Is it possible to be professional photographer relying only in digital photography?

Question

Without any understanding in film photography?

or along, I would understand film photography by itself?


10 pts. for good or detailed answer

Answer 1

I suspect that it IS possible to be a totally digital professional photographer in today’s world, as long as the person has full understand of the technical as well as practical use of the technology, with basic knowledge of ISO (which comes from film technology) and has his skills and talents to enable him/her to compete in today’s competitive and specialized world of photography. That includes the ability to understand composition, cropping, posing, use of artificial and/or natural light, filters, use of colors, etc., and the ability to anticipate when to press the shutter release, which only comes with experience.

I recall reading about the lively debates of yesteryear centering on whether or not photography was an art form, akin to today’s debates on film vs digital technology. But every step that progress has brought us has had its share of debates, too.

I can only imagine how those that learned and used the Daguerreotype process must have felt when they were exposed to the direct positive images on glass (ambrotypes) and metal (tintype use of an emulsion of gelatin and silver bromide on glass plates or ferrotypes), and to Kodak’s roll film of 1889 or so. OR, imagine how the working photographers must have felt around 1907 when the first commercial color film the Autochrome plates (manufactured in France by the Lumiere Brothers)! And, when the Leitz company in Germany developed the camera using the modern 24x36mm sprocketed 35mm movie film around 1914 or 1915, and the shock waves caused by these smaller and more portable cameras must have had on the public and working professionals! Of course, the development of Kodachrome, the first color multi-layered color film must have had an effect on the popular use of black and white films, too. Just like the now quaint Polaroid film and cameras of 1963, which are now museum curiosities. I still recall how the popularity of color films in the late 60s to mid-70s and how everyone taunted those that still used and developed black and white films and sounded the death tolls of black and white film back then and hand-painted black and white photos with oil paints, yet black and white today is still a popular medium throughout the world.

Who could have imagined back in the mid-70s the revolution that digital photography was to make on the photographic world when Nicholas Nixon took his first annual photograph of his wife and her sisters (The Brown Sisters) using the first working CCD-based digital still camera made by Steve Sasson at Kodak?

Progress continues and whosoever fails to embrace it will be doomed to stay in the past (I am one of those fossils that still uses film). It was back in the mid-80s, as I recall, when Minolta first introduced the world’s first auto focus SLR system and everyone mocked the technology and found all sorts of reasons why it would fail… or would not be embraced by either the public or the working professionals… how time changes!

Digital photography and film photography are both means and ways of doing the same thing, capturing images and “immortalizing a slice of life that will not repeat itself every again.”

Technological advances are nothing more than the inevitable progress that must take place if humanity is to continue to progress; one invention has many ramifications, and each ramification has still others and man's ingenuity is limitless!

I suspect that someone CAN learn and become a successful photographer in today’s modern and competitive, specialized world if that person has the skills and talents and the passion to succeed without first learning film technology… but it is not necessarily the best avenue of approach. Is it possible? Yes, but I do not recommend it since I still believe that film technology enables the person to learn the basics of photography (understanding the parts of cameras, ISO, lenses, filters, composition, cropping, use of natural and artificial light, filters, etc) without the complications of the digital technology.

Answer 2

Certainly.

Two things. Film is the technology from the past that has certain properties. The great photographers were not film experts as much as people who understood how to take the right photos and understood the limits of film. Film is not better or worse. It has attributes and some are easier or more difficult to work with compared to digital.

Digital is like an alternative film. There are things you can do and things you can not do. For the most part it is a matter of degree. If it was not true then you would not see so many professional photographers who learned their trade with film now shooting only digital.

Similar to SLR vs. other camera formats. Even within the film world certain tools work better in specific situations.

The biggest difference between a great photographer and someone just starting in knowledge and experience. Study and practice using all digital and you will do just fine if you have an aptitude for taking photos.

At the extremes film or digital might be better. There are so many great digital cameras you can focus there. If you find that there is something that can only be done with film then go for the film option. There is not that much unless you are in a specialize niche. Give it another 12-36 months and you should see even more reason why the digital has the full range covered.

Training, study, lots of practice (cheaper with digital) and you will do just fine.

A friend is the head of education at what was called Pixar (not Disney animation). He ran classes where animators would study lighting with real lights so they could understand the history of the craft. They also could see how physical lighting works. They they go back to using the computer with the added knowledge. They did not go back to shooting with film or hand drawing. Knowledge of what worked in the past but still moving forward with new tools.

Answer 3

You could probably be successful if you limit yourself to purely digital work, if you are very good (which goes for all photography).

However, you would not intuitively understand many of the issues and possibilities offered by film photography; and you would certainly have no understanding of the processes involved -- knowledge that can only be gained by experience.

Digital photographers seem to have much less understanding about light, in my opinion; and tend to do things that film photographers would avoid, because it is so easy to eliminate mistakes in digital format (deleting a bad pic); But, we learn from our mistakes, and that ability, to look back at a contact sheet you made 2 or 3 years ago, and compare the technique with what you are shooting now, is not possible.

All in all, I always start my students with film photography, and make sure they have a thorough grasp of it, before moving on to digital.

Answer 4

S5IS/S3IS are not professional cameras You need to look at the DSLR's. The can use all the EOS lenses, have larger sensors and features that professional photographers need. NO professional digital camera has a movie mode. The most current Canon cameras are the 40D and 1Ds Mark III You may be able to shoot image files that could make poster size prints, but only the Canon 1Ds Mark III ($8000) and the Nikon D3 ($4000) have the sensors to do that. More on the D3, D300, 40D and 1Ds Mark III if "Live Veiw" is important to you; from Ken Rockwell "Nikon has outdone Canon at Live View because Nikon's AF system works two different ways while in Live View, while Canon's does not work at all" Take your time and take the time to visit you local camera store and see how each camera feels in your hand and which is the easiest to control when looking through the viewfinder. You don't want to have to buy your BEST camera twice ... unless you need two bodies.

Answer 5

It's fine to rely on digital photography. My cousin is the photographer for the Boston Red Sox and he uses digital cameras all the time. He never took a class in photography but he has all the right equipment and knows how to use it. Just make sure you know your equipment.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

Yes. Even cameras like Sinar and Hasselblad
have digital equipment with 39+ mega-pixels
(over $30,000)
In some places (Churches of Cappadocia) you
can not take lighting equipment for indoor shoots
so it is better to rely on digital where you can immediately
see results on a large monitor (which one needs to schlep)
You may not need to learn about "film" but should master "light".

Answer 8

A couple of points:

Someone who has talent (professionally trained or not) can take a great photo with any kind of camera.

The best camera in the world will not turn a hack into a great photographer.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

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