What is commercial photography?

Helping Businesses sell their products and services

Commercial photography is a genre that encompasses any photos used for a business or publication. Essentially, it’s photography that helps sell things. When we do commercial photography, it’s because a company has a product or service to sell and needs content to help sell it. From ad campaigns to websites to billboards to

social media campaigns, there’s almost no limit to the potential commercial uses for photos.

Below are behind-the-scenes (BTS) photos from a fashion photoshoot with Omari luxury leather ski wear. Post Meridiem, a Denver marketing and branding company, and Jeff Weeks at Show the Story teamed up for the Omari photoshoot, which proved to be extremely successful.

A fashion stylist working with a model

A creative director with the owner of Omari overseeing a photoshoot

Getting the final details ready for the photoshoot

Celebrating the end of a successful photoshoot

Types of Commercial photography

Fashion photography, corporate lifestyle and headshots, product photography, hotel and travel photography, restaurant and food photography, and architectural photography are just some of the types of photos that fall under the commercial umbrella. We can work in a studio to produce a unique, stylized photography shoot. We can shoot outdoors on location, or a company may hire us to shoot at their location. Also, a company may simply purchase a usage rights license to use a photo we took independently.

While "lifestyle" photography predates social media, the authentic look of photos that brands now seek out has transformed the advertising photography landscape. Instead of product photography always being done in a studio, the commercial genre has branched out to include the wide field of lifestyle photography, which has a human element in it, or shows interaction with a product. In lifestyle photography, the actual product or service may take a back seat to the environment or the artistry of the image. The goal is to create an image that shows the product or service seamlessly integrated into the subject’s lifestyle. For example, here are photos from a product lifestyle project we are currently working on regarding Chaco footwear.