Bill, thanks for the kind words. I was concerned when I made my comments that it might come across as my complaining about, or seeking sympathy about shooting landscape as one's profession. Every career has it's issues and difficulties, however when I switched my area of photography to landscape I was not prepared for what would be required of me. I thought it would be helpful if I tried to give some insight to what one goes through when one pursues art photography, especially landscape, as a profession.
Robert, I'm represented by some of the same galleries as Burkett and was told by one of the gallery owners that Burkett shoots 2 months a year and spends 10 months a year in the darkroom. When I first heard this I couldn't understand how so much time could be spent in the darkroom versus shooting. Now I understand. Supplying multiple sized prints to multiple galleries takes a huge amount of time. And ultimately what a fine art photographer produces, what the actual commodity (for lack of a better term) is, is a print.
Murray, I empathize with your comment that your standards for your own work have gotten higher. I expect a lot more from my work now. When i was far less traveled just the sight of a mountain with a snow cap amazed me. Now unless there are significant contributing factors like great light or atmospherics, I won't even slow down the car, let alone pull out a camera. I guess this means I'm choosier, however I wonder if I'm also getting jaded.