Try making a photo series instead of a single photo

Saturday 4 February 2023, 13:31 by Nando Harmsen | 4,685 views | 4 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Do you ever return to a place you have photographed before? Do you take another photo, or do you think there is no need because you already have one? Maybe it would be fun to start making a photo series. It could even become a project.

I cycled along a country lane for years. I often did not have my camera with me, but sometimes I did. On some of those occasions, I occasionally took a photo of the path. I did this because it was a beautiful moment, not for any special purpose.

This resulted in me having a number of photos of the same place, which together give a lovely impression of this path. A photo series, then, which you can read more about on my own blog.

The cycle path, photographed between 2007 and 2018.
I started doing this more often, even after I no longer cycled along this path. I did not do it very often, but I did whenever the opportunity arose. On those occasions, I specifically went out to take this photo.

A few more photos, from 2016 and 2021. A few more can still be added.
As you can see, it makes a lovely series of photos in which the conditions are not the only things that change. You also see the landscape changing and the seasons passing. What will the next photos be like?

I now have a new place that I also want to make a series of. I photographed this place once, quite some time ago, and that produced a very nice image.

A beautiful place, often walked past without looking at it. Until I took this photo. (21mm, ISO100, f/11, HDR image)
I had not thought about photographing this place more often, but when I was there again recently, I took another photo. Simply because of the beautiful clouds. At home, I realised that I should visit this place more often too. A series of photos would not be out of place.

The latest photo, because the clouds were so beautiful. (24mm, ISO400, f/11, 1/40s)
This will be the third photo series I am going to make. I am not in a hurry. It can take a year, or several years. There is no need to have dozens of photos, and I do not want to turn it into an obsession by forcing myself to do this. I will see what it produces.

Now that I think about it, I did this once before in the eighties and nineties. A woodland path in four seasons. Unfortunately, I cannot show it here, because those photos are analogue. Perhaps I will look for those photos again.

Maybe this is a nice idea for you too. Photograph a particular place repeatedly. It does not have to be a landscape, it can be something else too.

Try photographing from the same place, using roughly the same focal length. It does not have to be exact, similar is good enough.

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