Ah... In old times I did manage to develop negatives and get prints done through my enlarger, but never managed to gear it to gallery level, while seeing friends mastering it "effortlessly" ! Flashes at that time (bulbs) were so complicated to manage (hot, dangerous, need a computer while measuring distances, fill-in either black or white, etc.)!
In more modern era (since the FA), freedom ! You could take a picture agains the sun and still see something !
The digital era, just brought back everything to the computer, so it seems quite easier, and the latest Speedlights... Well they just work (don't ask me how)!
But taking picture is still trying to put in a small frame a wonderful scenery (or portrait), happily, since the 6x6 era, the framing is almost perfect (left is left and top is top).
You don't have to learn German anymore to understand how to operate the camera (Schwarzschild, Scheimpflug, etc.), but hear or read complicated and weird theories on pixels and alpha blendings, YCbCr, TSV, TSL, SVG... Duuh !
Photography is the most wonderful toy for incompetent adults...