The thing that brings me the most joy in photography is finding a new composition that isn't well known. The images of mine that I'm most proud of are the ones that may have never been seriously photographed before. Many photographers simply travel around capturing the icons, going to the same spot and taking the same image that's been taken before them thousands of times, often times standing elbow to elbow with other photographers without even looking around for something fresh and new.
I promised myself early on in my photography career that I wanted to use my own creativity to find fresh new scenes. From the start I realized I would have the opportunity to do this. My love of nature started through long distance backpacking in extremely remote wilderness areas, places that may not see another footprint for years. And although even I can admit it can be fun to travel somewhere you've seen so many times to capture that popular shot, I will never base my photography off of that. The photographers I admire the most are the explorers, the backpackers, the mountaineers.
This year instead of searching out the most iconic photo locations, challenge yourself to create something new, and who knows, maybe your photo will become the next icon. Below of some of my favorite photographs from locations I've never seen seriously photographed before and a collection of quotes to inspire you to break from the crowd and go places others havent gone before.