This is not meant as a rant but meant as inspiration and encouragement for all you photographers out there that want to become pros and make money with your passion.
I'm going to try and keep this short.
When I started out about 8 years ago with photography I like most of you did it for fun but after a while people wanted to start paying me to take their pictures. One thing led to another and next thing you know I have a side business.
I would come to the forum often and learn about all kinds of things from some very smart and gifted photographers. After spending a quite a bit of time on the forum I started to get disenchanted with some of the harsh criticism
that photographers would give when critiquing others work. I almost felt that allot of it was negative and could potentially be stifling to the growth of the budding photog.
I made a choice to not visit the forum anymore for a couple of reasons. First being that there seemed to be quite a bit of negative feedback in regards to others work from fellow photogs and sometimes negative opinions were given without even asking for it.
I know that the only way to get better is to be critiqued and pushed but the flip side is that it can also be hazardous to growth.
Years have passed and I now have a very successful business and making a VERY good living off of my work. I'm not sure that I would be doing so well if I had followed some of the advice of some of the so called experts on the board. I'm not pointing fingers or singling anyone in particular out.
I used to get caught up in all the gear talk and all the envy of wanting to have the latest greatest.. Truth be told I can still go out with a 20D and deliver wedding images to a customer who is willing pay me 10K for my services (However, I do use 5DMK2's for my main bodies).. That in itself should tell you it's not just about your camera or even talent.. It's about belief and hard work and almost just as important personality.. Luckily for me I have tons of this!
Okay, I'm going to finish my point and I hope it's taken the right way by the people who might go down my similar path. There comes a time where you just have to believe in what you do and soldier on! Quit worrying about the latest greatest.. Quit worrying that your photos aren't getting any comments... Some of the most hyped photos on the forum are downright average but somehow managed to create a stir. Sure Photographers might like the perfect rule of thirds display or the perfect light to shadow ratio, but we all know it's the client we have to please if we want to make a living at this.
Before I got into photography for a living I played guitar for a well known band and toured most of my life. The one thing I learned while being in a band is that you could easily create music that your fellow musicians would love but would go over the general publics head. This applies to photography and this forum especially. Some get wrapped up in being the siskel and ebert of POTN and shackle fellow photogs from realizing their true greatness.
I recently submitted two award winning photos to this site not for critique but to explain a situation. I was alarmed to see several post picking out perceived flaws and issues! I don't deny this is a free world and you can say whatever you want and they might have been good points but if I was new to photography I might of not submitted these photos into competition. Because of the numerous awards I have won in my community I'm able to charge quite the premium for my services. But if I was to believe some of the negativity of this forum I would have thrown these photos in the bin and never took a chance with them in competition. You might ask why competition is important? In my city, you win awards you get recognition and therefore charge more for you services.
All in all this message is for the guys out there that got the personality and enough skill to make a great living in the business! Please try and sift through my rant and take the pearl of wisdom I'm trying to give you. I knew before I wrote this that some of you would be offended by my post but I also knew that a few of you out there would get something out of it and that is why I wrote it.
Peace 
