You are right, smiling through the tough times is a hard thing but we can atleast try to not lose our sanity and strive for making things better. Merely sulking and complaining won't make things right.
I love this map analogy as well. It was a light bulb moment for me for I never thought from that perspective before.
Decent pictures can be taken from phone's camera. One only needs to know how to utilize lights and in my case, I tweak manaual settings of Pro Mode in my camera. I am a complete noob as well but I read a lot of photography tips on Internet. Things like how to adjust ISO, shutter speed, aperture in different lights and kind of photo you want. Google this stuff and practice, I'm sure you will be able to click decents pictures.
Thank you very much for the tips