Not a stroke of genius but a bit o' luck (and a numb butt)

SPOILER ALERT: This post may contain secrets the professional photographer may not want the average Joe Schmoe to know...

While understanding the photographical concepts of light, f-stops, exposure, color, composition and contrast is important, more often it is crucial to be precisely at the right place at the right moment in order to get that "perfect" shot: Having good luck, if you will, is part of the game. But, sometimes you can create your own luck by using a digital camera with a very large memory card so you can literally shoot hundreds if not thousands of photos to capture that one cool shot. Of course, it also helps to have patience, lots of free time and a good pair of glasses in order to sift through those hundreds of images.

Oh, and you also have be indifferent to the butt numbness that invariably strikes while sitting in front of the computer, staring for hours at those hundreds of pictures in the quest for the best and greatest shots.