Commercial & Advertising Photography

Picturing-Life photographers are often commissioned by advertisement agencies, brands, and companies, but also individuals, for commercial, advertising, or product photography projects.

Commercial photography, as opposed to fine art photography, is being created for marketing, sales, or promotion purposes. Commercial photos are used to promote and market a brand, a product, or even a service, in catalogues, websites, and printed materials (leaflets, posters, flyers, etc). The main intention is to provide promotional photos that make merchandise appealing to buyers. New product launches, new market openings, and even selling old items, require high-quality commercial photos.

On the other hand, advertising photography is all about making a long-lasting impression. It shows a product or service in its most favourable light, but the main intention is to make the viewer want to have it. Playing with a certain expression of a mood or feeling, the photo is constructed to generate a craving for the lifestyle illustrated in the image, as opposed to just desiring the item itself.

What is Commercial Photography

Commercial photography is a subgenre of photography that aims at creating a bridge between consumers and brands through their products. This is a very important step between creating the product and offering it to the public.

Commercial photography is everywhere around us and is an integral part of our lives without necessarily understanding it. As consumers, it is crucial to see a photo of what we are buying or else it’s unlikely that we’ll go ahead with the purchase. And this makes total sense! From everyday objects to luxury items, everything needs to be photographed in a way that brings out its competitive advantages and the feelings that each brand and company has planned for this specific product.

Commercial photography emphasizes capturing the product in a visually appealing way. Ideal lighting conditions, well-selected backgrounds, props, and styling are coming together to make the product stand out. Of course, sometimes the “product” can be a service, and in this case, the photos might depict someone supplying or receiving a service.

What is Advertising photography?

Advertising photography is similar to commercial photography, and by some, it is considered a sub-genre of commercial photography. In advertising photography, the goal is to produce images of products or merchandise that are appealing to the hearts and minds of consumers and the general public. Feelings play an important role in advertising photography.

The product is photographed in such a way that the viewers can imagine how they could benefit by owning and using the specific product or service. And if the photographer has done their job well, the viewer eventually feels they must acquire this product! An advertising photographer not only takes photos of products but links them to lifestyle choices since lifestyle plays a very important role in our choices as consumers.