Commercial Photographer: Your Guide to Marketing, Creativity and Growth

Heike Delmore, a branding photographer based in Canada with a marketing background, discusses the art of aligning brand photography with purpose. She emphasizes the shift from traditional headshots to storytelling images that reflect a client's aspirations. Heike highlights the importance of understanding clients' needs, the psychological effects of wardrobe choices, and the role of social media in enhancing visibility. By prioritizing authenticity, she helps clients visualize their future selves, transforming personal branding into a deeper, more meaningful experience.

Marcus started as a bass guitar session musician. He did this freelance for about ten years during the 90s. So, in his early 30s, he had a change of direction. He got hold of a camera and thought this was what he wanted to do next. He realised that as a session musician, he was always playing other people’s ideas, while with photography, he could be much morecreative. Marcus then went to university to study photography. While studying, he worked as a session musician and photographer. He moved after university to be an assistant in the fashion and advertising world at the end of the 90s. Marcus then moved to hair and beauty photography in the US. His sister was working in that world, and he went over and joined her. So, he ended up in New York, doing beauty and hair shoots. Then also for advertisers. He did this until the financial crash of 2008, when it all started getting quieter. IN 2010, Marcus was offered a post as a university lecturer. They wanted to start a fashion photography course and asked Marcus to run the course. This was the first time Marcus had ever had a job interview. Marcus was a lecturer for about ten years. He said by the end he was missing doing his photography. He wanted to stay in Bristol and decided that he would go into branding photography and set up his business about 6 years ago. He also does some teaching and has lots of ideas for this going forward. Marcus still does music. His band (sub-jagger) have just done their last gig. He is also part of a wedding funk band.

Christian is an expert in cinematic storytelling. They don’tjust look beautiful, but sell beautifully. Christian started as an insurance broker and then moved on to setting up his own business. But eventually, he thought something was missing. He didn’t start knowing he wanted to move into filmmaking,he just knew he wanted to do something different. Based on a childhood memory, he went to film and started by setting up a green screen studio. He did this with no training or knowledge about filming. He got a breakthrough through his network and was introduced to people who organise an elite tennis tournament. He did lots of filming there and created a film to tempt next year's sponsors. That went very well, and things expanded from there. He did all the editing and everything by himself.He said he had the imagination but just needed to learn the technical skills. After the breakthrough, it became much easier. He had work to show, he had a great connection from previous businesses, and the business took off. In 2019, he was introduced to his first end hi-fi client. He has then moved into that area as a niche. When shooting these products, and in all his work, he makes a story. He spends a long time finding out who the target market is and what they are interested in. He doesn’t have an agent, people tend to pick up the phone, having seen his work. Sam asks if getting the initial big client is important. He says it is very helpful. Try things to get that initial work with a big client. Do some low-priced work for a big client to get a foot in the door. But make sure you explain what the cost should be. Christian is based in Malaysia and travels most months. He has a second base in Germany, which he uses to access the rest of Europe. He is usually in Europe every other month, and from Germany, he can easily access most of Europe. Sam asks about how his network from his previous business helped him in his film business. He says it has helped a lot. He said it also helped that he understood how to build and run a business. Christian says he doesn’t have employees, but he does have freelancers that he works with. In terms of equipment, he says when he started, he bought lots of expensive equipment which he hardly ever uses. He says what you need is a camera, two or three lights, and some good sound. He was awarded best branded content director just a couple of weeks ago. Christian also has his project, a 42-minute film called Seconds in Eternity. It has gained 33 awards at film festivals. It isn’t available to the pubic at the moment as it is showing in film festivals. You can find Christian hereTo get the Shoot to the Top Podcast in your inbox every week, gets hints and tips from Sam and Marcus and get the latest photography news ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠click here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠And to join the ⁠⁠⁠Shoot to the Top Facebook group head here.

Fabrizia started with family photography, but moved into brand photography. She says brand and pet photography are the two rising genres. She started as a brand photographerwas emerging. She used to work as a fashion and beauty editor.  She started photographing young people and managed to get a headshot of an author (family friend) of hers to be published on the book cover. In her 50s, she made a move to be a photographer. At the time, she was living in a tiny village in the Austrian mountains, so she realised it couldn’t be in fashion. So she started brand photography in 2011, but it wasn't called brand photography then. She also did lifestyle shoots with families. After she had run the business for a while, she moved to teaching photography business skills. She had an issue in Austria, as there was an exam to become a registeredphotographer. She got around this by setting up a UK business and operating that in Austria. She found that she could not pass the test as her German was not good enough. Eventually, the law was removed. Fabrizia found that on Facebook groups, there were lots of photographers who were asking lots of business questions. So she eventually ran a course about how to run a photography business. She has been doing these ever since. Fabrizia talks about brand photography being storytelling. Lots of brand photography shoots show women with laptops, coffee and champagne. She thinks it should be much more personalised to the person in the shoot. Marcus asks how you can delve deeper with your clients. She says it’s best to reflect where they are, not where they want to be. And she says this work is AI-proof, and you can charge more for it. Fabrizia is running a brand lab again soon. She is speaking at the Wales and West Photography Show, as will Marcus. She is going to open the show talking about AI. She is also talking about branding. The show is from the 19th to the 21st of June.Fabrizia also invites anyone who wants to chat to meet her fora coffee after the talk.You can find Fabrizia onFacebookLinkedinInstaWebsiteTo get the Shoot to the Top Podcast in your inbox every week, gets hints and tips from Sam and Marcus and get the latest photography news ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠click here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠And to join the ⁠⁠Shoot to the Top Facebook group head here.

In this show, Marcus interviews Sam.Marcus asks Sam to start at the beginning, and Sam splits this in two and starts sharing his photography story. Sam’s Dad was a professional photographer who shared his interest in photography with Sam. He had cameras from a young age and an SLR from a young age. Sam says that after university, he was travelling. One thing he did was photograph white water rafting trips in Nepal. He sold images to the rafting clients of their trip. Sam also talks about his kayaking trips to the UK, the Alps, and Nepal. Sam says that from then forward, his photography became just for personal use. When he setup his Web Design Business in 2017 he did some photography for clients as he got started. And then finally Sam started doing wildlife photography while living in Mozambique where he stilllives. So he got a 600ml wildlife lens to help capture the wildlife particularly the birds. Sam then talks more about web design. Sam’s had a computer in the house from the age of about ten. Sam’s first website was written in notepad by hand for the university canoe club. From there he made websites for various people over the years. For example he joined a local choir and setup the website for them. He set up blogs, for example when he had a Small Holding hesetup a blog for that. In 2017 Sam decided it was time to move on from teaching and decided to setup his own Web Design Business. Marcus then shares how the podcast started.You can reach out to Sam on LinkedIn here.Or find his website here.To get the Shoot to the Top Podcast in your inbox every week to ensure you don't miss an episode,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠click here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠And to join the ⁠Shoot to the Top Facebook group head here.

Ros Jones helps people grow their business while avoidingburnout. Ros started in corporate in London, working in change and systems management. With her last job, she was feeling very discontented, getting bored and felt she couldn’t go anywhere. She was thinking of moving into training. But then she got a call to buy into a business coaching franchise, which she did. Ros introduces a formula from the book "7 habits of highly effective people" by Steven Covey Be * Do = Have. She says there are two ways to look at this. Who I am, combined with what I do, gives me what I have. This allows us to take ownership of our lives. It also allows us to make a change. We can look at what we want to have (our goals) and we can then look backwards and see who I need to be and what I need to do to achieve these goals.  She says in some ways it is simple, but we often get in our way.We have constant chatter in our heads. We can control this inner dialogue, and we need to if it becomes negative. We have a set of internal beliefs and values, many of which are set when we are young, often before the age of 7. These can cause negative behaviours that affect the way we behave. We need to work on some of these to ensure that some of these beliefs and values are holding us back. The actions we need to take can also be a challenge. We can feel overwhelmed or fearful and not take action.Ros thinks that to help with not feeling overwhelmed, weshould plan our day to ensure we achieve the things we need to. Marcus says that it can be hard for photographers as last-minute shoots can come in. Ros says this is a choice, and it’s important to set boundaries. She says it is also important to set aside time for yourself. For our well-being, this is very important. Marcus says this is also very important as part of being a creative person and allowing time for creativity. Ros says that when she went self-employed, she felt she hadto earn as much as she did when employed, so she just did nothing but sell. But this caused her to feel burnt out. So that personal time is really important. It doesn’t matter what it is you do, but it needs to be away from work. Exercise is one of the things you can do, and there is an exercise show you can listen to here.As a solopreneur, your business is at risk if you are ill, so it’s important to keep yourself healthy. Ros says this links to the goals that you set to make sure you do those personal things. One of the personal things Ros has done is write a book, which you can find here. The book is about family relationships and covers a period, so it contains some social history, too. The conversation then moves on to burnout. Ros says it’s important to avoid well ahead rather than looking for signs of it. Ros says if you find yourself syncical and disoriented, with chronic fatigue, digestive problems, etc. But the key is not to get to this stage. Ros says the thing to avoid is delaying the personal stuff until later. Avoid things like putting off your run as you want to do more work. Marcus thinks that men are generally worse at self-care and self-awareness than women. Ros says we need to get over ourselves and if we have a problem, we need to talk about it. Ros also has a podcast, “Bold Business”. It is conversations with phenomenal female business leaders in Yorkshire. To get the Shoot to the Top Podcast in your inbox every week to ensure you don't miss an episode,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠click here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠And to join the Shoot to the Top Facebook group head here.You can find Ros on ⁠LinkedIn here⁠Or email her at info@rosjones.co.uk

In this engaging discussion, Kate Van Der Sluis, a seasoned HR professional with over 20 years of experience and a psychology degree, reveals how personality profiling enhances photography businesses. She explains the DISC model, illustrating how understanding communication styles—like extraversion versus introversion—can improve client interactions. Kate emphasizes the importance of recognizing cues in behavior and dress for effective engagement. Her insights on proactive measures in HR and clear communications offer valuable strategies for photographers looking to succeed.

This show is about how to be seen as an expert in a particular topic without being seen as a poser and a know-it-all. How do we get that balance? The relevance of building a position of authority is linked to the type of photography you do. How can you build authority?Posting authoritative content on Linkedin. Use your knowledge and experience to help people rather than explain things to them. And in helping them, you are building your authority. Engaging and commenting on other people's content also helps build your authority and give you a good reputation, as you are helping others get their content found too. Blogging This is again helping people, and people will realise you are an expert by reading your blogs. Having your blogs focussed on one area, linked to your area of expertise and focussing your blogs on this areaWebinarsThese are a great way to show people you are an expertPodcasts Being a guest on a podcast can show you to be an expert inyour area. Our guest Toby Lee (listen to our interview with him here) is an expert at this. Another guest, Martin Hobby (listen to our interview with him here), is very good at building his authorityOffline Speaking events: Speak at networking events or biggerevents. This shows you to be an expert. People presume you are an expert as you are on that stage. TestimonialsThese are other people saying what an expert you are. Avoid self-deprecationIn the UK, we often self-deprecate rather than promote ourselves. You can come across as an expert without being pushy or showy. 

Charlotte set up Shot by Char in 2019 and is a brand Photographer. Charlotte studied fine art photography at the University of Manchester. After university, she started working for photographic studios, selling portrait vouchers on the streets. From there, she also managed to secure work as a photographer in the studios. While working in a studio, she also started to build her own business. Eventually, she earned enough money to pay off her debt and started to travel. And while travelling she taught English and worked as a photographer. Gradually, the photography went well enough that she could drop the teaching. Eventually, she moved from shooting tourists to shooting brands. She noticed how there was a big disconnect between the photos the brands andpersonalities who are being photographed. Marcus asks about the market in Thailand, and she says there is less money in Thailand. However, Charlotte says she is still changing her pricing and increasing her prices. Pricing is an area she is still working on. She lives in a relaxed rural area but is getting clients, both local and those passing through. But she also works in the capital, Bangkok, which is very different. She is also building customers in the UK.Charlotte is opening a “creative space”. It has different floors, including a studio, podcasting space, headshot area and a lifestyle studio that you can also rent and stay in as an Airbnb. This is going to be available to photographers as well as businesses. Charlotte Graham has over a decade of professional photography experience working with businesses and individuals across different backgrounds. Her end goal is to take pictures that help open up more opportunities for her clients. She works to capture beautiful photographs that showcase brands’ vision and their authentic vibe. Originally from the UK, Charlotte is currently based in Chiang Mai and covers the whole of southeast Asia.You can find Charlotte on LinkedIn hereTo get the Shoot to the Top Podcast in your inbox every week to ensure you don't miss an episode,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠click here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the ⁠Shoot to the Top Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ group to meet fellow photographers, guests and Sam and Marcus.

Are you a commercial photographer afraid to niche down because you think you'll lose work? This week, industrial photographer Dan Barker reveals the secret to making specialisation work. He explains why nichingfor photographers is a powerful marketing strategy that not only reduces competition but also allows you to significantly increase your prices• The Niching Secret: Discover the simple truth that allows you to confidently niche down your commercial photography marketing without having to turn away other profitable work.• Website Tactic: Learn the brilliant website move that instantly communicates your value to clients and ensures your 'About' page is focused on the visitor, not your history.• The Price vs. Competition Trap: Find out why being a generalist is the fastest way to the bottom, and how niching allows you to charge premium prices and accelerate your business growth strategies.Get the Commercial Photographer Guide to marketing and Creativity here.