What is commercial photography?

Article by: Jijo John

Taking pictures which are intended for commercial use could be called commercial photography.  By commercial use we mean advertise or help promote or sell a product, service or a person. Thus commercial photography always involves a client who wishes to have photographs taken of their product or service which they will use for their advertisements or labels or menus and for which they are willing to pay the photographer his/her fee.

commercial photography

Photographs that we see in magazines, advertising, brochures, leaflets, restaurant menus, online publications, corporate publications, billboards, CD covers or posters, websites, online catalogues  all fall under commercial photography.

What is the Main Purpose of Commercial Photography?

The primary intention of any client who requests a commercial shoot is to promote their brand. Boost the brands appeal, increase brand value, promote loyalty among customers, drive more sales etc are what the clients normally wish to get out of your images.

commercial photography

As a commercial photographer, one should help clients promote their business by creating images that help position the brand in the mind of the viewers in the desired way. To be successful as a commercial photographer one should create images that have a clear message, have mass appeal and is memorable which in turn helps clients reach goals that they envision.

Types of Commercial Photography

If we go by the definition that commercial photography is any photography for which the photographer is being paid remuneration, then there are many different types of photography which could be grouped under commercial photography; they are:

Advertising photography

advertising photography

Photographs made to illustrate and usually sell a service or product. Advertising photographs are often used in print advertisements, such as newspaper and magazine ads. These photographs might also be featured in online, billboard, mobile and even television advertisements. They may be straightforward depictions of a product or a model — or they could incorporate complex graphics and use the very latest post-production techniques to show that the company is on the leading edge. These shoots are generally done with an advertising agency, design firm or with an in-house corporate design team.

Architecture Photography

architecture photography

Architectural photography is the photographing of buildings and similar structures that are both aesthetically pleasing and accurate representations of their subjects.It has many classifications, but the two most common and simplest types are Interior and Exterior Architectural Photography. It is a common misconception that architecture photography is only photography of buildings. But in reality its far from the truth, and in fact most man-made structures come under the architecture umbrella, namely bridges, towers, windmills, monuments, and even lamp posts come under it.

Fashion and Glamour photography

fashion photography

Fashion photography is a type of photography that focuses mainly on clothing and other fashion accessories. Fashion photography is most often conducted for advertisements or fashion magazines. Over time, fashion photography has developed its own aesthetic in which the clothes and fashions are enhanced by the presence of exotic locations or accessories.

Glamour photography on the other hand emphasizes on the model and their body form. Glamour photography is popular in advertising and men's magazines. Models in glamour photography sometimes work nude.

Crime Scene photography

Also referred to as forensic imaging or Forensic photography is the art of producing an accurate reproduction of a crime scene or an accident scene using photography for the benefit of a court or to aid in an investigation. It is part of the process of evidence collecting. It provides investigators with photos of victims, places and items involved in the crime. Pictures of accidents show broken machinery, or a car crash, and so on. Photography of this kind involves choosing correct lighting, accurate angling of lenses, and a collection of different viewpoints. Scales, like items of length measurement or objects of known size, are often used in the picture so that dimensions of items are recorded on the image. As per the demands of the situation forensic photographers often use a black and white camera or an infrared camera to capture specific details.

Still life photography

still life photography

Still life photography depicts inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made. Still life is a broader category for food and some natural photography and can be used for advertising purposes.

Food photography

food photography

Food photography is a still life specialization of commercial photography, aimed at producing attractive photographs of food for use in advertisements, packaging, menus or cookbooks. Professional food photography is a collaborative effort, usually involving an art director, a photographer, a food stylist, a prop stylist and their assistants

Editorial photography

Illustrates a story or idea within the context of a magazine "Editorial" refers to the market where the images will be used -- primarily books, magazines, and newspapers -- and, to a lesser extent, to the style of photography that appears in these venues. Editorial images illustrate and reflect the issues, themes, and events (both big and small) of our world today. Editorial images portray specific people, places, things and events that provide context for newspaper and magazine articles, blog posts, websites and other non-commercial presentations.. Photojournalism can be considered a subset of editorial photography. Photographs made in this context are accepted as a documentation of a news story.

Portrait and wedding photography

wedding photography

Portrait photography or portraiture is photography of a person or group of people that displays the expression, personality, and mood of the subject. Like other types of portraiture, the focus of the photograph is usually the person's face, although the entire body and the background or context may be included.

Landscape photography

landscape photography

Landscape photography shows spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times microscopic. Photographs typically capture the presence of nature but can also focus on man-made features or disturbances of landscapes.

Wildlife photography 

wildlife photography

Demonstrates the life of animals. Wildlife photography is one of the more challenging forms of photography. As well as needing sound technical skills, such as being able to expose correctly, wildlife photographers generally need good field craft skills. For example, some animals are difficult to approach and thus a knowledge of the animal's behavior is needed in order to be able to predict its actions. Photographing some species may require stalking skills or the use of a hide/blind for concealment.

Pet photography

The art of photographing pets. It involves several aspects that are similar to traditional studio portraits. It can also be done in natural lighting, outside of a studio, such as in a client's home. Requires special skill from the part of the photographer like knowledge about animals and their behavior etc.

Paparazzi Photography

A form of photojournalism in which the photographer captures candid images of athletes, celebrities, politicians, and other prominent people.

These are the different types of commercial photography and we shall look into each of them in much detail in future articles.