How to make yours different.

As I write this in a bar in Cervinia, Italy on my Iphone, I've been contemplating the merits of taking pictures in places where loads of people have snapped before. I guess that we've all been there, travelled to a famous spot and taken photos. The question is, how can a creative photographer distinguish his shots from those of all the picture takers before you got there and inspire those that will follow. In many cases, the ability to move around may be limited, I'm thinking of viewpoints at top of mountains etc so aside from putting your camera on a pole, options are limited. How about changing the time of day? That's ok if you are able to get access. Ski lifts, cable cars, or front gates don't open till after sun up and close well before sun down, so getting into position for either of the "Golden hours" is hard. A couple of variables that could make a difference are the time of year (autumn or winter for example) or the weather. It's a bit difficult in some scenarios to pick your season, skiing is one example that comes to mind. If you live close to a picturesque site then you may be able to pick a good weather day, but for that once in a life time trip, we have to make do with what we get. So what are we left with? Well, if we've lugged a DSLR we may be able to use an unusual lens (fisheye perhaps) to make a distinguishing shot. Other than that, we're left with our composition skills and post processing techniques to make a difference.

It would be nice if some of these places would open up for photographers (without charging a fortune) especially nature reserves but I'm not holding my breath.

What are your thoughts?