As far as I understand Ansel Adams saw the printmaking with his highly skilled and elaborate dodging and burning as a key aspect of his photographic art, hence "making a photograph".
Today we have almost limitless post-processing possibilities so there's no clear line between photography and graphic arts. I think this makes "creating a photograph" sound quite suspicious, like it's about manipulation. As I find the documentary aspect important in my own photography, I would avoid using "creating a photograph" to describe how I work.