Keep Trying when it fails

[Flack]

Have any members on here ever tried to get a great image of a good location on large format, and failed every time. I have one of those places and for almost every possible cause I have never had a image I could say wow that's come out great. I have been multiple times now, and for some fails, it was me, some my camera, wrong timing or the weather.
I am determined to get an image at this location. I keep saying to myself you can do it.

 

[thronobulax]

Have any members on here ever tried to get a great image of a good location on large format, and failed every time. I have one of those places and for almost every possible cause I have never had a image I could say wow that's come out great. I have been multiple times now, and for some fails, it was me, some my camera, wrong timing or the weather.
I am determined to get an image at this location. I keep saying to myself you can do it.

I would say that's fairly common. I would note that Bach - arguably the greatest artist of all time - routinely repeated himself and used prior themes and motifs and later work. He either ran out of ideas now and then, or felt the said theme/motif fit better in a new context.

I, myself, have a half dozens spots I return to with some regularity because I've never quite gotten a "wow' there.

So, yes, repeating yourself until you are happy in the outcome is a noble pursuit.

The important thing is to spent time reviewing the work in each iteration to understand just why it doesn't work. Is it compositional? Is it technical? Is it lighting?

I periodically go back to these place with a Nikon or Leica to be able to shoot more in the moment and experimentally to help inform when and where and how I might want to revisit the place with large format. (This also serves as a reminder of how even the most refined 35mm is badly limited by negative size

 

[David M]

Everyone must have had this experience at some time. I have an idea that sometimes we are trying to capture something that’s invisible - the atmosphere, the scent, the sounds, the journey, the person we are with... We are convinced that there must be a visual equivalent that we can capture, but from time to time the world has other ideas. Is this too fanciful?
But please keep on trying. If you care to share your results and you may find that others have a higher opinion than you do.

 

[Alan Clark]

No, I don't think you are being too fanciful David. In the past when I was in a rush to make prints after an exhilarating day in the hills I would often see the atmosphere, scents, sounds, and the wind, evoked in a hastily made proof print. So I would then spend time making a bigger final print. But a month later, when the atmosphere, the wind, the smells and the sounds had gone from my head, they had often also gone from the print.

 

[lensworx]

Far more common than anyone would like to admit in my experience and not just restricted to LF.

I used to keep a notebook with locations in. Each location had season,weather and timing information so If I found somewhere that would be better in say the snow I could bank it until we got the right conditions.

I now use a combination of google maps with custom maps and notes as well as apps like TPE and photopills etc... to plan photos and can already have a better idea of where the sun is going to be etc... before I go.