London commercial photographer working with agencies, brands and businesses to produce advertising photographs

London Commercial Photographer Simon Callaghan

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Commercial photography in London is fun, challenging and fresh. Fresh from the diverse range of photography projects; sports athletes, to waste management engineering to domestic shutter designers. Challenging from the complex needs and restrictions of photographing in London. And fun from the unique opportunities being a London photographer brings.

For photographers, commercial or advertising photography is a creative freedom within branding guidelines. These guidelines can be strict, loose and everything in between. The end goal is delivering the business message in a fresh, new way.

I'm a London commercial photographer, with commissions all over the UK.

What is commercial photography?

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Commercial photography is the production of photographs for business purposes i.e. to help something sell or raise awareness. It's often part of a wider marketing campaign; to communicate a message, grab the viewers' attention, or to tell a story. All with the end goal aiding money eventually changing hands. Whether donating to a charity, developing brand awareness for future sales or directly selling a product or service. 

For photographers, commercial photography is a mix of photographic niches and techniques. We blend skills from environmental portraits, product photography, architectural photography and editorial portrait photography to deliver photographs that hit the briefs and stay on brand, all while adding our own creative stamp. For many photographers these limitations stifle the creative process, whereas I find these limitations a focus for finding new ways to interpret the rules.

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How to shoot commercial photography

Purpose  |  Brief  |  Plan  |  Photoshoot  |  Post

Overall is to ensure the client, marketing agency, stylist and photographer and all other stake holders are on the same page and working towards the same goal. Commercial photoshoots are expensive, often having multiple moving parts that require time, effort and resources to produce results. 

Commercial Photography: Purpose

What are the photographs for? To sell a product or service? For social media content? Once established, this acts as our compass that directs the entire commercial photography photoshoot. It ensures the final photographs are fit for purpose and the client has been efficient with their advertising spend.   

Commercial Photography: Brief 

Written by the client or marketing agency, this creative process conceptualises the way to achieve the Purpose. The brief usually details branding guidelines for the photographs and the art direction for the creative team to follow.

Creative Team

Broadly speaking the creative team is anyone involved in creating the photographs; art directors, hair & makeup, stylists, prop rental, studio and personal assistants. 

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Photoshoot Planning 

Once a brief has been finalised, we produce a timetable for all to work from; it's a detailed picture of how the photoshoot will go. It's a final confirmation that everyone knows their roles, the timings, the potential pinch points and how to overcome them We're often joined onset by clients, art directors and other stakeholders to ensure we hit the Brief and the photographs fit the Purpose. 

Post Production for Commercial Photography

Editing commercial photography images is a style and skill unto itself. Whether we're outsourcing to professional retouchers or keeping the retouching in house, this second phase of styling and toning creates another round of client approval to ensure they're fit for purpose. After the art director/client review, we take this feedback for a final round of retouching.

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Hiring a Commercial Photographer in London

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Commercial photographer based in London, covering the UK as a whole, working on both solo assignments and with advertising agencies on location. Photographs are delivered in social media friendly resolutions and in print resolution. Unless stated, photographs come with an 18 month license for digital promotion.

Fully insured by Aaduki, with public liability and professional indemnity insurance.

Services

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Commercial Photographer | Corporate Photographer | Website Photographer | Social Media Photographer | PR & Product Launch Photographer | Lifestyle Photographer | Story-Telling Photographer