[wulinka]

I see remarks like "This was a great place / event, I really want to go back to that location" quite a lot, e.g. in the recent urban exploring threads.
And of course I feel it myself, like with those chinese guys playing their game the other day, I had an idea, I saw the results, and I wanted to go back for more.

but I wonder, should we ever go back???

There are so many factors, external and internal, that determine the outcome of a shooting: the wheather, the date, the light, the time..... your mood, your physical condition, and the condition of your subject(s) - whether you are hungry, tired, cold, sick...... And the impalpable something, that contribute to the atmosphere of a picture.

Are we aware we can NEVER re-create a situation in that we took a good picture?
If we go back, is it inherently bad because we are going with the wrong expectations?

The day I was shooting the chinese was just like every other day, in the sense that those people are always out there, day in, day out.
But then it was special, too, becuase it was so freezing cold, everyone was wrapped in layers of clothes, the light was very special from the frosty winter sky... What kind of pictures should I expect to get if I go back on a different day?
Or should I rather go somewhere else, to apply what I learned from my day with the chinese, and be happy with the shots I got the first time around.

uli

[shuttertalk]

Hm... interesting...

Perhaps by going back, you might not get the same atmosphere / vision of when we first saw it, but on the flip side, you might find a completely new facet of the place which might take your breath away.

I'd hate to think that the shots I took of a particular place is the best that it could ever offer ...

As time goes on as well, our shooting styles change, we learn new tricks and techniques - which could dramatically add to the results from subsequent visits...

[Toad]

Agreed Jules - I often shoot the same locations over and over again under different light and weather conditions. There is always something new to be gleaned from a scene. Doesn't mean you can't shoot other new spots as well..

[matthew]

I'll go back until I've gotten it right, whatever it may be, and then occasionally I'll visit to keep up with any changes. I photograph downtown, and changes over time can be an interesting part of the experience. Having a body of work on a single subject or location can be valuable. And, finally, the city just isn't that big; or at least the parts of it that I can reach don't allow as much variety as I'd like.

But, Uli, I agree with what you're saying. There's no point chasing a missed opportunity at the expense of other opportunities that you'll never get. And, when I do go back, I often find that I just take the same photos all over again, and usually without the creative spark that made the first set worth improving on. The broad exception to this is when I can bring better equipment (=more suited to the kind of photograph I want to take) to the location.

BUT, that last bit's a problem. ("more suited to the kind of photograph I want to take") Often the accident of having the wrong equipment is what makes the scene challenging, productive, creative and memorable. Taking it even further, the problem with having a specific destination is that it means I'll have a specific idea of what photograph I will "find" there -- as if the photos will be pinned to trees -- and inhibits creative vision.