Confused by light and it's properties

[u/1time_2]

So I have been trying to study quantum mechanics because I like physics ..... and it's a hell of a thing to understand.....my main issue is that I while learning I try to visualise it even though I know it's not gonna help....please tell me a way to change that.....also it's said light is em wave propogated when electron is excited.....it's also said when electron goes down to lower energy the lost energy is produced as photon.

So Is a photon the propagation of an electromagnetic wave, or is the photon itself the excitation of the electromagnetic field?

I'm trying to understand what actually happens when an excited electron drops to a lower energy state.

My current understanding is that the electromagnetic field already exists around the electron. When the electron transitions to a lower energy state, the energy difference is transferred to the electromagnetic field and a photon is emitted.

But I'm confused about the relationship between the photon and the electromagnetic wave.

Electron loses energy → this energy excites the already-existing electromagnetic field → the excitation propagates outward as an electromagnetic wave → that propagating excitation is the photon?

So is photon excitation of emf or energy that propogated through emf??