Take a photograph and get it right the first time to show me you know what your doing the first time. Otherwise you suck as a photographer...
Ken, I am not sure if I can fully agree with that.
When I started in photography, my first camera (of my choice, not a gift) was a camera with a manual metering, although there were already models with auto exposure. Not only manual, but also semi-spot (again, the prevailing mode in those days was center-weighted). It was a Canon FTbN, by the way. Why all that "torture"? I wanted to learn the kraft. I wanted to measure the light myself, and from the area of my choosing. Shooting slides (Kodachromes), precise metering was essential, both to preserve the highlights and for overall impact.
Also, given that slides were, for most practical purposes, the final product, I had to do everything "right the first time," in camera. Once it was out of camera, that was it. No further changes possible (except with duplicating, sandwiching, or similar). Not doing it right the first time meant lousy photographs, thus making you "suck as a photographer." So far you are right.
Enter digital. Knowing that what I snap today is not the end product, but just the beginning, the equivalent of a negative film, rather than slide, switches my efforts from front-loading to back-loading. I do not
need to make everything right the first time (although it might help). Instead, my effort are concentrated on getting
all the information I need, instead of just the "right" one.
Therefore, the definition (of that a good photographer is) is changing with the times. Today, it is the one who knows how to capture all the necessary information at the time of capture,
plus the one who knows what to do with that information in order to produce the final product.
Yesterday, you sucked as a photographer if you did not know what to do at the time of capture. Today, you suck if you do not know what to do after capture (assuming you are shooting digital and RAW, of course). If you are still a traditional film photographer (or jpeg, no post), your definition would still apply.