Photography is as simple or complex as our little brains desire. Fisher Price makes a camera for toddlers and Linhof makes superb high-end large format cameras for the ultra pro. The basic process is the same no matter how complex the overall procedure, just push the button.
To make it just ever so slightly more complicated we can think of photography as the four Fs. (No, not these aren’t grades…).
Frame, focus, fire and file.
The first thing we all do is put a 2D box around 3D reality with our viewfinders. Naturally that step really matters. That’s your photo. It’s what’s in the frame that counts (and what you keep out of the frame).
Next we focus our attention on what we are seeing in that little box. It is sharp? Not to dark, Not too light?
Then, the moment of truth, making the commitment, pulling the trigger at the perfect time, fire!, when everything is right with the world.
Now we have our photo, our file. We took action. What are you going to do with it? Look at it, move it to where you can tinker with it, show it to the world and then keep safe to view again. Or, instead, remove it entirely from the face of the Earth).
See? Simple.