“Commercial photography” is one of those terms that means different things to different people — so it’s worth being clear about what it actually covers.
In the broadest sense, commercial photography is any photography produced for a business purpose: to sell a product, promote a service, build a brand, support a PR story or communicate something about an organisation. That’s a wide definition, and it encompasses a lot of different types of work. Here’s how we think about the main categories.
Product photography
Photographing products to show them accurately and attractively — in a studio, on location, or in lifestyle settings that show them in use. The discipline spans everything from e-commerce packshots on white backgrounds to elaborately styled campaign imagery. The brief determines the approach.
Food photography
A specialist area that combines product photography with styling, timing and an understanding of how different foods behave under light. The goal is to make food look as appetising as it tastes — which is harder than it sounds and requires both technical skill and a feel for what makes food visually appealing.
People and portrait photography
Corporate headshots, team portraits, people at work — images that put a human face on a business. Done well, people photography builds trust and makes a brand feel accessible rather than corporate. Done badly, it makes everyone look uncomfortable and the business look like it doesn’t care about its image.
PR photography
Photography for press releases, events, award presentations and news-worthy moments. PR photography has one job: to produce an image that a journalist or editor will actually use. That means it needs to be visually interesting, technically strong, and composed in a way that tells the story without requiring a caption to explain it.
Industrial and location photography
Photographing manufacturing processes, factory environments, construction sites, large-scale installations and anything else that can’t come to a studio. Industrial photography requires adaptability — working in environments that weren’t designed for photography, often with time constraints and safety considerations to manage.
Lifestyle photography
Images that show products or services in real-world contexts — a coffee machine in a well-designed kitchen, outdoor furniture in an actual garden, a skincare product on a bathroom shelf. Lifestyle photography is about making a viewer picture themselves using a product, rather than simply showing what the product looks like.
What they all have in common
Every category of commercial photography shares the same fundamental requirement: the image needs to achieve a specific commercial objective. Not just look nice — actually do something. Whether that’s driving a purchase, supporting a press story, building brand trust or demonstrating a capability, there should be a clear answer to the question: what is this image for?
At dpix, we’ve been producing commercial photography across all of these disciplines for over 30 years. Get in touch to talk about what you need — or browse our portfolio to see the range of work we cover.
To find out more about our commercial photography work, visit our service page.
Related reading: Brand Photography: More Than a Nice Set of Images.
We also specialise in fashion and clothing photography for brands, designers and e-commerce.
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