I went to go see John Fielder last night, and, in-between book, gallery, and workshop plugs, he was fairly entertaining, and pretty informative about composition. He's one of Colorado's best-known nature photographers, and has recently taken to opposing the Demon Growth in all its forms. He also has some interesting notions about private property rights, which is to say, you have a right to your property, so long as it doesn't interfere with his right to make money photographing it.

But leaving that aside, he seems like a genuinely nice guy, and a brilliant photographer. He made it clear that there is no Royal Road to great photography. Anyone can master the technical details, but the only way to true creativity and distinctive style is to focus on your subject. Don't get too cure trying to be original. Ansel Adams said much the same thing when he was accused to making boring landscape pictures. He said that there was always at least one person in his photographs: himself.