Commercial Photography And Its Uses - By: Jane Muder

The work of skilled photographers can have many commercial uses. From corporate brochures and reports to architectural firm marketing to sales, there exist many avenues requiring the use of high-quality color photography.

Corporate photography

Many corporations, especially large, publicly held firms, produce annual reports describing their business efforts and dealings to shareholders. These reports can be enhanced by high-quality color portraiture of major members of the company, or shots of a department or business team in action.

Other companies use corporate photography for marketing brochures to give to current or prospective clients, or to pass out at job interviews or at recruiting events. In these instances, the company or corporation should be portrayed in the best possible fashion. Many individuals recognize stock images, and they are viewed in graphic design and layout circles as dull and unimaginative choices. Companies come across as modern and forward-thinking when they use creative, original photographs in their marketing literature and brochures.

It can cost a bit more, initially, to use a professional corporate photographer for company marketing literature or for a corporate report – but the payoffs to spending a bit of cash can be immense. Talented and experienced corporate photographers can devise new ways to depict a company's activities and set that company apart from competitors. They might use unique shots or compositions of several images to show people at work, or might portray a team having fun or participating in charity events. Some corporate photographers focus exclusively on team member and managerial head shots, intended to be used in brochures or on company Web sites.

Architectural and interiors photography

The artful depiction of architectural interiors and exteriors is an art in itself. Here, too, corporate photographers can make major differences in the way buildings, office parks, new construction, and interiors of all kinds are portrayed.

Good lighting is a critical component of a successful interior or exterior photograph – and different scenarios or building designs might require different types of lighting conditions. For example, a modern, bright white office building designed in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright is likely to require a different set of lighting conditions and different photographic angles than a Gothic mansion might. Similarly, photographs of college dormitories or student facilities for a university brochure should look very different from pictures of a kitchen-and-bathroom remodeling project.

Architectural photography has a variety of uses. Pictures of office buildings can be placed in company reports or can be used in a book or magazine to visually describe a workplace. Pictures of homes can be used by development firms, real estate brokers, or community planners to show living spaces for sale or rent. Pictures of church, cathedral, or synagogue interiors are useful for religious newsletters, event planning companies, and community newsletters or newspapers. And, photographs of industrial plants and factories can be useful in safety brochures or reports, business magazines and newsletters, or OSHA documents.

As is the case with corporate photography, these images can be used in-house, or can be taken to professional design firms to create finished pieces. Some photographers also finish their own photographs, using tools like Adobe Photoshop to enhance and correct hue, saturation, sharpness, and other pictorial elements.

Aerial and landscape photography

Many professional photographers make careers out of photographing scenes and scenarios outdoors. This requires a different approach and technique than architectural, interior, or corporate photography does.

Aerial photographs are typically taken from great heights. This means that the cameras used for this type of picture-taking cannot be supported by tripods or other traditional means. Aerial cameras might instead be supported by helicopters, blimps, airplanes, or other structures able to travel to great heights. The photographer must be skilled at his or her craft, because framing the picture requires consideration of altitude and picture angle to achieve correct perspective. This type of picture-taking has a wide variety of uses. For example, the resulting photos might be used to make maps or to stitch together illustrations of an area's topography and major elevations. This type of photograph can also be useful in real estate advertising and in brokerage firms to show how neighborhoods are laid out.

Landscape photography also requires knowledge of perspective, proportion, and horizon lines. Professionals who concentrate in this field have the knowledge and tenacity to work outdoors in many different sorts of weather conditions. If conditions are inclement, they have the dedication to re-schedule shoots – or, to make the weather elements work in their favor. If you have ever seen a breathtaking picture of a violent thunderstorm on a beach or a tornado ripping across the plains, you are viewing the talent of a skilled professional landscape photographer.

Professional landscape shots might include trees, windmills, animals, insects, plants, or flowers. The more elements a landscape contains, the more complex a photo can become. Professionals understand how to achieve compositional balance while taking these pictures. The colors of nature can be vibrant, even overpowering – and true professionals know how to make these colors look lush, breathtaking, and inviting.

Professional photographers skilled at portraying landscapes, topographies, buildings, and interiors are invaluable assets to corporations, businesses, non-profits, and designers. A perfectly captured picture from one of these professionals is a treasure.

About the Author

Paul Schlismann is a professional photographer specializing in travel and landscape architectural and interiors; aerial; industrial; and corporate photography. He divides his time between Phoenix, Arizona, and Chicago, Illinois, traveling across the country for photography projects. For more information, or to view his work, visit Paul Schlismann's photography Web site.

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