What could be more powerful than product images that have a psychological and emotional impact on the mind, causing them to become a part of our lives?
Nowadays, almost everyone checks out products that pop up on the screen while browsing Facebook, Instagram, or other social media platforms and feels the need to purchase them. This is how strongly advertising photography can influence customers’ purchasing decisions.
However, capturing high-impact advertising photos is not so easy. Among millions of photographs, only a few of them create a lasting impression on the customer’s minds. Don’t worry. We’ve designed this comprehensive advertising photography guide to make your photography journey simple and organized. You’ll explore types of advertising photography, techniques to capture great shots, guidelines to start your career in the advertising industry and a lot more!
Advertising photography is a category of commercial photography used for business purposes. In advertising photography, high-quality images of products are captured to showcase the features and value of the product in the customers’ lives. Photographers use their creativity to capture unique and intriguing photos that grab the attention of the target audience and convey the brand’s message effectively.
The goal of advertising photography is to evoke emotions, tell a story and create a desire for the product in customer’s minds. For this reason, different advanced techniques, props and lighting setups are used to make the products look attractive and high-quality. Also, image editing techniques are used to manipulate images and create hyper-realistic effects on products, like perfectly spiraling water or floating particles.
Advertising photography is mostly used in various marketing materials, such as eCommerce websites, online ads, social media sites, billboards, magazines, product packaging, still images used in TV commercials and so on.
Commercial Vs Advertising Vs Catalog Photography: What’s the Difference?
Commercials, advertising and catalog photography are all related to showcasing products or services. However, the purpose, setup, shooting method, and presentation style of each technique are unique. The following are the key features that make these 3 photography techniques unique.
| Categories | Advertising Photography | Commercial Photography | Catalog Photography |
|---|---|---|---|
Purpose | Advertising photography is to spark interest within the customer about a product or service. | Commercial photography promotes a product or service by emphasizing its functions. | Catalog photography clearly showcases the product details, sizes and other necessary information. |
Composition Style | Creative and artistic style are used to design the composition of advertising photography. | Commercial photography uses both creative and simple composition styles depending on the products or theme. | Simple and minimalistic style is used to eliminate distractions and focus solely on the product. |
Mood | Advertising photography influences the purchasing decisions of customers through emotional bonding or storytelling. | Commercial photography tries to maintain a balance between emotion and information. | Catalog photography focuses on information rather than emotion. |
Used platforms | Advertising photos are mostly used in different forms of advertisements, billboards, marketing campaigns and so on. | Commercial product images are used on business websites, brochures, social media marketing, packaging and promotional materials. | Catalog photographs can be seen in product catalogs, brochures, eCommerce websites and other sales materials. |
Why is Advertising Photography Important?
The goal of advertising photography is to create visually striking images that draw attention of the customer as well as highlight the unique value of a product or service.
Are you preparing to launch a new product, carry out a marketing campaign, or plan an exciting brand collaboration? Professional advertising photography is all you need to tell your brand’s story and get connected with your target audience.
Let’s check out how you can benefit from advertising photography.
- Creative advertising photographs help to create a long-lasting impression among customers.
- Customers are more likely to purchase a product or service if the advertising images are sharp and clear, as they can understand the features, benefits, or functionalities in detail.
- Great advertising photos create an authentic and trustworthy brand image. Customers tend to have trust in the quality of the product since an attractive presentation is the key to selling them.
- High-quality advertising images are powerful tools for growing your brand. Marketing images can convey brand messages without the need for text or language.
- Unique and jaw-dropping advertising images have the potential to go viral and be seen by millions of people.
- Advertising photography is a cost-effective marketing strategy compared to video advertising.
What are the Types of Advertising Photography?
Each product has unique characteristics that require specific photography styles and techniques to make them look their best. Below we’ve discussed 10 popular advertising photography types to provide you with a basic idea of the image styles you can use on your products.
Lifestyle Photography
You probably have seen advertisement photos of models wearing jackets or accessories from different brands while scrolling social media or eCommerce platforms. These images show how the products look on a body or in a setting, and they are lifestyle advertising photographs.
Lifestyle photography may not always require models. Another style of product lifestyle images is a composition showing how the products fit within our lifestyle. Let’s say your product is a travel backpack. The lifestyle shot can show a traveler hiking up a mountain or simply placing the backpack in the middle of a forest to create an adventure theme.
Fashion Photography
Fashion photography is mostly used in the apparel, jewelry or footwear industries. This photography genre uses storytelling and conceptual themes to create emotional bonding. Customers can envision themselves wearing or using the fashion products when they see the visual demonstration on models. The main purpose of this photography technique is to help customers relate the products with their lifestyle.
Moreover, the fit of the outfit, the look of the shoes or the ability of a jewelry item to make someone look elegant are the keys that influence the purchasing decisions of the customers. For example, clothing brands create advertising images like models wearing summer outfits on a beach or footwear brands show models walking on the street wearing shoes to show comfort and style.
Product Photography
Product photography is a broad category that has different style preferences depending on the purpose of the photography and the advertising platforms. The key technique behind product photography is to capture clear images of products so that customers can understand the features, textures, and details simply by looking at them.
Usually, product photography for eCommerce websites or online stores is captured against a white background to keep the entire focus on the products. On the other hand, product photos for social media or other marketing needs are shot using colorful backdrops and props to make the images look irresistible to potential buyers.
Beauty Photography
The beauty industry promotes makeup, skincare products, haircare items or beauty treatments through beauty photography. Models are mostly used to present the effectiveness of the products by showing flawless skin, attractive makeup or silky hair. For example, skincare brands use close-up shots of glowing skin to promote a brightening serum or moisturizing cream. Similarly, you will see plump and juicy lips in advertisement photos of a lipstick brand.
The main focus of beauty photography is selling the experience of using the products. For this reason, flawless and attractive images of the models are used to make customers believe in the products’ ability to enhance their beauty.
Food & Beverage Photography
Restaurants, packaged food item companies and beverage industries rely on this photography technique to promote their offerings. Thoughtful styling, lighting and props are used to make food items look mouthwatering. For example, a coffee shop may use photographs of a steaming mug of coffee placed next to scattered coffee beans and a croissant on a wooden table. This setup can be created beside a window of the coffee shop to create a relaxing mood.
However, beverage advertising photography is mostly a combination of actual and manipulated images. Feelings of freshness and quenching thirst are necessary to create a sensory experience for the viewer. In beverage advertisements, you can see splashes of juice when pouring into a glass or droplets of water dripping down a soda can. These precise and attractive effects are usually created digitally through Photoshop.
Conceptual Photography
Conceptual advertising photography is a technique in which abstract ideas are turned into images through photo editing. Photo editing software such as Adobe Photoshop is used to manipulate the images as per the theme of the photography.
Usually, products are shot using proper lighting and camera angles. The background is not a matter of concern, as the clipping path or background removal technique is used to separate the product from the background. Later, the product is placed on another digitally created background with surreal elements.
Let’s say your subject for conceptual photography is a perfume bottle with a floral fragrance. A composition like the perfume bottle surrounded by or emerging from flower petals in a dark and reflective base will make the perfume look sophisticated. The flower petals will represent the floral and fresh smell and leave a lasting impression on the audience.
Architectural Photography
Architectural photography is popular in the real estate industry. The beauty, functionalities and design of buildings are the main subjects in architectural photography. Interior designers and architects use this photography technique to document their projects and build strong portfolios.
Besides, real estate companies use wide-angle shots of luxury villas, including the scenic surroundings to make customers imagine themselves in the house. This is a great marketing strategy to give customers opportunities to visit the place without the need for travel. Architectural photography has made customers find their dream home more convenient than before.
Automotive Photography
Automotive photography has become a basic need for the automobile industry. These days, customers prefer to research online before purchasing a car. For this reason, eye-catching and high-quality car images are essential for convincing customers that they need to incorporate it into their lives.
You need creativity to make automobile photographs look jaw-dropping. Renowned brands use both simple and dynamic photographs to promote their cars. A car parked by the beach can make customers feel the need for a car on their next beach trip. A car in motion can be shot using motion blur to showcase the speed and power of the car aesthetically.
Travel Photography
Luxury hotels, airlines, resorts, tourist destinations or travel services—everyone needs travel photography to show the scenic beauty of the travel destinations and inspire the audience to take the services. The subjects of travel photography are the landscapes, architecture, people, culture and the list goes on. Apart from these, travel accessories such as luggage, clothing or cameras are also shot to show how these products are a necessity for your travel experience.
Sports and Fitness Photography
Sports and fitness photography showcases sports gear or fitness services such as sports shoes, gym outfits, yoga mats, fitness supplements, exercise poses and so on. These photographs inspire health-conscious people to regularly continue workouts or join gyms. Usually, models with athletic bodies are used as models for this photography technique. The target audience interested in leading a healthy life gets motivated by this marketing style and helps the companies make sales.
How to Take Successful Advertising Photographs: Effective Tips with Examples
Successful advertising photographs require proper planning. You can’t pick up the camera and start taking the shots. Such shots won’t have professional outcomes. You need a good lighting setup, backdrop, theme and many more to make products or services look attractive to the target audience.
Here we’ve discussed a step-by-step guideline to help you understand how you can take successful advertising shots.
Decide on your Subject
Your preparation for advertising photography mostly depends on the products or services you are about to promote. The theme, product position or photography style are unique for every product category. For example, clothes or jewelry items can be shot on models to show how they may look on the customers. But tech gadgets such as laptops or smartphones look best on a simple backdrop. Hence, you need to have a clear idea about your subject to design the theme or image style that will be impactful to the target audience.
Select the Location
Photography preparation such as lighting, camera and background setup vary depending on the shooting location. Indoor shooting is more about preparing the set using artificial lighting and backdrops like seamless paper, fabric, etc. For example, for a jewelry shoot, you may use softbox lighting and velvet backdrops to give ornaments a luxurious feel.
However, sunlight and natural elements such as grass, sky, sand or infrastructure are key elements you need to create a great outdoor photography setup. For example, a car advertisement looks intriguing on a scenic countryside road with a clear blue sky as a background.
You can do an indoor shoot at your studio. In case you don’t have any studio, you can try DIY setups to turn your house or office into a studio-like shooting spot. The hassle is finding the perfect outdoor locations. To make the location hunting process easy, you can ask for recommendations on social media groups or take inspiration from other photographers.
Remember to consider the time of the day and weather before selecting a location. It is best to choose weekdays for places with huge crowds. This will ensure fewer chances of photobombing and unnecessary interruptions.
Choose the Theme
You need to have a theme in mind to make the photography session smooth and organized. Themes work as a blueprint as well as make the product or service resonate with its audience. This may seem a bit challenging. However, you can do it easily if you know the purpose of the shoot, features of the products that attract the customers the most, brand value and other factors.
You can use different types of themes, such as minimalist, luxurious, adventurous, bohemian and so on. For example, eco-friendly skincare brand products can be presented using the minimalist theme. Natural elements such as leaves, flowers or beach sand can be the backdrops or props to make the images look eye-soothing and close to nature.
Prepare the Equipment
Your choice of equipment directly impacts the standard and outcome of your advertising photography. The list of photography equipment is long, but some basic gear you must have includes:
Camera
You cannot use a smartphone camera to capture high-resolution images like professional advertising photographers. Although high-end smartphones like the Samsung S series or iPhone Pro series can give you great results, they won’t be of the same level as a DSLR or mirrorless camera.
Exploring advertising photography skills with smartphones is okay. But when it comes to working as a professional photographer, you need to use either a DSLR, mirrorless or APS-C camera. The advanced features of these cameras are perfect for capturing high-quality product images for advertising purposes. You will get both budget-friendly and high-end models. Choose the one that fits within your budget
Lenses
There are different types of lenses with different ranges of focal length. Each of these lenses is perfect for specific types of photography. Based on your photography needs, you can use the following lenses:
- Prime Lens
Prime lenses have fixed focal lengths. The speciality of a prime lens is its amazing quality sharp images in low light.
- Wide-angle lens
Wide-angle lenses have a larger field of view. It is ideal for lifestyle advertising photography where surrounding scenes are necessary to capture to provide context to the images.
- Zoom Lens
Zoom lenses have a range of focal length that can be adjusted the way you need. You can take shots from a distance as well as close-up images.
- Macro Lens
The best lens for taking the close-up shots is a macro lens. Jewelry or other small-sized products can be presented with their fine details if you use a macro lens.
Light Sources
Light source is not a topic to worry about when working with natural light. The only drawback of sunlight is that you cannot take the shots anytime you want. Also, the direction of the rays and intensity will not be under your control. For this reason, the safe choice is to use artificial light sources. A high-intensity flashlight, such as a strobe, is a professional light source used in studios. You can use other sources like softboxes, LED lights, ring lights, speedlights and so on.
The best part of using artificial light sources is that you can control it the way your photography setup needs it. Nowadays, there are light sources with different color tones. You can adjust the intensity and tones to create a natural light setup.
Lighting Accessories
Light sources alone cannot provide you with a uniform lighting setup. You need lighting accessories such as a reflector and diffuser. Harsh shadows can be formed when light directly falls on a subject, be it a model or product. You need a diffuser to make the light rays soft and diffused. This will reduce the chances of creating unappealing shadows.
Some areas of your product or subject may not receive enough light. This will make those areas dark and distracting. You have to use a reflector to bounce back the light throughout the whole setup and fill in the dark areas. Whiteboard or silver color reflectors are great at brightening the photography setup evenly.
Backdrop
Natural scenes are the best backdrops for outdoor advertising photography. However, for an indoor shoot, the ideal backdrop will depend on your product and photography style. Usually, muslin, canvas and velvet are used to shoot luxurious products like jewelry, perfume and other accessories. For model photoshoots, various colored seamless papers are recommended.
Tripod
A strong and good-quality tripod is necessary to keep your camera in a constant angle and steady position. It is not a must-have gear for every type of photography style. But we suggest you use it to ensure clear and sharp images.
Oftentimes, a slight shaking can make your images blurry. You can reduce the chances of getting hazy images by mounting your camera on a tripod. Make sure to use a remote shutter release, or else pressing the shutter button can cause the camera to shake and result in blurry images.
Try Different Angles & Perspectives
You can explore different angles and perspectives to make the products or subjects look their best. There are various photography angle options, such as close-up, high-angle, low angle, bird’s eye view, flat lay, top-down and many more. Considering your photography subject, you have to select the angles and perspectives.
For example, a T-shirt can be shot using the top-down angle, whereas model photography in lifestyle images looks best in long shots that include the surroundings.
Post-Production
Do you want perfect and flawless advertising photos? Then you must give more focus to the post-production. No matter how perfectly you have taken the shots, there will be some flaws related to color, lighting or skin of the models. You need to edit these imperfections to make the photographs appear polished and visually compelling.
Usually, post-production requires techniques such as color correction, background removal, photo retouching and so on. You can learn these editing techniques to edit the images on your own.
However, since advertising photography is about using the images for commercial purposes, it is best to handover the editing tasks to a reliable photo editing service provider.They have professional photo editors with years of experience in making advertising photographs look their best.
How Do I Break into the Advertising Photography Industry?
Do you want to build a strong career in the advertising photography industry?
Here is a simple guideline you can follow to start your advertising photography journey.
Gather Experience
The advertising photography industry is mostly for professionals with years of experience. You can work with different photography agencies or do freelance work to polish your photography skills. Friends, family or social media can help you get projects. Working on different projects is a great way to explore creative techniques and market trends. This will also help you understand how you can capture trendy and unique advertising photographs.
Just because you are not someone renowned or highly expert, people may offer you projects to work on for free. Don’t fall into this trap. Rather, recognize your worth and work only on paid projects.
Establish a Strong Portfolio
The most important thing you need to start your career in the advertising photography industry is a strong portfolio. Hundreds of other photographers are waiting in line to get the opportunity to work in this industry. You have to show how you are better than others and what unique skills you have to prove your potential. For this, you should gather all your work and select the best photos to create your portfolio. You can also use portfolio-building platforms to give your portfolio a professional look.
Create Network Through Social Media
LinkedIn is a great social media platform to get connected with professionals working in the advertising photography industry. You can also join social groups and online communities to create networks with like-minded people. These platforms give you the opportunity to share your experiences and learn from others as well. Besides, you can get invitations to different events and collaborate with brands from online friends. This is an effective way to establish yourself as a professional in the advertising photography industry.
Search Online for Work Opportunities
Getting advertising photography projects has become a lot easier compared to the past years. Now you can look for jobs online that match your skills. Beginning your career as an assistant photographer can be a great start. You can gather knowledge on professional advertising photography setups and techniques from directly assisting a professional photographer.
Frequently Asked Questions About Advertising Photography
What is the best camera for advertising photography?
The best camera depends on the type of advertising photography you’re doing. Usually, the best camera would be a high-resolution DSLR or full-frame camera. You should consider your expertise level and budget when choosing the camera. Some of the popular cameras for advertising photography are the Canon EOS series, Nikon Z series and Fujifilm X series.
What do advertising photographers do?
Advertising photographers capture visually intriguing images to promote products or services. They stay updated with market trends and often work with advertising agencies to understand the techniques that successfully touch the emotion of the target audience. They use different creative composition and styling techniques to make the images unique and attractive.
What makes a good advertising photographer?
A good advertising photographer has a combination of technical expertise, creativity and strong communication skills. Besides, they have the ability to manage different client needs and unforeseen challenges during shoots. These are the basic qualities that can make sure the photographs they capture can stand out among the competitors.
Why invest in advertising photography?
Advertising photography can offer numerous benefits for your brands. Professional-quality advertising photos make products appear more appealing to consumers. Also, it can help to enhance your brand image. This is an effective way to create emotional connections between your products and the customers as well. So, if you want to boost your sales and achieve customer loyalty, then you must invest in advertising photography.
Conclusion
Every day hundreds of ads pop up on our screen, but how many of them do we click on? Maybe 5% of them, isn’t it?
Advertisement photography is a powerful marketing tool that can grab the attention of the customers and create a lasting impression. The techniques we’ve discussed so far will hopefully help you start your career as a professional advertising photographer. Go, grab your camera and start applying the insights you have learned till now.
Wishing you a great advertising photography career ahead!
