Well,
apparently you can copyright pointing a device that
takes a photo and pressing a button - with no further
creative input. As you pointed out, it's not necessarily a
creative process.
Please don't be crass. Possibly the photographer went to immense trouble to
take a photograph. It doesn't matter, anyway. We can't just claim copyright
over photographs because we think that the photographer didn't have much
creative input.
In the good old pre-digital photography days the subject might take the
film home and develop it in his own darkroom doing whatever would be
needed to improve the picture. He would at least merit joint
authorship. Who owned the original negative was influential in
determining the outcome.
Ec