One comment and an amplification.

First, the amplification: Yes, the ultimate job, and measure of success, is to construct a beautiful image. The fundamental thing to learn is your eye. I personally take very few photos these days as I have been finding it hard to be inspired.

For me, it's not so much "make boring shit look beautiful" as it is to draw out the hidden or latent beauty that we all take for granted. In reality nothing is truly boring, as boredom is entirely in the mind of the observer. Anything and everything contains a vast amount of interest, if expressed properly -- it is our job to make that expression,

Now the comment: Gear and settings are important, settings much more than gear. I learned photography in the 1990s on film, with 1970s and 1960s equipment. My favorite piece of kit was a 6x6 Yashikamat twin lens reflex. My main camera these days is still a Nikon D700 from 2008 (chosen only because as an FX sensor, all my 1970s Nikon glass works with it). Gear helps, but only so far.

You need to know how all the settings work together to get the image you see in your head. You need to know your gear and how those settings interact with your kit to make it work. Does your prime have a chromatic aberration? Does your zoom get a bit soft in the middle range? Can your telephoto hold focus, or is there a little slop in it?

But the settings used are not relevant beyond that particular photo. What settings I used will not be the settings you may use. Some people believe that they can glean something from the raw settings - and you can, but not as much as you may want. Beyond the camera, the angle of the photo, time of day, weather, state of mind, all have interacted and conspired to generate the image. The settings in the camera are the last elements of the image prior to capture.

That said: as someone trained on black & white film (and hand developing), if you're not shooting in manual, you're doing it wrong. ;)

Thanks for letting me know that my art is legit xP