I do my best not to ever second guess my photography. Shoot in the moment, edit as soon after as you can while you still remember how you felt at the show, put it out and let it be. Because for me, it is all about capturing those moments. It’s not a canvas to be gone over and over and over until you find that finishing master stroke.

But that being said, anyone’s approach to their art is evolving so I became curious as to what I’d do if I went back and looked at old photos and edited them again a while after the fact. So…I did.

First off I went back to look at a few choice shots from the excellent Fatherson playing a sold-out show in the Liquid Rooms in Edinburgh in…I don’t know..sometime earlier this year I think? I can’t remember. Who cares? It was well good anyway and that’s all that matters.

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So looking at this one…I think I still much prefer the original edit. The colour adds a lot more atmosphere and intensity whereas my second version feels pretty cold though I do really like the detail in it which in retrospect is lacking more than a little in the first version.

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Easy contest here. I much prefer the second black and white version. Because I was shooting these for my work I always aim for colour for editorial use hence the original keeping its super dark purple lighting. At the time I convinced myself I liked it, but now…this picture becomes much more dynamic as a black and white and I’m convinced that was the right choice.

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Here’s another where I much prefer the editing second time around. I know what I was aiming for first time and it was to give the image a sense of bombast that matches the emotionally charged approach of the band’s music…but I think the cooler colours actually enhance the image second time around. I’ve a real weakness for bumping my colour temperature real high when a picture has bright lights without thinking about it. This is an important reminder that I can’t let myself fall into bad habits.

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This photograph had the potential to suffer from the same issue as the last one…but actually I think I made the right choice first time around. The vibrant attack of the colours because they’re so much warmer adds more intensity to the picture in my eyes. The second one I really like the tone of, but it doesn’t feel as immediate as that first one and I always want my photos to immediately make you feel like you were there.

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This one I’m still totally torn on…I like the atmosphere of the colour in the first one, but there’s a detail to the second I really like that I think works with the sense of movement in the photo. It’s a real tough call this one…but I still feel my eye going more to the original edit. Only just though, because I do feel that first version lacks detail.

As I write this I wish I’d pushed the blacks down even further in the second one…which is kind of the point of this exercise. To push my editing and see how I develop but avoid falling into the black hole of tweaking forever…because a photograph has to be a moment. It has to capture something otherwise…what’s the point? You might as well let it be a memory and fade in that case. Photographs don’t fade. They don’t change. They’re truthful forever. For better or worse.

You can see the full review and original photos of this show that I did for work by clicking here if you’re so inclined.