Ask An Photographer: What’s the Difference Between Commercial Photography and Editorial Photography?
Knowing the difference is paramount to your marketing strategy
The living room of Casa Bohem, one of the many properties designed by Citizen Nomad Design Company Stacy Markow Photography
When you are planning a photography session for your design project, it’s important to know exactly how you want to use those photos. As an interior design photographer, I spend a lot of time having this conversation with clients so I can ensure their licensing needs are covered in my bid.
While some of my clients simply want photos for their portfolio and website, others want to show off their design on as many marketing channels as possible, and pitch those images to publications. Your intention is paramount here when it comes to determining your licensing needs for your photography session. Knowing this information up front will help us create a plan to achieve those goals. If you are having difficulty deciding what you need, whether it’s a simple commercial shoot for your portfolio, or if you want a Dallas editorial photography session,
I wrote this post to help you understand the difference so you have photos that work for you!
Explore The Difference Between Dallas Editorial Photography And Commercial Photography
What is Editorial Photography?
When you flip through a print publication magazine like Architectural Digest or D Home, you are looking at pictures constructed with editorial pitching and placement at the front of mind.
Editorial photography is the term to describe photography images that appear alongside text or print in print magazine and online publications.
Odds are it took a multi-day shoot and an entire creative team to pull this off (interior designer, design assistant, interior photographer, photography assistant, interior stylist, florist, etc) to collaborate on the mood board, styling, and art direction to make the images tell a story and evoke emotion.
This type of photoshoot is incredibly time intensive, since styling is an organic act of arranging items in a way that is both pleasing to the camera, and also tells the story of the design and how the spaces came together. An editorial license is usually an added cost (since it falls under third-party commercial advertising). The magazine is using these photos to sell magazines, and the magazine sales allow them to charge premium top-tier rates for companies to advertise in them. In short, magazines are profiting off these photos and should pay for their usage.
Each publication will be asked to pay usage fees for publishing those photos on their website and/or print magazine to the photographer. If the magazine doesn’t have the budget to pay to license the images, often the designer or architect will pay the usage fees on their behalf so the story can run.
What is Commercial Photography?
Commercial photography is the term to describe photography that is used to advertise or market a product, service, and/or business.
Maybe you have a piece of furniture you want to sell, or maybe you are trying to gain new interior design clients by showcasing your finished projects online.
When photos are used as a means to make money or sell products + service, a commercial license is what businesses purchase from the photographer. It is often at a higher rate than a personal portrait session (as those images are for personal use, and not commercial use). Commercial photography licenses often have usage specifications, and any usage outside of that scope will be subject to additional licensing fees.
When Should I Use These Photography Types?
Identifying your usage needs at initial contact is paramount to a successful photography session. Your photo usage needs are unique to you and your business, and are largely influenced by your business growth plan, marketing objectives, and the project we’ll be photographing.
The general litmus test I give my clients is simple: how much creative control were you given by your clients in this project. If they are your dream client and let you do what you want, this is the shoot where you make editorial pitching part of your marketing strategy, and hire a stylist and florist for the session. This project will be a wonderful representation of your interior design style, and you want those images to be seen by as many people as possible.
If the project is one where clients stripped the design back so much that it doesn’t resemble your original design plan or intention, I recommend only sticking to portfolio usage and not hiring a creative team for the photoshoot.
Every photoshoot we capture together will include a commercial photography license at its core for your business, (this includes displaying on your website, portfolio, social media marketing channels, newsletters, etc), but not all sessions will include an advertising or editorial usage license.
If you are working with a photographer who uses a rights-managed licensing model, what that means is you are only paying for the usage you need, and nothing extra.
It’s important to understand this concept, as you might have a plan to run advertisements, or were planning to share photos with a wallpaper or tile company because you were given free products in exchange for content. Third party usage (which is basically anyone besides your business) is often required to purchase a usage license for their business.
No matter what session you book, I will explain copyright and image licensing so you’ll know ahead of time how these photos can be used to market your business.
If you would like to learn more about scheduling your Dallas editorial photography session, just send me a message. I would love to sit down and have a conversation so you can have the pictures perfect for your vision!
Hi! I’m Stacy—an interior design and architecture photographer in Dallas, Texas. I create beautiful imagery for interior designers and architects that elevates their brands and grows their business. Wanna work together? Let’s chat
