Rachel,
I wish to second Kathy and request that you don't go away. Your questions and the answers in this thread have helped me to think about why I take pictures, and I am very grateful for that.
As an amateur photographer, I am obviously not shooting to put bread on the table and I do not depend on the praise of others, as expressed in money.
I do very much like the praise of my subjects, as far as they are able to express themselves (I do mostly landscapes and architecture). For family members and other non-professional models should be reasonably happy with the results. Not only do I want to take more pictures of them, but the results should also express their personalities and the way I feel towards them in some way, and I would think that I would not have achieved this, if they ran away cursing me and that camera of mine.
Lastly, and most importantly, I take pictures for myself. Photography has helped me in my appreciation of the world around me, even when I am required to look at things in real time, and not back on the lighttable. The very best are canned memories. looking at them, even years after, bring back the feelings, the smell, the fun or whatever of the moment. The technical quality of those pictures can sometimes generously be described as doubtful, but I know what the picture represents for me.
Nevertheless, I think some technical competence is required, knowing what you can do with your camera will help you to achieve the results you want. The same goes for Photoshop, or any other picture treatment software, and there might be others which operate more along the lines of your thinking. But unless you find technical points or the finer details of photoshop operation to start to really interest you, good enough is good enough. Many great photographers just got by with shooting slides, and even now technical wizardry cannot replace the "be there" part of "f:8 and be there"
I don't think that praise, or condemnation, will harm your vision. It will rather profit from being exposed to other visions. But most of all, the whole thing should be something you enjoy.
Christoph
) that are "telling more then a thousend words" but are of iffy quality. Or of the venture I started shooting film trying to understand the technical part of SLR's with often two or more rolls of film wasted trying to understand flash lighting without any useable pictures. And the venture continous - learning and yes also mastering shots, but always ready for the next try.