Locations worked to excess?

[TPPhotog]

I think we sometimes forget that there are 2 very distinct audiences for our pictures.

On the one hand there are photographers which includes ourself taking the shot. After a while we have virtually seen it all and logistics allowing done it all. So for us nothing is new except taking the shot for the first time ourself. The challenge here is to take the shot trying to capture it the way we want and hopefully improving the shot each time we repeat it.

The other audience is the general public which may include our families. For them many of the same old subjects we shoot are new. How many times have we heard things like "when you take a picture of a ..... it looks like a ....., but when I take it it looks like $@&% !!"

No matter if we are shooting as amateurs or pro's the same applies. Yep I get bored with seeing the n'th picture of a whatever, but will that stop me trying the shot when I see it? No way because I want to see if I can capture that light the way I see it and at least as well as anyone else.

Tony

[Leon]

if we are consciously copying tripod placements, i dont see the point, but an individual fresh perspective is always welcome in my books.

BTW - as a self confessed megalithic maniac, I've never seen a definitive "good" shot of Stonehenge, so I pray that people dont stop shooting it in the hope that one day one GOOD image will emerge

[Francesco]

I've never seen a definitive "good" shot of Stonehenge, so I pray that people dont stop shooting it in the hope that one day one GOOD image will emerge

You know what Leon, I think you are right. Funny that don't you think.

[jnanian]

was your wife the person who wrote to VC magazine last year (under a pen name) and said something to the effect of " if i see another slot canyon with nude i think i am going to puke ... "

i agree, but then again, it is nice to see people taking photographs of things i don't think i will get a chance to visit for a long long long time

[Daniel Grenier]

was your wife the person who wrote to VC magazine last year (under a pen name) ....

Nope...she does not read VC... too "Tim-the-tool-man-Taylor" for her as she puts it.

[Daniel Grenier]

This is a tired argument. I personally have never seen a photograph of Bodie.

WOW! Serious? You have NEVER seen a photograph of Bodie? Well! I have never met a photographer who has never seen a picture of Bodie! Pleased to meet you, Mark.

[jim kirk jr.]

Cliche's are cliche's simply because they work(you know the whole imitation being the sincerest form of flattery and all)but I do agree with Dave Miller-you can always try in some way to make a scene,object,idea,etc your own in some unique fashion.

[Bruce Osgood]

WOW! Serious? You have NEVER seen a photograph of Bodie? Well! I have never met a photographer who has never seen a picture of Bodie! Pleased to meet you, Mark.

Nor have I, that I know of or remember.... Perhaps it's about time somebody makes some memorable pictures of Bodie? Perhaps even a conference could be held their or something.

[jovo]

Bodie? Perhaps even a conference could be held their or something.

Yeah! It being a ghost town and this forum being the mainstay of we who love soon to be deceased analog materials...sounds like a perfect fit! BOo!

[Les McLean]

if we are consciously copying tripod placements, i dont see the point, but an individual fresh perspective is always welcome in my books.

BTW - as a self confessed megalithic maniac, I've never seen a definitive "good" shot of Stonehenge, so I pray that people dont stop shooting it in the hope that one day one GOOD image will emerge

I agree with your comment about copying Leon. I know that many locations have been done to death and we get tired of seeing them but let us also consider those new to photography who have never photographed Yosemite, Death Valley or any number of places, it's a new adventure to them. Can any of you who have moaned about not wanting to see a much photographed location again remember the excitement the first time you photographed such a place? My image of Roughting Linn that Sean has on the home page was made 28 years ago and was rarely photographed at the time because it was not well known. Since I first published the image I have had letters, phone calls and emails from photographers all over the world asking for the map reference to go to photograph it. I've even had requests to take strangers there and have been happy to do so. I photograph it several times every year and have never grown tired of it for I refer to it as my place of meditation and solitude. The bonus is that it is 15 minutes from where I live. So come on guys stop moaning and get on with making new photographs of any location no matter how many times they have been done. My approach to revisiting locations is to photograph the light for it is always different.

Sorry for the rant but this subject is something that I feel very passionately about.

Leon
IMO the definitive photographs of Stonehenge have been made by Paul Caponigro and you can see them in the Print Room on the 5th floor of the V&A museum in London. You will also see what I think are the best black and white prints ever made. Ask for the Caponigro Stonehenge Portfolio when you go.