Uploaded September 2017 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
I've been lacking a bit of motivation of late, so to give myself a reason to get back out there shooting, I decided to go and retake an image I shot 10 years ago. The idea was to compare the two photos and demonstrate to myself that I have made improvements!
Because it is so hard to see improvement day by day I thought I would try and better the shot I took 10 years ago.
What I saw in my opinion was several improvements - my image was sharper overall, slightly better composed, and a lot more natural looking. Whether it is really better or not is still difficult for me to say, because a lot will come down to personal tastes, but I prefer the image from today, and the more natural lighting, compared to the very over-processed look I had achieved with a shoddy HDR job on a knocked off version of photoshop that I was using 10 years ago.
Gear and software has come a long way since then, but really what I noticed about myself is that my approach was a lot more considered. in terms of exposure I bracketed, and ensured my panoramic set up worked out well by levelling my tripod properly. I gave more concern to how the light would be and how it would affect the overall feeling of the image... 10 years ago I think I was mainly concerned with making it look dramatic and impactful without really having any reason why.
After I had finished shooting, I sat and watched the sun rise over the village where I spent my formative years, and again my thoughts returned to that of my mum. A year ago we were just 4 weeks away from her passing, and I still can't but help dwell on how badly her illness had affected me.
Have you ever gone back and reshot an image from your past? What changes did you see in your work?
Gear used
If you go on to buy any of the below kit on Amazon it will support me in making more videos for you :-)
Main kit
Camera amzn.to/2q9Z3r4
Long lens amzn.to/2plU46Z
Wide lens amzn.to/2p7jdDW
Prime lens amzn.to/2p7hgHk
Memory card - fast enough for landscapes and never failed! amzn.to/2tkgTft
Spare batteries - way cheaper than official Canon ones and do a decent job amzn.to/2sm8B2g
Other kit
Backpack amzn.to/2p7kr20
Cable release - cheap as chips and faultless essential bit of kit amzn.to/2p7mpPR
Filter holder amzn.to/2oA8ZwU
10stop filter amzn.to/2plM1XM
ND grad set amzn.to/2plXMxm
Tripod
Tripod head - ball head, solid, so easy to use! amzn.to/2oPmxkt
Tripod amzn.to/2ozVZre
Filming
Filmed with amzn.to/2tGdq7c (f1.4 for beautiful cinematic footage, and does 4k!)
Lavlier mic amzn.to/2p7tM9W
Drone! amzn.to/2plTnu7
I've been lacking a bit of motivation of late, so to give myself a reason to get back out there shooting, I decided to go and retake an image I shot 10 years ago. The idea was to compare the two photos and demonstrate to myself that I have made improvements!
Because it is so hard to see improvement day by day I thought I would try and better the shot I took 10 years ago.
What I saw in my opinion was several improvements - my image was sharper overall, slightly better composed, and a lot more natural looking. Whether it is really better or not is still difficult for me to say, because a lot will come down to personal tastes, but I prefer the image from today, and the more natural lighting, compared to the very over-processed look I had achieved with a shoddy HDR job on a knocked off version of photoshop that I was using 10 years ago.
Gear and software has come a long way since then, but really what I noticed about myself is that my approach was a lot more considered. in terms of exposure I bracketed, and ensured my panoramic set up worked out well by levelling my tripod properly. I gave more concern to how the light would be and how it would affect the overall feeling of the image... 10 years ago I think I was mainly concerned with making it look dramatic and impactful without really having any reason why.
After I had finished shooting, I sat and watched the sun rise over the village where I spent my formative years, and again my thoughts returned to that of my mum. A year ago we were just 4 weeks away from her passing, and I still can't but help dwell on how badly her illness had affected me.
Have you ever gone back and reshot an image from your past? What changes did you see in your work?
Gear used
If you go on to buy any of the below kit on Amazon it will support me in making more videos for you :-)
Main kit
Camera amzn.to/2q9Z3r4
Long lens amzn.to/2plU46Z
Wide lens amzn.to/2p7jdDW
Prime lens amzn.to/2p7hgHk
Memory card - fast enough for landscapes and never failed! amzn.to/2tkgTft
Spare batteries - way cheaper than official Canon ones and do a decent job amzn.to/2sm8B2g
Other kit
Backpack amzn.to/2p7kr20
Cable release - cheap as chips and faultless essential bit of kit amzn.to/2p7mpPR
Filter holder amzn.to/2oA8ZwU
10stop filter amzn.to/2plM1XM
ND grad set amzn.to/2plXMxm
Tripod
Tripod head - ball head, solid, so easy to use! amzn.to/2oPmxkt
Tripod amzn.to/2ozVZre
Filming
Filmed with amzn.to/2tGdq7c (f1.4 for beautiful cinematic footage, and does 4k!)
Lavlier mic amzn.to/2p7tM9W
Drone! amzn.to/2plTnu7
