Industry Practices: Commercial Photography

What is Commercial Photography?

Commercial photography encompasses a wide range of categories, and a common question asked by new and aspiring professional photographers is whether their work qualifies as commercial photography.

In general, commercial images are sold or licensed by the photographer, to individuals or companies who will use it to sell products and services, or to convey a message. Commercial images carry economic value, i.e. they help to create economic returns by being part of the process of generating business, brand equity or economic goodwill for the image owner and/or licensee.

In a nutshell, if your image will be used by a paying client to promote a product, service or company/organisation, it qualifies as commercial work.

Some examples of commercial photography are listed as follows:

Industry Rates in Professional Photography – Year 2008/09 Survey Results

Note: The rates above are average values taken from a representative pool of professional photographers in 2008/09. 

Important: Rates typically differ according to technical/artistic difficulty, time and skill level required. As a rule, it is critical to give an accurate brief to the photographer. This helps the client avoid additional and unnecessary costs.

Loading Fees

The number people that will see the image you create for your clients can determine its commercial value. In advertising, the better the coverage (estimated number of people the ad will reach), the more likely the advertisement will create sales eventually. Of course, there are other major factors that contribute to effectiveness of an ad, however, for professional photographers, talents, writers and other creative professionals, advertising coverage is the usual basis on which to charge loading fees.

Loading fees are a standard billing component for most, if not all, commercial photography assignments. Loading fees serve to ensure fairness and equitability in payouts for the creative contributors of commercial works like print ads, TV commercials, bus ads, point-of-sale materials, direct mailers and even free gifts or premiums. These commercial works are broadly categorised as either Above the line (ATL) or Below the line (BTL). In a nutshell, loading fees are much higher for above the line works due to their wider and higher coverage. Besides coverage, loading fees also include the number of media, number of countries and usage timelines for the assigned images.

First Usage

If the photographer is quoting for new assignment, the photography charges should be calculated to reflect the types of media that the images will be used in. Charges would be higher for ATL usage compared to BTL due to higher coverage. Apart from ATL/BTL usage, charges should also reflect the number of different media, number of countries included and usage timeline. Charges for these items are usually included together with photography fees as a single sum in the quotation, but can also be placed as separate items, as some photographers prefer.

Repeat Usage

If the client chooses to use the images again after the first assignment is delivered, a new quotation should be created to reflect the extended the usage timeline, increased the number of media and/or usage of the images in more countries. These items can be billed under the heading of Loading Fees or Re-usage Fees. Photography Fees no longer apply.