I have been lucky enough to do this for the past 30+ years. Starting way before the digital revolution, I learnt how to take photographs the right way - lighting, composition and exposure, film was expensive, as were the Polaroids we shot. You had to get it right, it may have been hours or days until you saw the results on film. Shooting on all
formats from 35mm up to 10" x 8", but now I use high end digital cameras and state of the art Apple Mac's for post-production and editing.
I still have the eternal conversation with people who say, "That's a nice photograph, you must have a good camera".
"Not really", I say, "You only need a good photographer with years of experience".