Originally posted in May 2011...but still just as relevant...

Photographers are driven by different motives to shoot. But one driver is common across every photographer I've ever met - the desire to have their work seen

There's an extension from that, to having their work appreciated and acclaimed, but the first step in the chain is simply having it seen.

At its most basic, what's the first thing that you do in the pub once you've snapped your friend having his eyebrows shaved off? You show the picture on the phone's screen. "That's a good one". Debatable, but the social pattern is set. The only person who agrees it's actually shit is the bloke with one eyebrow. And even then he means it's a shit picture of him, not a shit picture per se. There you have the digital workflow in a nutshell - identify a scene, shoot it, display it and get instant feedback.