How to Become a Photographer

Adrian Monk's Epiphany on the Value of Photography

In the episode "Monk vs. The Cobra," lead character and show namesake Adrian Monk has an epiphany on the value of photography. In the episode, Adrian Monk 's life is placed in peril, whereby he encounters and has a long talk with his wife. Towards the end of that encounter, Monk, so enraptured by being in the presence of his  wife, blurts  out: 

"You're so beautiful, I should have taken more pictures."

VALUE OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Quote from Time Magazine

Came across this great quote on the power and value of photography from Richard Lacayo in Time Magazine (issue, date, etc. to be determined:

We hear it sometimes that photographs are losing their power. In a world where every other cell phone has a built in camera and and all the people you know just posted their summer vacations, their snow angels, and their tonsillectomies online, there are just too many pictures out there. Plus, those picures are so easily manipulated and photoshopped, how do you know when to trust them anymore? And anyway, we've seen it all before. You can almost believe all that, right up until that moment you come across one picture that speaks to you, the one that takes your imperfectly formed feelings and judgements and snaps everything, if you'll excuse the expression, into focus.

It's the ability to get that "one picture" that distinguishes and substantiates the value of a professionally skilled photographer. Capturing or taking a mediocre capture and brining out the outstanding from it, that is the "art" of the professional.