Great photography is simple.
It is merely to discover, collect, arrange, create, anticipate or provoke exquisite subject matter; and then to choose, invent, or patiently wait for that properly illuminating and perfectly enhancing light, in order to utilize the proper electronic and mechanical equipment, and the optical and chemical principles and processes, which will isolate, immobilize, and capture the combination forever in a visual meaningful and aesthetically interesting way. It takes only a camera & film or digital. It is almost as simple as writing, which needs only pen and paper; as sculpting, which requires only chisel and mallet; or as orchestra conducting, which demands only a thin stick and an evening coat.

Actually, in certain ways photography is very simple, at least in concept. It involves painting with light to capture on film merely what you are looking at. The primary trick is learning to see what you actually are looking at, and to understand how a camera lets light onto the film, and in what ways it can alter the subject as it does so.

A good photographer will not just take the first pretty scenery he sees but will (also) look for a better angle, a different perspective, will make sure the light is the best (or one of the best) lights to capture the beauty of the scene. Taking a great picture may mean moving four steps closer, crouching down, using a different lens or a different kind of film, selectively focusing on certain elements, etc., etc. In doing these things, the photographer may be trying to capture the picture that (1) shows best how he/she sees the scene, (2) how he/she feels about the scene, (3) is good but also different from any picture anyone else would have taken had they come across the same scene. The photographer then is bringing something of his own philosophy, talent, eye, perceptions, sensitivity, etc. to the landscape, not just "copying" it.

In portraiture I think it is really exciting to be able to capture a beauty or glow or sparkle in someone that others or even the person him/herself might not have realized was there -- doing it with only such natural means as lighting, composition, angle, and the psychology to try to evoke a certain expression or look, not using touch up art that actually alters and disguises the person's appearance rather than just bringing out in the best light what is actually there but which is perhaps usually hidden by daily hurriedness and unflattering sun or office light. For me it is usually more interesting and exciting to photograph a "plain" (to everyone else) person in a way that captures a beauty about them that then makes them beautiful to themselves and to others after they have seen the photograph of them than it is to photograph someone who is obviously beautiful (or obviously cute or "adorable", such as a child). In the latter case, the only challenge then might be to come up with an even more flattering or unusually interesting and attractive pose, angle, and expression. In group pictures it is interesting to try to capture individual personalities and relationships between the subjects instead of just "copying" a clump of individuals plastically standing or sitting together.