel to more than once. I guess the first time I go I take it more seriously since I don't know when or if I'll ever return, and when I do get a chance to go back, it's not quite the same.

Vaughn · Sep 23, 2014

As I have slowly moved up in format over the past 35 years (120 film, 4x5, 5x7, 8x10, 4x10 and 11x14), it has been fun and worthwhile to re-explore some images with the larger format. Of course some of those areas I got to as a younger man with a 2 pound 4x5 are difficult to get to at 60 yrs of age with an 11x14...

Mainecoonmaniac · Sep 23, 2014

For me, if I visit a place too much, I do I'll fall into the same seeing habits. I prefer to visit new locations to get a fresh view. If you want to shoot a the location all the time, try to see the perfection in that moment instead. Possibly, seeing deeper and noticing things you've missed before.

Re-visiting locations for perfect shot?

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