I mean you are probably never going to hear someone saying things like "Oh I never intend see or even visit the Grand Canyon, because hundreds of millions of people got there before me and so there is nothing I could see, that hasn't already been looked at."
Dave
I find I'm in agreement with you Dave on just about everything, but this is one time I will choose to differ. Please don't take offense - your comment merely struck a nerve. Just this morning, in light of our recent travels to SE Asia, Iceland and points closer to home, my wife and I have recently begun re-evaluating our future travel plans to specifically avoid the iconic places that have become over-run with tourists - mostly "tickers" and the selfie crowd. We no longer have great interest in visiting Banff again, or even Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, (which we have never visited) unless it is the off season, and even then it's a maybe.
I'm not saying there aren't new ways of seeing old places. It was one of my goals whilst living in England for three years: "How do I shoot the same old, but not in the same old way?" and I had some success, but battling crowds for shots that a thousand people have already made, makes me think twice about what my goals are for travel and photography.
Nothing against Hans' excellent photograph above, but even on this site, I'm growing tired of seeing the same places photographed the same way - Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Antelope Canyon, Palouse amongst others; and on other sites Lofoten, as if it's the only place in Norway! Given the discussion of late on
Antelope Canyon, I now have zero interest in going there. Even Zion has lost its lustre, yet all of these are iconic places.
We were in the Everglades a few years ago and greatly enjoyed the wildlife viewing and photographing opportunities that were NOT in the national park. There are a number of much, much quieter places along the Hwy 41 corridor. In fact, the only day we went to the park, its parking lot was full. We headed to another spot along Hwy 41 and saw all the same wildlife: bald eagles, roseate spoonbills, great egrets, etc.
Even in Iceland, our favourite time is now March and not in the southwest, but rather the north, the West Fjords and the East. The icons of Seljalandsfoss, Reynisfjara and other places have lost their lustre to some degree due to over-crowding and the internet being polluted with half-assed crappy photos of these great places.
As I said, we are beginning to tailor our travels to the "road less travelled". Given the right ambient conditions and light, one can find iconic photographs just about anywhere.
