Marta,
you'd be surprised how many show photographers are still shooting 2 1/4 film cameras. Basically, they like to shoot as automatically as possible (flash is primary lighting even outdoors) and have a lab process the film, make the proofs and make the final prints. Some have their own labs but the traditional photographers are more marketers than technicians.

Those that have gone digital have had to learn how to process images -- for many, it's the first time they've had to do it. These folks have never really had to be computer geeks so it's a whole new technology for many and that's why they've been slow to make the transition.

The digital pioneers -- which include John Ashbey who is one of the best -- have made the transition and continue to produce excellent images. For a while there, though, John's print quality suffered as he figured out how to fine-tune his images for printing.

When we transitioned into show photography, we realized that digital was the only way to go so we've been shooting and processing digitally for over 5 years. For a while, we had to deal with the fact that exhibitors were looking for equipment that had a significant "pro-factor" i.e. something comparable to the Hasselblads the other photographers were using. It's taken a while to prove to people that just because you use the same camera that I do does not mean you can produce the same images that I can. The "pro-factor" is the person holding the camera.

The business had gotten more competitive recently and more specialized: there are more photographers migrating into shooting digital show formals in Conformation but there are also more photographers getting into the Performance events such as Agility, Lures Coursing, etc. And that's where digital is really making a significant difference in the shooting and, especially, the on-site proofing and delivery of images.

Right now, if I were to guess, I'd say less than 40% of the show images in Conformation are being shot digitally. Given where that technology is today, I'd say that's remarkable. How many commercial photographers are still all film-based? Anyway, that's a capsule overview of the business of show photography from my (admittedly biased) point of view.

Cheers,

Jim