1. Introduction
While a great deal of photography takes place purely for fun, commercial
photography is undoubtedly very powerful when thinking about the selling of a
product. As human beings we make many of our buying decisions with our eyes, as
well as taking values and ambitions into consideration. This is where professional
photography can get customers attention, separating you from your competition and
generating sales. Another reason for it being so powerful is due to its ability to make
the audiences want something that they don’t necessarily need. In the world we live in
today, the importance of advertising is growing due to more people using technology
to browse products rather than going directly to the company’s store. In fact statistics
state that by digital advertising will make 50% of the UK total advertisement spend in
2014. Furthermore we are unable to look at every item within a company’s store;
therefore commercial photography makes this easier by allowing us to view mass
amount of products in an instant. Taking all this into consideration, it is clear to say
that commercial photography allows businesses to be successful, allowing us import
good from international countries due to a high demands being created by the effects
of commercial photography.
History
Photography first become apparent in 1827
when Joseph Nicephore Niepce made the first
photographic image with a camera obscura however
prior to this the obscura had only ever been used for
viewing or drawing purposes rather than to make a
photographic image. Joseph Nicephore
Niepce's heliographs or sun prints (as they were also
known as) were the prototype for modern
photography by it allowing light to draw the image.
Although it was an impressive invention, there
were some implication such as it requiring eight hours of light exposure and after it
would appear it would soon fade away. Following on from Joseph Nicephore Niepce,
was Louis Daguerre and he wanted to reduce the light exposure time to less than 30
minutes as well as stopping the image from disappearing after it was produced. He
then went on to join Joseph Nicephore Niepce in 1829 to improve the process in
which Joseph Nicephore Niepce had already made.
The Kodak camera was first introduced in
1888 and was the first box camera to
become widely adopted by the public.
However it was in 1878 that George
Eastman first demonstrated his skill in
showing great convenience of gelatine dry
plates over the cumbersome and wet plate
photography prevalent in his day. The uses
of the flexible roll film in the Kodak meant
that cameras were much lighter in
weight therefore they were portable and
could be used without the help of tripods. Before the introduction of the Kodak in
1888, photographs had to depend on making their own arrangement to develop their
photographs, however in the Kodak it was pre-loaded with film and the photographer
could easily return the film back to Kodak to get it developed. This decreased the time

2. in which it would take to get developed as costumers had a reliable source
of development.
Oskar Barnack was in charge of the research and development at Leitz and he decided
to look into using 35mm cine film for still camera whilst attempting to create a
compact camera capable of making high-quality enlargements. Oskar Barnack built
the prototype 35 mm cameras around 1913 however it was not tested on the market
until 1923 due to a delay in development as it was during World War One. The
camera gained enough positive feedback that it was put into production as the ‘Leica’
in 1925. Due to its immediate popularity many competitors emerged such as the
‘Contax’ in 1932 and Kodak with the ‘Retina’ in 1934. However Kodak introduced
the 135 cartridges, which is not used in all modern 35 mm camera.
The first coloured photograph was made by
the three-colour method suggested by James
Clerk Maxwell. The three-colour method
was that all colours of nature could be
imitated to the human eye by mixing red,
green and blue, which stimulate the three
types of cells in the eye to the same degrees
that the real colours do. Therefore he
suggested that is three colourless
photographs of the same scene were taken
through red, green and blue filters and
transparencies made from them were projected through the same filters and covered
on a screen, the result would be an image reproducing all the colours in the original
scene
Steve Sasson invented the first digital camera in 1975. It was able to capture 0.1
megapixels in black and white as well as saving them on a cassette tape. However this
was not very reliable as it produced low quality photographs along with it weighing
around 4kg and taking 23 second to record a photograph. The arrival of the portable
digital cameras began to emerge by the late 1980s due to the technology required to
produce the camera actually existing. The first true digital camera to be made, which
recorded images as a computerised file, was the ‘Fuji DS-1P in 1988. It had a 16MB
internal memory card and used a battery. However the first digital camera to be sold
commercially was the ‘MegaVison Tessera’ in 1987.
Two Current Photographers
My first current photographer is Julia Kennedy
who is London based commercial fashion
photographer. She has worked with many iconic
models such as Cara Delavigne. The photograph
on the right hand side is an example of Julia
Kennedy’s work. This photograph is very
important in the way in which it can be seen as
portraying beauty through make-up and clothing
however to look at it from a young females point
of view, it is very misleading in making them
believe that this is what it is to be beautiful. It

3. might be that a more mature audience understands the process, which this
photograph has gone through for example: edited in Photoshop. Therefore the
photograph no longer appears natural to the mature audience. A red and black
colour theme is running throughout the photograph, which creates a visual
contract against the background as well as the models pale skin. The use of these
deep colours allows the model to appear powerful and authoritive. Directional
lighting appears to have been used to create a dark shadow on the left hand side
of the model. This I feel gives an alterative look to the photograph compared to
watch you would expect from commercial, fashion photography. Also this
lighting shows the form, which indicates that it is a 3D model.
This second photograph taken by
Julia Kennedy appealed to me due
to the stern look on the models face
as she looks towards the camera.
Also when looking at the
positioning of the model, she
appears to portray herself as
powerful by having her arms
crossed and her standing
confidently. Similar to the other
example of Julia Kennedys work,
Directional lighting has been used
to add definition to the models
facial features such as her chin and
cheek bones. This directional light
also shows the form, ensuring the
audience that this is a 3D model.
The model can be seen wearing a
cream playsuit with blue and pink
leaves on it. This boldly coloured
outfit portrays the model as
outgoing and to have a big
personality, this is also being shown
through the model have big hair.
Also the outfit creates a good contrast against the pale cream background.
My second current photographer is Ales Styles who although photographs many
things, a majority of his work is based on commercial and product photography.
This
photograph on
the left hand
side is an
example of
Alex Styles
work and is
advertising
the well-known
brand

4. ‘Coca-Cola’. Firstly when looking at the colours which have been used, they
appear to be very dark and intense. This is therefore not showing the
stereotypical red colour in which we would associate with ‘Coco-Cola’. However
this many be due to it already being a well established brand therefore having
the company name is enough to sell the product. A soft focus has been applied to
allow the company logo to be in focus and the rest of the photograph is blurred.
This second photograph is
advertising the company
‘SuperDry’ and is
specifically focusing on the
denim range. A close up
has been taken to show the
small, intricate detail on
these jeans such as the
label, pockets and material.
This is something that
customers will look for
when determining whether they want to buy a product. Therefore this shows the
importance of commercial photography as it enable customer to view product
effectively before they buy them. The company logo can be seen as part of the
jeans, this easily establishes the company to the audience. This photograph has
been taken from a slightly low angle which shows the individual elements of the
jeans as it adds depth. Also a soft focus has been added to this photograph by
making the jeans in focus and the background around it out of focus, this ensures
that the jeans are the main focus opposed to the background.
My Work
My own work fits within commercial photography as I have adapted my shoots
in order to add the persuasive element in which is most important in commercial
photograph as it all about selling the product. For example I have made alcoholic
drink appear refreshing and appetizing although alcohol has many negative
connotations. Also I have explored into the fashion side of commercial
photography as I found that many retail companies rely heavily on commercial
photography.
One of my favorite shoots was my commercial
fashion shoot looking at male fashion and the
photograph to the left is one of my final
photographs from this shoot. The model can
be seen in the center of the composition,
looking directly at the camera. This i feel allow
the audience to connect with the model as he
is seen to be looking at them. This photograph
is in black and white which gives it the 50s
look as well as fitting with the current
monochrome trend. When looking at the
models posture, he appears to show
sophistication and independence as well as

5. power. The sense of him having power can also be seen through the masculine
clothing in which he is wearing which carries connotation of power and
authority. The model can be seen to have a neutral expression on his face
therefore not portraying any feelings or emotions therefore it would be for the
audience to interpret. This fits within commercial photography as you can
imagine this being placed in a store or billboard advertising this company’s male
range of clothing.
Another example of my work is from my
‘Smirnoff’ shoot. The bottle can be seen in
the center of the composition surrounded
by large cubes of ice. By doing this, it
portrays the drink to be refreshing and ice
cold. This is an important factor as there
are many negative connotation that come
with alcohol therefore I had to make
appealing to the audience. The red parts of
the drink are able to stand out from the
rest of the photograph due to it
contrasting against the transparent ice
cubes. The company logo is in the center
of the whole photograph which ensures
that it is the main focus within the
photograph because when thinking of the
purpose of the photograph, it is to tell this
company’s product therefore the logo has
to be easily established. I really liked this
shoot as I felt that it look professional and
looked as if it could appear on a commercial billboard or sign. This is due to me
felling that it fore filled everything a commercial photograph which is most
importantly to persuade the audience to buy the product.
Future
Due to the constant increase in technology including digital technology, I believe
that in the future commercial photography will be much more advanced and will
included a more of media approach such as videos and animation in order to
quickly and effectively shows audiences products in an instant. Also due to the
increase in social media, commercial photography will be more wide spread
allowing people to view items and products from all over the world and still get
the same experience as seeing it person. Furthermore this leads to the
advancement in cameras allowing audience to accurately and easily see
materials and textures of products through the photograph. This will increase
the importance of commercial photograph as it would save people time and
money which is a key interest of company customers. Lastly commercial
photography will never die out as there are constantly new products and
inventions will later rely in photography to sell their product in order to make a
profit.

6. Conclusion
Overall commercial photography has been a very interesting subject to look at as
it has such a high amount of importance and always will. It is used all over the
world to advertise millions of different products therefore it has to be the most
diverse photography there is. Photographer which I have looked at show
commercial photograph is different ways such as in the studio and on location. I
have adapted my way of photographing in order to fit to the main aimed of
commercial which is to sell the product.