> what I really take issue with is that taking a photograph entitles one to copyright protection, when the image is directly created by a machine (the camera), while all the photographer does is point the camera and click.

I hire photographers on a regular basis for corporate jobs and have a lot of respect for their skills. They are definitely not just “pointing and clicking.”

It’s about composing, setting the right light, arranging the scene, making your model be comfortable, capturing the right moment, and knowing the technology including processing a picture after it is made.

When they are good, it feels effortless. But it certainly isn’t.