If you want to occupy the leading edge, you may need to sacrifice the safety of fertile ground and followers. You might need to position yourself on a precipice or shoreline, prepared to weather the most significant impact of storms and the scarcity of reliable resources. You may not thrive. But you are remarkable. Of all the photos I took on a recent backpack trip, only two focused on a singular tree as the primary subject. In both cases, each tree existed closer to the improbable than the safety of the forest. Tens of thousands of trees and yet two occupied the landscape in a way that required capturing for future consideration.