Going Back

The "Miss Barbara L" found on an impromptu visit to Tyler's Beach in Isle of Wight County in SE Virginia (click to enlarge)
Nikon D810, Nikon 16-35mm f/4 VR lens @ 24mm; !/160th sec. @ f/16; ISO 200

Several times in the past I have written about the benefit of immediately stopping to photograph when you happen upon a scene that evokes an emotion in you.  My recommendation, based upon my experience and many regrets for not following my own advice over the years, is that if you don't stop and photograph the scene now but plan to come back in the near future, something almost always will have changed.  The opportunity may be lost. It just won't be the same.  That something may be the light and position of the sun, time of day, objects in the scene may have moved or been moved, the weather may have changed as well as innumerable other aspects of what caught your attention.  Stop, examine what caught your eye and photograph if it still does.  If you don't, like me, you may have regrets that are unnecessary.

That being said, this post is about something somewhat different.  I want you to go back. Go back?  You just said stop now because you can't go back.  This is a slightly different case study.

When you find a place that catches your photographic eye or you feel it just connects with you, you will probably photograph it to the extent that you feel you have completely covered the subject.  If you photograph that place, thing, etc., only on a one-time basis, I think you are making a mistake.  It has been my long experience that if I find a place that is of visual interest to me, I go back over and over if possible. Each time I go back, it is different.  

Walkway to the Water, Tyler's Beach, Isle of Wight County, VA (click to enlarge)
Nikon D810, Nikon 16-35mm f/4 VR lens @ 19mm; 1/250th sec. @ f/16; ISO 200

Each time I visit a place where I have photographed before, I see it differently.  The light is different.  Something has changed, moved, been added or removed.  It is a different time of day or season of the year.  Maybe a storm has passed and changed things.  People change.  Maybe you photographed a person when he or she was having a bad day.  Today is a different day, different mood, different light, different temperature, etc.  When you go back, much may be the same, but I bet much is also different.

High and Dry After Storm, Poquoson, VA 2011 (click to enlarge)
Nikon D700, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens @ 200mm; 1/200th sec. @ f/16; ISO 200

As a personal example, one of my favorite local places to photograph is Messick Point in the small town of Poquoson, Virginia also known as Bull Island.  It is an innocuous little place but, to me, has a wealth of interesting subject matter from the old school deadrise work boats of the Chesapeake Bay waterman, to a small area where crab pots are handmade, to a tiny inlet where the waterman moor their workboats, to shore birds, derelict boats washed up into the marsh and wetlands after big storms, to waterman working on the boats, etc.  I went into my Lightroom catalog and looked at how many times I have photographed there.  I've driven over there 24 times over the past 8 years to photograph and every time it is different. I've made hundreds of images.  I'm glad I have done so because the geniuses who run the town have decided to remove all of the charm and character out of the area by "improving" it with a new and expanded parking lot, new docks, planting grass, etc.  They even cleaned up the old derelict boats from the area.  It is just not the same.  If I hadn't been going back over the years, I would never have been able to record all that I did.  You can search on the word "Poquoson" in the search bar of this blog and see some of the posts I have made with some of the images.

Snowy Egrets in wetlands in Poquoson (click to enlarge)
Nikon D700, Nikon 70-200mm lens @ 175mm; 1/2000th sec. @ f/8; ISO 800

Poquoson is just a single example of places to which I have returned over and over. Another is a place about which I recently written called Tyler's Beach.  I didn't know it existed and found it using Google Earth in March of this year. When first arriving, one would think there is nothing there to photograph.  However, I've now been three times since March and each time I find something new or not before seen as well as changes that make the area different from previous visits.  Some of the images on this post are from an impromptu visit early last Friday morning as I was on the way home from photographing something completely different.  I'm glad i stopped and I will return.  You can find my previous post of Tyler's beach with several more of the images here.

Crab Pots and Old Fish House, Poquoson, VA (click to enlarge)
Nikon D700, Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 lens @ 125mm; ISO 800

I could go on with example after example but you get the point.  Go back.  Go back over and over to discover and rediscover what you though you knew.  You'll find out that you really didn't know the area or subject and will be pleased with your new images.

The "Miss Ne Ne, Barbara J and Brenda J" moored at Tyler's Beach on a summer day (click to enlarge)
Nikon D810, Nikon 16-35mm f/4 VR lens @ 35mm; 1/640th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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