Why Return?
By Christine Kenyon
May 2 2025
The Value of Revisiting a Beloved Landscape
It’s easy to believe that once we’ve been to a place — especially a strikingly beautiful one — we’ve “done it.” We’ve seen the sights, taken the photos, checked the box. But for photographers, and especially those of us drawn to the rhythms of wild, quiet places, the truth is something else entirely:
The second visit often yields the best work.
Whether it’s a desert canyon, a windswept coastline, or a high alpine basin under stars, there is real creative power in going back. Returning to a favorite location for a second time isn’t just about nostalgia — it’s a chance to engage more deeply, see more clearly, and create more meaningfully.
1. Familiarity Builds Confidence — and Better Photographs
No matter how skilled you are, it’s nearly impossible to arrive in a brand new location and immediately create your strongest work. The first visit is often filled with awe, distraction, and a bit of overwhelm — not to mention the technical juggling act of new light, new terrain, and new logistics.
By the time you return, everything has shifted. You’re no longer navigating the unknown. You remember where the trail turns, where the light falls, where you wished you had lingered longer. You walk into that familiar landscape with clarity, composure, and a greater sense of creative control.
In short: You can slow down. You can see more. You can shoot better.
Dallas Divide in Colorado during the breathtaking beauty of fall
2. Reviewing Your Work Helps You Pre-Visualize
In the time between your first visit and your return, you’ve had the opportunity to sit with your images — to study what worked, what didn’t, and what you missed.
This is one of the most powerful parts of growth as a photographer: reflecting on your own work, not just for praise or critique, but for clarity.
Returning allows you to pre-visualize your shots. You may go back with a mental checklist — that silhouetted tree at twilight, the ridge you never climbed, the reflection that would be perfect at sunrise. You’re not guessing anymore. You’re building on experience.
And that’s where intention meets intuition.
3. The Place Will Never Be the Same
Even if you stand in the exact same spot at the exact same time of day, you will never take the same photograph twice.
The weather shifts. The light dances differently. The sky might be stormy this time, or crystal clear. Snow might dust the rim of a canyon you saw dry just months ago. Or the Milky Way may rise a little earlier, giving you more time to compose.
This is the gift of nature: It’s always new.
And when you pair the unpredictability of the natural world with your evolved skills and creative clarity, magic happens.
So if you’ve joined me in a place that felt special — if something about it stayed with you — I invite you to consider coming back.
Not because it will be the same.
But because you won’t be.
And that’s the whole point.
Ready to Return?
Many of my workshop locations are places I’ve returned to time and again — not out of routine, but because they’re endlessly inspiring. If a particular destination spoke to you, I encourage you to explore what’s coming up next.
Let your return be a beginning.
