As someone who has done quite a bit of photography (I had a darkroom and made money shooting during high school and college with no formal training but managed

As someone who has done quite a bit of photography (I had a darkroom and made money shooting during high school and college with no formal training but managed to get photos in the local big city paper) I agree with your points. Back in the darkroom days tech skills though were much more important otherwise your photos ended up washed out or over and underexposed just as a result of the wrong chemistry or fogging etc. The technical aspects of photography are obviously important but I find to many people concentrate on the "specs" of the camera and memorize camera review articles. They worry about white balance before understanding composition and a host of other creative issues. Shutter speed, fstop and focus are important as well as the lens you are using and when to do flash fill in. Maybe I'm missing a thing or two but the rest you can wait to learn. A friend of mine constantly buys new cameras. His photos really suck but he knows those cameras inside and out because he thinks that's learning photography. It reminds me a little about people who obsess over creating what they think is an all important one line piece of code instead of just getting the job done. Sure efficiency matters but it doesn't matter in every situation. (Imagine if every reply post to HN had to hold to the standards of a final college paper...)