Do any pro photographers still use film?

Question

Aside from shooting celebs like Annie Leibovitz does, is there any area where film photogs can still make a living?

Answer 1

absolutely all of the pro
john

Answer 2

The equation is simple, if the amount of work you do at the price you do it is enough, you will make a living.

Now, the reality is that photography, from the point that images were reproducible from an original, has been a field that feeds a commodity oriented marketplace and it has a voracious appetite for all types of images. When you can meet the needs of a particular segment of the marketplace, you will make a living.

Digital photography is extremely attractive to the working pro for a lot of reasons, some are technical, some directly effect doing business and where these two influences combine in digitals favor, most pros go digital.

The fine arts photographer, who doesn't depend on volume and works under more or less consistent and predictable circumstances, can shoot film for their business. They don't have to sort through and process hundreds of images per assignment the way many wedding and event photographers do. There are other examples where the field is virtually owned by digital, though there are exceptions.

Commercial studio work is another area where the choice can be film, or digital, as the photographer prefers, or the job requires.

Vance

Answer 3

The use of film is getting less and less - and less - as the quality of digital escalates with each day, it seems.
Most everyone would agree that digital has equalled film in many respects and even surpassed it. The days of film are numbered - ask Mr Kodak.
Digital also has so many other advantages, portability (less cluttered equipment bags with no film stock to lug around), immediacy - and that may well be THE best advantage, and cheapness. You can shoot all you like on digital and each frame is easily accessed for decisions on whether to delete there and then or not.
Opportunities? Of course. There are so many branches and some people are making a living yet have no 'artistic' talent. Many photojournalists are mere hacks who are able to get to the scene of the incident in time and feed an image of any sort back to the newspaper ... doesn't take much skill compared to other branches of the game.
You could specialise in close-ups of venomous snake-fangs :)

Answer 4

The difference is blurring between an entry and pro dslr. The pro camera is made of a stronger alloy for the body, and not to much plastic. Shutter is usually rated at 150K I believe. Also higher megapixels and full frame chip are common too. Possibly dual card slots, quicker motor drive 8-9 frames per second. Entry level dslr are also very good, maybe more plastic in the body, not as many shots with the shutter mechanism. Slower motor drive, maybe 5-6 frames per sec. An 8x10 photo taken with either camera would be hard to tell the difference between them. I am sure there are more, but these are the main differences.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Plenty of photographers make a living and still shoot film - consider photojournalist David Burnett:
http://www.davidburnett.com/index.html

or sports photographer Walter Iooss Jr.:
http://www.walteriooss.com/

It'll be rare, if not impossible, to find a photographer who strictly shoots film any more; most will pick the right equipment, whether or film or digital, for each job.

Answer 7

Sure. Some types of commercial photography still I still shoot on medium format, as I already have all the gear and to get something digital that would match 4x5 or even 120 would cost gobs of money.

I also still shoot black and white film. Even though digital black and white has improved dramatically in the past few years, there are still some darkroom techniques that I prefer doing with a real darkroom.

Answer 8

Sure. I know a lady who takes original photographs and artistic portraits. She is quite successful and has her own shop. It is getting your work out there and becoming known by the right kinds of people that is the main barrier to success (not counting actual skill)

ed. I believe she still uses film sometimes but mostly her work is digital.

Answer 9

absolutely, most of the pro art photogs still use film but just about everybody in advertising has gone digital. P.S. alot of fashion photographers still use film (medium format)

Answer 10

im 95% digi 5% film, then i'm far from fine art Annie levels, so yeah your right - only the top use mostly film, the bottom feaders find digi does it best most of the time - like me

this guy only uses film and there are quite a few others, what ever fits the purpose best........

http://www.andrisapse.com/

a

Answer 11

Most landscape photographers still use 8"x10" or other large format film cameras. It just offers a lot more detail.

One environmental photographer, Richard Misrach used large format film, and if I'm not mistaken, he still uses it.