Do you go back?

[Contarama]

Not a planned return but many times I realize I could get something nicer if I did. Then I get all Walter Mitty and decide sometimes it is just better to live in the moment.

 

[B-9]

Since I moved into my house 8 years ago, I frequent downtown, I have photographed the same scenes in all light... these days town has been both new and scarce. None of my original locations exist.

So...

No I do not go back.

 

[farlymac]

There's an old dairy barn I've photographed through the different seasons, and a house that I used as a test subject whenever I got another P&S camera down at Goodwill. That way I could compare their results to see if I got a good, or crappy camera.

But generally I don't, unless I just happen to be in the area again for some other reason. There are a few places that I'd like a do over on though, so I keep them in the back of my mind for a later visit.

But thinking a little bit harder now I can see where certain events like the Higlander Games, Civil War reenactments, or car shows can be included in the revisited category. So I do, but generally not.

PF

 

[lynnb]

It took me a long time, many sittings but I finally did it.

I actually made a few photographs that my wife likes!

Yippie.

My experience, too! My wife is now far more relaxed in front of my camera. She appreciates the nice photographs we can now make. A bonus is she feels better about herself as a result. I get nice photographs. Win-win.

 

[lynnb]

Most of my work is ongoing projects where I go back all the time, to see new things and in different seasons and light. In the case of street photography, to get new images of favourite subjects eg. "love" or "street dogs".

 

[back alley]

i've been photographing the same places for years and years...same with certain things, i have been trying to do something great with tall grass and have not one shot i like.

 

[shimokita]

i have been trying to do something great with tall grass and have not one shot i like.

I would bet that we all have 'something' (location / subject / theme) that no matter what we do or how many times we do it, it's not quite right, now quite what we want. I have always put it off as a timing issue, that the 'something' isn't ready to give it up, or more likely the connection with the 'something' has not gone full cycle. Stick with it ; )

 

[bulevardi]

I feel your pain, I'm in the exact same situation as you are right now.
I've shot a roll on different locations within blue hour (just after I leave the office at 8PM), now it turns out they are underexposed. I guess the light meter needs to be tweaked and I'll have to make longer exposures to get the job done the right way.

However, winter is coming, it's getting darker earlier, but I can't leave earlier at work. So it will be too dark already for blue hour, ... 🙁
Will redo them though, in the next coming weeks... even if it's black instead of blue.
🙁 I take every opportunity there is to shoot them.

 

[Out to Lunch]

I often go back since nothing ever stays the same.

 

[bulevardi]

A couple were good, a couple were mediocre, one was a disaster that I immediately tore to bits and deleted from the hard drive

Was it underexposed? Was the picture this black you could say: "once you go black, you gotto go back" ?
I should go back to shoot them again. And aim for a better result, get a look at the shots you have now and critisize first what can be done better... compositionwise etc... time of day,... Be prepared before you go back.

 

[Dogman]

I'm just wondering if you went back for the dog?

Damn! I knew I had forgotten something!

Only kidding...yes, I went back for the dog.

Although I originally said I seldom go back to reshoot a subject or scene, it's not quite factual. I had some health problems a while back that prevented me from doing a whole lot of anything for almost two years. About all I could handle was walking in my neighborhood for short periods. During this time I certainly returned to the same subjects and scenes multiple times because I was forced into it. But one of the areas I photographed so much is a strip mall just up the street from my house. The location has a long local history. Originally there was a neighborhood movie theatre, later a supermarket and then the large building was divided into smaller shops and a local post office branch. Unfortunately a few years ago the oldest section burned to the ground and was rebuilt with a more modern look although some of the older parts remain. I still go back there. Shop windows change, businesses close or new ones open, people shop or jog and walk through the parking lot. I have many pictures from there that depended on frequent returns and dumb luck.

 

[Dogman]

Was it underexposed? Was the picture this black you could say: "once you go black, you gotto go back" ?
I should go back to shoot them again. And aim for a better result, get a look at the shots you have now and critisize first what can be done better... compositionwise etc... time of day,... Be prepared before you go back.

Nope, none of the above. I envisioned it as a B&W photograph but the main subject simply had no separation from the background. As a color photograph, it was weak. As a B&W photograph, it was awful. It happens sometimes. You don't dwell on the failures, you just look for the next success.

 

[willie_901]

I only go back for interiors.

The light changes as the day progresses and it is different each season.

I do have some candids of strangers made in the same locations or at the same annual event.

Otherwise, I rarely go back.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I do return to same places, events and objects in my town. I walk with dog around neighborhood and taking pictures. Over and over and over again. It is day and very next day sometimes.

It is not uncommon and in different cities, countries then person takes pictures for years while on same route (home-work-home) and after decades later they becoming recognized for pictures they were taking on this and same route.

If first impression is the most and return is questionable, do you always drink different booze, never watch same movie and having sex with same person again? 😀

 

[PaulDalex]

I speak of clips but it is similar
Yes, obsessively hoping to improve. Either because of my errors, or because I want a better light, sometimes because I got a better camera or lens.

 

[ptpdprinter]

If first impression is the most and return is questionable, do you always drink different booze, never watch same movie and having sex with same person again? 😀

Sounds like you are advocating getting stuck in a rut.

 

[ptpdprinter]

If first impression is the most and return is questionable, do you always drink different booze, never watch same movie and having sex with same person again?

Some, but not all, things bear repeating.

 

[Bob Michaels]

I think serious responses are almost totally a result of differing photo styles. I work on cohesive photo series about a particular topic and frequently based in a narrow geographic location. Others move about hoping to spontaneously find a random individual image.

I have spent one day almost every weekend for six months photographing on the Daytona Beach Boardwalk. The theme was the six differing social groups (low budget winter visitors / residents, NASCAR Speed Weeks crowd, Bike Weeks crowd, Spring Breakers, Black College Reunion crowd, and summer beach goers). So I was returning to the same place geographically but the people changed.

I photographed almost every Sunday for a year in basically 3 churches close to each other. That theme was religion in a historic Negro community. The Cuban Ministry of Culture is sponsoring an exhibit in Holguin of 19 of those photos later this month.

So my style is essentially based on returning over and over to the same places.

 

[webOSUser]

I've gone back to the same location. Sometimes it is for different light or a change in camera or film. Sometimes it is because the pictures need to be retaken.

Steve W

 

[Big Ursus]

Yes, I've always done re-shoots.

My first shots of anything are like sketches, where I'm looking at a subject, and trying to find out what's there. These days, I'll cull those first shots, and print what might be interesting at a foto kiosk at a local drug store. Then, I'll do a crit of the prints, try to understand what's missing; then, I'll go back, and do it all over again.

Like the man said, " Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”