Commercial Photography Pricing

Investing in Commercial Photography

Investing in Commercial Photography helps promote and market your business. The key to commercial photographers is to find the right amount of experience to share your vision and where you want to with it.

What do Commercial Photographers do?

Commercial Photographers work with companies to communicate, display, market the product that they are looking to sell. They can help agencies and businesses by having specialized skills in photography.

Commercial Photographers will have expertise in lighting, mood and executing these moods. They will know how to get different light and different colors from a scene that can communicate the message of a product.

These photographers will also have experience with editing or using a retoucher for final photos. This is important in the digital age to remove blemishes, dust and anything that is distracting in a commercial photograph.

Getting Started

When getting in contact with a commercial photographer you should have a creative brief of what you would like the photographer to help you with as well as any additional questions that need to be sorted out.

Shoot Date - What day this needs to occur on or by. Deliverable date.
Example December 17th 2022 3:00pm-11:00pm. Final images January 15th 2023

Photo Use - Where these images will be used, remember to be specific to avoid copyright issues in the future. Think of the Social Media Usage, Billboard Usage, Print or other.
Example: Use in an Instagram Advertisement

Creative Direction- How do you want the photos taken? What kind of lighting would you like? Is there a creative word that explains this?
Example: Photograph of our custom mag in an inside area with different home features. Lighting soft and warm.
Shot List - The different shots and angles that you need.
Example: Front product view, top product view, 30 degree shot.
Creative Team - Who will help along with this photoshoot?
Example: Retoucher and Main Photographer

Additional things to put in

Intended Audience- who will be viewing the final photos.

Reference/ Additional Photos - similar to creating a moodboard. Photos that explain the final deliverables.

Understanding Commercial Contracts

A commercial photographer will put together a list of the different costs during the shoot. You can learn more about these here.

Pre-Production

Communication is key during the process of setting up a shoot together so that both parties are clear of the final deliverables and output of the project. Generally this begins with pre-production planning. Things like how many photos will be needed (shot list) , usage & licensing, model release forms, and contracts will need to be decided.

Production

After you have scheduled a time and or day to get the shoot done. This is the Production time. Your shots will be taken during this time. This includes any of the following

Post-Production

Post production includes reviewing the final images that will be used. This may take some time to finish. Some of the things included in post production include