What does it take to be a good landscape photographer??

There are some obvious requirements beyond understanding how your camera works well enough to operate it in dim to no light. Having the right lenses and equipment - and having it with you. It is painful to hear "if I had only brought my ND Grad filter...."
Certainly you have to be willing to get up at 0 dark thirty! While we all love sunsets, I, however, reluctantly have come to the view that the hour before and after sunrise generally produces better images than the end of the day. I could bore everyone with the reasons that the modern digital sensor handles morning light better that the classic sunset lighting, but I won't. Patience would also be high on any list. Nature will do what it does whenever it wants to and if you relax, pack-up the tripod, roll over and hit the snooze button, etc. you can bet that is when nature will call out the perfect light. Repetition also helps. Ever heard "Oh I did that place last month." Remember history doesn't repeat itself....it rhymes! The conditions will be different, and so will the photographer. If you ever photograph a child, pet or lover, just look at how your images grow over time in depth and emotions. And the same is true with landscapes.
But I am convinced that the greatest requirement is the willingness to be uncomfortable - really uncomfortable. Weather extremes, difficult - and even hazardous - angles, mud and water, black flies and all the other varieties of biting creatures need to be endured. Oh yes, that barbed wire fence that is in the way of the perfect shot and must be crossed. Remember if it were easy it would already be on the Web.
The blog images were all taken Saturday on a day that began at 5AM with a temperature of 78 and a dew point of 72 after several days of rain storms. Mud was everywhere, all the angels seem to be low kissing the mud. The bugs were swarming. All and all a typical summer day on the Potomac. But it beats wedding photography, and I will be back out next week.