Ok so I'm dosed up with Morphine for the pain so I'm almost compus mentis. Can I blame Simonfbarnes for my foot injury? I mean I know he didn't cause it, but can I blame him anyway? Is that ok?
I've had a think about Simon's comments about not following the conventions of picture aspect ratio, and I do agree with some of his points. Rules are there to be challenged, certainly. HCB and others were masters at working within the constraints of the medium, and their talent cannot be denied.
As for digital v film etc; I would say that simple equipment forces you to think more about the image you want to produce, but needn't be limiting. Some folk don't like to be encumbered and befuddled with too many options. As for digital giving you the ability to instantly assess the picture; if you aren't blessed with the talent that enables you to take great pictures, then it doesn't matter how many thousands of shots you rattle off. You just end up with a lot more crap ones.
Getting back to the OP; being in an environment where you can share ideas with other passionate people, and receive constructive criticism about your work is going to be far more valuable over time than buying the latest flashy cam the industry wants you to splash your money on.
Simonfbarnes; I've had a look on your bogtrotters website, and there are one or two nice pics, but mostly just snapshots of your friends riding, albeit good quality snapshots. A good visual record of events. And an awful lot of bottoms.
Do you have some other stuff that's maybe a bit more 'arty', or are you a recorder of facts more than you are an artist? Equal validity in both areas of course.
An interesting discussion, although I think we've strayed from the point a bit. Which is that in order to take great pictures, you do need a particular talent. Which can't be bought, but which can be nurtured.
Plus, I bet they cropped and resized plenty of images! Do you think if zoom digital cameras had been invented they, that they would all have shunned them? And then gone on to take worse images? 
