Professional freelance photography requires a refined set of technical skills, in unison with creative decision-making and the ability to balance design elements.

The primary goal of advertising photography is to communicate with your target audience. Everything about the image should be in service to that ends. Several factors contribute to how easy an image is to read or understand, and combined, this makes a photo a successful piece of communication. I’ll talk about how some of these main factors function individually.

Composition

Generally speaking, the simpler the composition, the more accessible the photograph. The composition needs to have flow and balance, meaning it should be a settling experience to look at and lead the eye in a familiar way. We read from left to right so if the image makes the eye move in that orientation it makes it easier for us to read.

Though rarer commercially, it is also feasible to use composition to create tension. This is where the balance of the subject feels precarious or squashed within the frame. This is a useful device as long as it is in service to the storytelling.

The point of focus of the composition should be sharp to draw attention. This can be accentuated by having the sharpness of the main subject matter in contrast to bokeh (shallow depth of field lens blur). There is always a balance between retaining enough sharpness through the depth of field to convey adequate information around the subject.

Light

Light is powerful…unfeasible powerful. It can conjure our emotions and an amazing lighting event can stop us in our tracks.

The absence of light is dark, true black to be precise. So this is the dynamic range available to photographers.

Good light is to photography, what well-prepared good-quality metal is to welding. Without it, things don’t go so well. Light will quite literally transform a subject in as many ways as it is possible to vary the light.

The available pallet of light variations is a major tool in the narrative. Decisions on lighting should be a choice made to aid the intended message of the photo. Think of the iconography around depictions of heaven and hell. Aside from the subject matter, the quality of light is pivotal to the mood and storytelling.

Calm, soft/diffused light will look luminescent compared to harsh, direct/un-diffused light that creates high contrast. The darkness or brightness of an image is a key tool in setting the mood of the photograph.

A consciously lit image will also function to guide the eye to specific parts of the photograph in a fairly predictable way. The brightest point draws the attention, and once drawn in, we are then likely to investigate what may be in the shadows.

Fashion

Post-production evolves and has trends in the way photographers treat their images. If the style of the photograph is based solely on what is fashionable at that moment, it will probably resonate with your audience and sit well with contemporary images. The downside to looking, of the moment, is that these photographs will quickly look passé and be of little worth once the trend has shifted. I’ve seen subject matter that required delicate treatment, get brutalised through harsh post-production because that style was the flavour of the month. Every subject requires specific consideration and there is no one style that has ever been an appropriate treatment for every job.

I have seen value for my clients if I remain immune to what is trending. Instead, I look for a way to incorporate subject-appropriate treatments to aid communication and composition and lead to the strongest image I can make. A photograph akin to a classic business suit, it would have been engaging five years ago and will still be engaging in five years. In this way, the subject matter dictates the style of images.

Refinement

I was shooting cooked dishes for a pasta company, working with the owner, a man who routinely works twelve-hour days. Together we were going through variations, deciding how to style each dish. By midday, he was exhausted. The concentration needed to make the many small decisions required to fineness a simple bowl of pasta was more draining for him than a stressful day running his business.

How hard can it be? There are a handful of objects, just make them look nice, chuck a light on it and take the photo. The more attention a photograph can be given, the more likely it is that nothing will be missed. Creating a body of images from scratch over a long day, and making them look simple and honest is an easy target to miss. While it’s not brain surgery, it does require a level of observation that most people would struggle to maintain for more than a few minutes.

Photography is how people remotely engage with your business. Their impressions of your endeavour will come down to how enticing and communicative your photography is. The craft of assembling a photograph that actually fulfils all of the requirements of a useful communication tool, requires significant time, great care and a clear direction.