Commercial and advertising photography are profitable fields for the professional photographer. Commercial and advertising photography is used for promotional reasons rather than preserving a memory or telling a story as in fine art photography and photojournalism. The sole purpose of commercial photography is to sell a product, service or idea. It is mostly a collaborated effort of a number of people in the commercial world ranging from the art director to the account executive, from the stylist to the photographic assistant and the like.

Photography is the single most significant part of most of the advertising campaigns. The use of graphics, like photography, in advertisements can often greatly increase the chances of consumers looking at them. Advertising photography involves taking pictures of products or services.

Origin of Commercial and Advertising Photography
With photography in marketing campaigns has continues and grown during the year and it has turned into a very important part of selling any product in the present day. In the 1820`s the first lasting photograph was taken an attention in photography first began to get more popular.

In the 20th century people became conscious of advertising photography because of a development in technology which meant the photos could be done quicker at a higher quality. During the First World War, photographs were used to promote and inform potential customers of the benefits of a certain product. Soon after starting that they found out that photographs could help make products seem more attractive. So after using illustrations to advertise products and services they began using photographs and found out it was more flourishing.

Role of an Advertising Photographer
Advertising photographs are often used in print advertisements, such as newspaper and magazine ads. These photographs might also be featured in online, billboard, mobile and even television advertisements. The first thing which an advertising photographer will do is to meet with the client. In this meeting the photographer and the client generally talk about how the portrait or portraits should look. If the client needs certain look or feel to the photograph, he should discuss this with the photographer.

An advertising photographer will also establish the location of the photography shoot. Depending on the style of the advertisement and type of manufactured goods, some shoots may take place outdoors and some may take place indoors. Post-production work and photo retouching is also frequently included in an advertising photographer"s job representation as well. In commercial photography, the complete photo shoot is devoted to the product being photographed. The advertising photographer uses a wide variety of photographs to sell not only products but lifestyles, concepts and information. The advertising photographer has greater original freedom to take how products, services, lifestyles and ideas can be presented photographically. Advertising photographers are experts at advertising, design, business management and sales developments.

Tools of Commercial and Advertising Photography
Professional commercial and advertising photographers require keeping up to date on what businesses are using in their presentations and sales campaigns to stay competitive. Commercial and advertising photographers need the latest tools and technology to stay competitive. This includes a digital single lens release camera with various lenses. Both areas of photography need a high-quality zoom lens and a fast, wide-angle lens essential for a broad collection of photo shoots. The professional commercial and advertising photographer needs a good tripod, moveable lighting fixtures, an umbrella and a few necessary filters to control lights.

Educational Qualifications for Advertising Photography Career
A photography degree from a trustworthy photography school, for example, is a superb way to start an advertising photography profession. Earning this type of degree will allow students to sharpen their photography skills and gain precious experience. Many advertising schools offer courses and degree programs for the interested people in advertising photography careers as well. The advertising industry is very competitive and people, who are interested in building a booming advertising photography career, will generally need some sort of formal education.

Career in Advertising Photography
Advertising photography is a focused branch of the commercial photography industry. When a person works as a commercial photographer, that person supplies images to go along with editorial content in magazines, books, calendars, websites and other forms of media. As an advertising photographer, he or she particularly takes eye-catching photographs that appear in promotional ads in print publications, on commercials and billboards or through direct marketing movements.

Commercial and Advertising Photographers
Advertising photography has reached to immense heights, with all the modern styles and techniques. Some of the popular advertising photographers who have established themselves in the field of advertising photography are;


•Sandesh Jayakar who has worked with Lee cooper shoes, Idee eyewear, Giordani Watches, Metro shoes, to name a few.
•Karthik Srinivasan has clicked photographs for some of the famous brands such as Royal Challenge, weekender, Van Huesen, Levis, etc. He has also photographed for the foremost advertising agencies of our country like Ogilvy, Mudra, JWT etc.
•Amit Dey has made a mark in the advertising business. He has shot for advertising agencies like DentSu, Ogilvy, JWT, Mc Cann Erickson and boasts of an honoured client base such as Coca Cola, Reebok, Nescafe, Monte Carlo etc.
•Ritam Banerjee is related with Getty Images and has served clients from different corners of the world. Apart from still photographs, he also shoots industrial videos. Some of the his clients are Guess, ICICI, Elizabeth Arden,Royal Enfield,Cosmopolitan, PETA, Rotary International, among a number of others.
•Munish Khanna is a chief Delhi Fashion and advertising photographer. He has photographed for some of the foremost brands of India, namely, maruti, VLCC, New Delhi Airport etc.
•Vikas Dutt is very passionate about photography and draws encouragement from life for photography. He has photographed Swiss Eagle products, Vespa Products as well as for the tourism business, such as Srilanka tourism, Bali tourism etc.
•Saurabh Dua is a natural advertising photographer. He has been closely associated with ad agencies like LOWE, Mudra, Happy Creatives, CHEIL.

At present, there are a number of promising photographers, who click for advertising of products. India had numerous skilled photographers in the earlier period and will continue to have some more in this developing age of digital advertising photography.

Photography Institutes in India
Photography is a wonderful medium of self-expression. With the blast of the communication network, Photography has now become a profession with huge business value. There are so many certificate and diploma courses in photography in India. Beside these, very few colleges offer the bachelor degree in fine arts and photography. Some of the institutes of Photography are as follows:


•Asian Academy of film and television.
•National Institute of Photography Mumbai: They offer all kind of courses from crash course to advance course.
•Centre for Research in Art of Film & Television (CRAFT), Delhi.
•New York Film Academy, Greater Noida.
•The Indian Institute of Digital Art and Animation, Kolkata.
•International school of photography.
•Film and Television Institute of India.
•Fergussen College.
•MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia.
•National Institute of Design.
•Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute.
•St. Xavier"s Institute of Communication.
•The Film and TV Institute of Tamil Nadu.