Commercial Photography

Commercial photography is a very wide net to cast. However commercial photographer have one thing in common-they are being paid for taking that photograph. They are commissioned by someone to create a certain image, whether it's a company who want photographs for their ad campaign or an editor who hires a photographer for some photojournalism. Sometimes they're glamorous e.g. a fashion shoot, sometimes...not so much (photographers are paid to take pictures of  a crime scene for the police therefore it is considered commercial even though it doesn't fit in with the stereotype people often attach). It is named commercial photography because the photographer is paid not because it is a style used to SELL, SELL, SELL! 

What is thought to be typical 'commercial photography', often called commercial advertising photography, is a very popular style.There are many commercial photographers although some really made a name for themselves such James Nader, a London photographer who has been commissioned everywhere from Italy to New York. He mainly specialises in fashion, beauty and advertising. Here is a sample of his work...

Each of these photographs have a unique composition and even a unique style but all commercial advertising photographs have one purpose and one purpose only: to persuade the consumer to buy this product. So whether its jewellery, doughnuts or make up the same principles apply.

So after researching some commercial photographers for inspiration, I took the leap and started experimenting myself. My aim was to produce something dynamic, crisp and something that would look, by recognition of the style, to be commercial advertising photography. Obviously, I would never have the resources (or the patience) to create anything remotely close to Nader so I was prepared for it to be not as professional looking but I did want to see if I would be able to produce something with a similar style.

Started off with a white background for that slick and clean look! I experimented with many different subjects (all inanimate objects I'm afraid) but didn't quite find what I was looking for. They tended to look like ordinary still lifes instead of something for an ad so I carried on changing angles and changing lighting. Here are a couple from the glasseas campaign I as commissioned to do :) ...

I actually quite liked these photographs however what really bugged me was the hinge showing in the top left-hand corner of the left lens. Also when the shadows where cast they tended to be very distracting. I ended up giving up on finding an angle that works after I started tearing my hair out. As I was looking at the glasses frame in the images it occurred to me that to get the smooth and sleek look, you need to start off with a smooth and sleek subject...literally. I needed something smooth the light would just delicately bounce off. With the glasses frame in these photographs I felt the sleekness I was looking for so I set off to find a better subject.

That is when I came across the Olympia camera with the 50mm lens...love at first sight! Took it to the studio and started to get a feel for the texture and the way the light reflected when it hit the camera's surface. This is a diagram of the lighting I used. Note how the soft box in the top left-hand corner was considerably brighter in order to cast a shadow (See photographs below)

Once I had figured out how to light the camera I needed to figure out how to photograph it; I was happy with the composition it was merely a case of finding the correct viewpoint/angle. Here are some of the errors in the trial and error process...

I must admit this was one of my favourite images however I decided not to use it because I kept getting a reflection in the lens. I could have retouched it later however I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it look believable. Also the Olympia logo isn't showing well so it wouldn't work well as an ad.

I felt this angle led to the image being too confusing...I felt funny when I looked at it too long. That's the beauty of this angle I guess.....

With this photograph I felt that there was too much emphasis on the lens and not the whole camera so I felt it didn't work as well as some of the others.

Finally, I was able to capture the photograph I wanted and here it is...drum roll please...

I felt this one had just ticked all the boxes, including an obvious logo and the all-important sleek and smooth look. A criticism I had was the small black lump thing on the left had side of the camera (can't quite figure out what it is now...hm...). It's quite distracting and perhaps a slight change in angle would remove it! Also looking back now I wish I had taken the photograph from a slightly lower angle to show a little less of the lens. Other than that I'm quite happy really :)