How Commercial Photography Changed My Career Forever
I transitioned to commercial work back in 2018 and it’s easily the best decision I’ve ever made for my business.
In the last five years, I’ve been fortunate to shoot some amazing projects for notable brands, small clients, and everything in between. At times, it truly feels surreal that I get to do this for a living. But I couldn’t have gotten to this point without help along the way.
Commercial photography is truly a different world, complete with its own jargon, expectations, and best practices. By far, my most valuable resources have always been my colleagues – active commercial photographers in varying markets who were always willing to answer my random barrage of questions whenever I struggled to put together an estimate or work through the logistics of an upcoming shoot.
Through my colleagues and mentors, I discovered associations like APA (American Photographic Artists) and ASMP (American Society of Media Professionals), and tools like fotoQuote and BlinkBid, which provide pricing references and help you put together commercial estimates.
But resources like this remain largely esoteric – practically hidden from the mainstream. I’m reminded of this fact whenever I can’t get a hold of my colleagues for help and am forced to do some Googling, which is hardly ever helpful.
This brings me to the point of this article, and ultimately, my mission as a leading learner and educator in the photography space. My goal is to empower photographers who want to transition to shooting commercial work and to make the whole process less confusing, and even, dare I say, a lot more fun.
1) Your Images Need to Sell
A few years ago I hired some photography consultants to give me feedback on my portfolio. I learned that my work at the time was lacking commercial viability, i.e. the ability to sell something.
I had plenty of nicely-lit portraits of models in my portfolio, but those images just featured the subject, nothing else. In other words, it had no commercial appeal.
A compelling commercial image captures the viewer’s attention, conveys a clear message, and inspires them to take action. When prospective clients visit your site, you want to immediately show them you’re capable of creating photographs that sell – whether that’s a product, service, or idea.
After that portfolio review session, I went back to the drawing board and assigned myself new projects to start building my commercial portfolio.
2) Know the Value of Your Images
In the commercial world, it’s imperative that you at least know the basics of usage and licensing and how they impact your fees. Equipping yourself with this knowledge will help you effectively price your work and avoid leaving money on the table when negotiating on projects.
Simply put, how your client plans to use your images determines how much your fee will be. For example, a large company that wants to use your images on billboards across the United States will pay a much higher usage fee than a small company that just wants to use your images on its website.
Websites like Wonderful Machine and aPhotoEditor often share real-life estimates of commercial productions along with the producer’s commentary on why they chose the numbers they did. These case studies are tremendously valuable in helping you understand the value of commercial photography and how images are used.
3) Every Project is Different (and Your Pricing Should Be Too)
It’s not uncommon for retail photographers to have package pricing for the services they offer. Package pricing makes sense when all of your sessions have the same workflow and expected deliverables (and when image usage isn’t a factor).
But package pricing isn’t a thing in the commercial world, as every client project is unique. A complex production with lots of moving parts dictates larger fees and expenses. Conversely, a simple shoot with minimal crew and limited usage entails much smaller fees.
The best way to price your work is to carefully consider all of the variables for each inquiry you receive and customize your estimate every time. Consider variables like the number of shoot days, whether a scout day is required, the size of your crew, how much post work is needed, travel expenses, and of course, the usage of the images.
4) A Good Crew is Mandatory
When I first started out, I took everything on myself, wearing the hat of producer, photographer, director, assistant, retoucher, and so on.
At some point in my career, I realized that I didn’t have the bandwidth to do all of those things on my own. That’s when I knew it was time to bring on an assistant.
My assistant helps me set up and break down my equipment, catches things in the frame that I might miss, and anticipates what I’ll need for the next shot, like a lens change or different lighting setup.
Ultimately, having a good assistant saves you precious time so that you can focus on what you do best, interacting with your subjects and capturing the shot.
Outside of an assistant, it pays to keep a database of reliable crew members – digi techs, makeup artists, key grips, gaffers, wardrobe stylists, and so on. Having a solid team to call on will serve you well when a job comes along and you’re able to provide solutions.
5) Always Be Networking
It’s no secret that forming relationships yield opportunities. We all know how important it is to network, but who do we network with?
I’ve learned to look for people who worked in either the marketing or production department of their company with titles such as:
Director of Production
Production Manager
Head of Production
Line Producer
Creative Director
Photography Manager
Photo Producer
Photo Editor
Director of Marketing
Marketing Manager
While the above certainly isn’t an exhaustive list, hopefully, it gives you an idea of common titles and roles of key decision-makers in commercial photography projects. Make an effort to reach out and connect with these people whenever you have the opportunity.
Even in bid situations where I ultimately wasn’t chosen for the job, if I feel I made a good connection with the photo producer, I’ll ask if we can stay in touch via LinkedIn. Just because they didn’t hire you this time doesn’t mean they never will, and staying on their radar could land you a different opportunity down the road.
One final thought on networking. It’s easy to be so focused on our own goals and ambitions that we forget there are lots of creatives out there with cool projects of their own. I always try to keep my finger on the pulse of what people in the creative community are working on and will reach out if it’s something I want to be a part of.
People always appreciate it whenever you reach out with a genuine interest to collaborate with them. In fact, I landed one of the biggest opportunities of my career because I reached out to a local production house and offered to shoot stills pro bono for a project they were working on. They were impressed with my work and ended up hiring me for a few other large-scale client productions.
6) Slow Season is Grow Season
Photographers are quick to post about what they’re working on whenever they’re busy, but you don’t see anyone confessing when business is slow. I’ve learned not only to expect the seasonal slowness (for me, it’s usually December through February) but to leverage that downtime to create fresh, new work.
Being busy with client work is a very good problem to have, but the downside to shooting for someone else is you don’t get to experiment with new techniques and push your creative boundaries. Giving yourself the freedom to explore and make mistakes is crucial to your growth as a creative professional.
Creating for yourself isn’t just therapeutic, there’s also a great chance that you’ll create something worthy of showcasing in your portfolio. Some of my best work (and work that clients have said stood out to them) was created from self-assigned projects.
7) Be Someone People Want to Be Around
Recently I was hired to capture press photos for a notable production company that was wrapping a feature film in my hometown. There were over twenty people on the first creative call we had and I quickly learned that this shoot was going to be big.
The entire pre-production process up until the day of the shoot was full of changes and updates – something that’s not uncommon with projects on this scale. We were sent multiple shot lists and storyboards to prepare for a variety of scenarios we might encounter.
On the day of the shoot, I could sense some tension and nervousness in the air. A lot of work goes into these big productions and you have to be prepared to pivot at any moment if something doesn’t go according to plan.
I made it my goal to ensure both the talent and client reps were happy and having a good time. I introduced myself to each cast member before photographing them and kept the conversation light, which encouraged them to loosen up and be more comfortable in front of my camera.
As we were shooting, the client reps gave us their feedback and we quickly and happily obliged their requests for any necessary changes that needed to be made.
Once the shoot wrapped, so many of the cast members and people on the production team thanked me and my team for rolling with the punches. It was clear we made an impression on them by remaining calm and having positive energy on set.
The moral of the story here is that people enjoy working with pleasant people. Be flexible and personable, and you’ll get called back for another job.
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Switching to commercial work changed my career. It’s given me the opportunity to shoot some really fun projects with some amazing people, all while making more money than I ever have before.
I hope this article inspires you to see the possibilities and take action with your own career.
Thank you for reading!