The trouble with most photography/art/research/literature is that it’s derivative.
Almost 100% of what is produced each year is unoriginal.
That is why we idolize the trailblazers.
Follow your own path — you have your own story to tell.
(I’m talking to you.)
—Peter.
Prosophos 
Absolutely…….think, observe and try things. In my opinion you’ll end up seeing more than you thought you might have realised. And it’ll be yours (in the photographic sense)!
The form maybe derivative but the content is not necessarily. Also, I disagree that the inclusion of literature and especially research to your comment.
I hope you do not mind me saying this, but a lot of your recent posts reflect some negativity/frustration… I do not say this in any negative way :-), I am just describing what I read.
No offense taken – you’re absolutely correct!
I’ve been a little burned out and sombre with all of the pestilence and power failures – and poor light – going on here. Nothing a good vacation won’t fix though.
And yes, my mentioning of literature and research in the above post was quite intentional.
By the way, I’m not exempting my work from my assessment.
—Peter.
I am very happy that you read my comment the right way. I wrote it because simply I care. By reading your posts and looking your photographs, I feel I watch the life of a friend that I care about, so I took the courage to mention it.
Sorry, I should not have written “a lot”, but “many”, especially the ones regarding equipment. And I wrote that, because my own view is that we will in a era where we are lucky to have so many great photographic tools and great photography, so easily accessible through the internet. Which includes your own work of course.
The funny thing is, you are as correct about research as you are about the other things. If I went into details, that would be off-topic.