Professional commercial photography, also known as product photography is the type of photography which involves taking photos of different types of products including buildings, merchandise, artifacts, landscapes, etc. for commercial purposes. These photos are used in advertisement, merchandising, menus, leaflets, and other similar promotional materials.
Basically, commercial photography is used for promoting or selling a product or service and, is therefore, different from advertising photography.
To elaborate:
1. Professional Product Photography helps in Selling a Product
While advertising photography focuses on a concept or theme and many objects simultaneously, commercial photography focuses solely on the product, and aims to show either its design or features of the product. The idea is to make the product the main focus and to encourage customers to buy it.
2. Commercial photography helps in Promoting a Business
In this case a business is taken to be a single product and focused in the photo. A few features of the business can also be highlighted in this kind of photography. An example includes clicking the office building of the company.
3. Product photography includes Food Photography
In businesses like restaurants or in culinary sections in magazines, food photography plays an important part. The focus in these shots is generally on the food, menu or the venue.
4. Professional commercial photography includes Fashion Photography
One of the most famous types of commercial photography, Fashion photography is made use of in both ads as well as editorials in magazines. An eg. is catalog photos that highlight the close detail of clothing.
5. Professional product photography includes Portrait Photography
This type includes family and person portraits, wedding photos, etc. aimed to focus on an individual or group of people. And while it is not so easy to count this type as part of product photography, it is pretty famous and is a service offered by several photographers and outlets.
Tips to Improve Your Professional Commercial Photography Skills
Product Photography gives a lot of stress to skill and accuracy, and therefore, should be done in such a way that it appears professional rather than amateurish.
The below mentioned suggestions can help:
1. Appropriate Lighting
As applicable to other types of photography, the correct type of lighting is very important to an effective commercial photography. It is important to emphasize the best of the product, and incorrect light can cause unwanted effects like shadows and reflections that can mar the photograph.
You may consider making use of strobe lighting or handle the camera shutter to make use of the lighting.
2. Create The Perfect Atmosphere
A great commercial photographer knows the importance of creating the perfect setup for the product depending upon the ambient conditions. For eg., at times minimalist shot is the best option while during other times a more dramatic shot including bold lighting and colors can be more desirable. And hence, creating the correct atmosphere can produce a great picture.
3. Utilizing The Angles
If you’d like to avoid the boring front-on shots, it is a good idea to click multiple angle shots of the object. This can lead to a fresh take on everyday products while giving rise to an exciting final product using professional product photography.
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