"Experimentation, long exposures, panning, breaking rules......doing things with your camera you wouldn't normally do. This can lead to some happy accidents. And, if you pay attention to what you are doing and can repeat it, you might develop some interesting new approaches to image making."

This part speaks to me the most about your post. Other than having the creepy feeling on how you edited the image above of course. Happy accidents are the path to innovation and invention for an artist too. Though my current art style does not use of existing images beyond references, I might try using images as a base now after absorbing the quote from your conclusion. It makes sense and I think that's what I'm missing to help me grow with my own art. :D