Revisiting a place with same or different gear?

[Austerby]

I'm off to Stockholm for a weekend soon - it's a city I now know well having visited several times over the past ten years. It's a lovely, photogenic city and the wintery light can be exquisite. We won't be doing much different from previous visits - catching up with friends, eating herring, visiting the Christmas markets etc.

In the past I've generally taken a Leica M film camera (M7 or M5) and a couple of lenses (35mm and 75mm) and some fast film (Portra 800 / HP5+) and have some lovely shots.

I am thinking about what gear to take on this next trip - I'm very tempted to take the same again but at the same time could try something different - my Rolleiflex 3.5f, or my X100s, or my Fuji GA645i for example. These may help me produce different results from the previous visits - what I'm trying to avoid I suppose is not being able to tell whether a shot is from December visits in 2008, 2009. 2012 or 2014.

What's your approach to this - stick with what you know works or try something different?

 

[Coopersounds]

when I have revisited places I prefer to take a different camera, lens length and sometimes format.
But it depends, if you feel you missed something with what you have taken previously, then you know what to do.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I've revisited a number of places multiple times over a long period of years, a couple of places I have been photographing for 20 years. I've used a lot of different gear and don't always use the same stuff each time I go somewhere, but I don't deliberately choose different gear either. Just whatever I feel like using.

These are a few of the many photos I made of a group of trees in a field outside Fort Wayne over a period of 15 years. They have been since bulldozed away to make room for the expansion of Fort Wayne's garbage dump.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Chris, I'm a sucker for dramatic contrast... and that's why I really like the last one (although there's something ordinary and pleasant in the third).

I've been lucky to revisit places, and every time I've decided to do it with different gear. The reason is that my lenses and camera tend to condition what I see, and if I want different images, I must carry different gear.

But that's me. Tell us what you decide in the end! 😉

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Take it on Leica but b/w. I would take herring with Lanier Aquavit as well 🙂

 

[maddoc]

I really like this one with the well separated tones and structures in the foreground, excellent work !!

I want to revisit Seoul in next spring by using some DELTA miles and then bring a lens that I am more familiar with. This year I went and brought 28/2.8 and 35/1.4, neither focal length served me well because I was looking for details but not a broader over-view all the time. Next time I bring a 50mm with one M-body and hope for better results.

 

[CMur12]

I, too, like Chris's image that Gabor highlighted.

Austerby, like others, I find that a different camera activates a different perspective and approach, opening up new possibilities. If you shot with Leica RFs previously, I would vote for taking the Rolleiflex TLR this time. WLF viewing and square composition (or even cropped into rectangles) should give you a fresh perspective. (Of course, I'm very biased towards TLRs and composing with both eyes on the groundglass.😛)

- Murray

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Thanks for the compliments on my photos. I posted them to show how revisiting a place at different seasons, times of day, and different years as time passes, can give greatly different photos of the same place. I love going back to places I have been before and showing the passing of time.

 

[Richard G]

I like going to the same place with the same camera. I did take the TLR on holiday once and loved the results. The X100 comes with me always on work trips, sometimes the only camera. I can't imagine a holiday without one Leica and a 50.

 

[Austerby]

Thanks for the compliments on my photos. I posted them to show how revisiting a place at different seasons, times of day, and different years as time passes, can give greatly different photos of the same place.

I think you've rather missed my point, but at least you've had some nice compliments on your photos.

I'm not talking about revisiting a place over the seasons, or even different times of day.

I'm trying to explore how to approach a re-visit to the same location, on the same weekend as previous visits, with the use of either different camera gear to produce something new, or to return with the same kit as used before to build on the previous photos without them all merging into a generic "Stockholm in mid-December" set, irrespective of year taken.