Commercial photography is what businesses employ to market, promote and sell their products and services. It is a tool for advertising a company’s products and services. The impact of visuals is long-lasting on the human brain, but an excellent visual is essential to grab the attention of the target audience in the first place. Any business or company needs good marketing to bring good sales, and there are many marketing tools, some online and some offline. Commercial photography is something that can be utilized both for offline and online marketing strategies and mediums.
Types of Commercial Photography
- Fashion Photography
Fashion photography revolves around clothing, accessories, cosmetics, etc., related photography.
- Portrait Photography
Portrait photography is usually utilized to present a person, such as an owner or founder of a company or someone who has done something remarkable. It focuses on what that person reflects through their personality, with the help of a particular pose, positioning, location, etc.
- Product Photography
Product photography is when a particular product is photographed but with proper aesthetic and visually appealing background settings. This is the type of photography that is probably the most utilized one. It attracts the potential customer base and increases sales.
- Food Photography
Food photography, as it suggests, is the professional photography of food items to showcase the food and attract customers by reflecting how delicious the food is. For example, the images on the digital screen in McDonald’s, which shows the menu with food items, are clicked professionally. One of the facts that many people don’t know is that while photographing the food professionally, there are certain products used that make the food items look attractive and delicious. In reality, food cannot look that way or wouldn’t look that way for long. It is a skill of the photographer.
- Architecture Photography
Many commercial photographers specialize in architectural photography. With their unique perspectives, they capture the photographs from different angles that highlight the beauty of the architecture. Often, you pass by a building regularly and feel it is not unique. A leading commercial photographer in Toronto knows how to make that same building look special.
There are some more categories of commercial photography such as advertising, headshots, landscapes, nature for tourism, real estate, and so on.
What does a commercial photographer do?
Businesses hire commercial photographers, but why? There are specific reasons for hiring commercial photographers. Commercial photographers have the unique perspective, requisite skills, and experience needed to photograph your product or service in a way that will bring you the most sales, attract the most customers and create a brand image for you as well. Now, how does a commercial photographer work?
- Builds your client base: Photographers help you create a brand image, which improves the scope of your client base.
- Communicate with your client: Photographers communicate with your clients to understand the product or services in-depth and the goals to be achieved. For example, whether the client wants to highlight a particular benefit of the product or the effectiveness of the service, a photographer can reflect the same in their photography.
- Frame the concept: After understanding the client’s requirements, the commercial photographer creates a frame for the concept, with the visually appealing background and product position, etc.
- Capture the images: Finally, the photographer captures the photograph from multiple angles, in multiple settings. There can be various dimensions depending on where the images are going to be used.
- Editing: With the multiple shots and various images, the photographers choose the best ones. Does the necessary editing for the perfection of lighting or color contrast, or other such aspects of any photograph?
Uses of Commercial Photography
Commercial photography is employed for marketing and advertising. But what are the uses of commercial photography, and where are the professionally captured images used?
- Hoardings
- Banners
- Menus
- Stickers
- Book Covers
- Flyers
- Social Media Platforms (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook)
- Website
- Posters
- Bus stand advertising
Commercial photography is the foundation of marketing; without quality visuals, it is difficult to attract your target audience, and leaving a long-lasting impact without a visual is nearly impossible. With commercial photography employed, you can see the difference and improvement in your sales. Visuals also contribute majorly to the creation of the brand image. Take any big brand, for example, McDonald’s, Tim Hortons, H&M, Swarovski, and so on, all of them are attractive because of their high-quality visuals, which also reflect more than just their products. It reflects who they are as a brand. The concept of ‘good brand’ or ‘branded products’ is upheld by good visual presentation. Local and small companies present their products and services with not-so-skilled photography, and it reflects in their sales and popularity. Commercial photography is a must to make sure you are the brand everyone chooses and prefers. The benefits of commercial photography are very evident and should not be undermined. A successful marketing strategy must include the utilization of commercial photography.