On the matter of walking in someone's shoes, using someone's tripodholes, standing on someone's shoulders, well, imitating someone's style, I think that is the first great step towards originality. Hell, if you go look at landscape painters from the last couple of centuries or so, we're definately all on their shoulders too. As far as learning goes, in most fields I think, that is the beginning. Finding someone you admire; be it an architect, photographer, painter, philosopher, physicist, or sociologist, and emulate that style (yes, science also has a style). At some point you are going to take a detour, wing it, do something different just because it feels right, and that's when you are going to be on the path towards developing/discovering your own style. I am of the opinion that you can't design your own style, you'll come into it at some point, and maybe/probably even be surprised at the result. To me that is beautiful, wondering at a picture you made, which you find beautiful, and wondering, just why did you do it THAT particular way. Then, slowly, you'll find out why you did what you did. I think emulating, copying, whatever you call it, is a fantastic LEARNING tool. I have done, and will keep doing, for some time at least, very very very cliché coastal landscapes with long shutterspeeds and ND grads, the whole nine yards. I won't show them to anyone, but I'll keep working to get into the grind, and discover my own style in there somewhere. Maybe I'll succeed, maybe I won't, maybe I'll find out that architecture is really my thing (which I'm beginning to suspect). Just some thoughts...