Quick Summary
Professional commercial photography in Somerset delivers high-quality images for businesses within 48-72 hours, covering industrial documentation, product photography, food imagery, corporate events, and workplace photography. With 34 years experience and clients including Clarks Shoes, Mimecast, and Environment Agency, I create commercial photography that works across advertising, marketing materials, websites, and corporate communications throughout Somerset.
The best commercial photography tells your business story visually while meeting practical requirements for advertising, marketing, and corporate communications. Having photographed everything from manufacturing facilities in Bridgwater to restaurant interiors in Yeovil over my 34-year career, I understand that great commercial photography balances creative vision with business objectives—delivering images that look professional while genuinely representing what makes your Somerset business distinctive.
What Is Commercial Photography?
Commercial photography encompasses any photography created for business purposes—from product images for your website to workplace photography for annual reports, from food photography for restaurant menus to industrial documentation of manufacturing processes. Unlike editorial photography (which tells stories) or fine art photography (which is primarily aesthetic), commercial photography has a specific business objective: selling products, attracting customers, documenting processes, or communicating brand values.
When I shoot commercial photography in Somerset, the brief might involve anything from photographing agricultural machinery for brochures to capturing restaurant dishes for social media, from documenting manufacturing processes for health and safety compliance to creating lifestyle imagery for property marketing. The technical approach varies dramatically, but the underlying principle remains constant: creating images that achieve your specific business objective.
Commercial Photography Services
Product Photography
Professional product photography for e-commerce, catalogues, advertising, and marketing materials. Whether you’re selling products online, creating print catalogues, or need advertising imagery, product photography requires specific lighting, styling, and technical precision ensuring products are accurately represented while looking their absolute best.
From small products shot in-studio to large industrial equipment photographed on-site, product photography can be shot on white backgrounds for e-commerce, in lifestyle settings showing products in use, or in your Somerset business environment providing context and authenticity.
Food Photography
Restaurant menus, food packaging, advertising imagery, and social media content all require food photography that makes dishes look as delicious in images as they taste in reality. Food photography combines technical lighting skills with styling expertise and the ability to work quickly before food loses its visual appeal.
Having photographed Somerset’s artisanal food scene, from farm-to-table restaurants to craft food producers, I understand how to capture food that represents your culinary vision while meeting practical requirements for menus, websites, and social media.
Industrial and Manufacturing Photography
Industrial photography documents manufacturing processes, production facilities, and industrial operations for marketing materials, health and safety documentation, annual reports, and corporate communications. This specialized photography requires understanding industrial environments, health and safety requirements, and how to create compelling imagery in challenging lighting conditions.
Somerset’s manufacturing sector, from aerospace components in Yeovil to food production facilities across the Levels, requires photography that balances technical accuracy with visual appeal. Industrial photography often serves dual purposes—marketing materials showcasing capabilities while simultaneously documenting processes for compliance and training purposes.
Corporate Event Photography
Corporate events, from conferences and award ceremonies to product launches and team building events, require photography that captures the atmosphere, documents key moments, and creates images suitable for marketing, internal communications, and social media.
Event photography combines documentary skills (capturing candid moments authentically), corporate portrait abilities (photographing speakers and VIPs professionally), and the technical expertise to work in varying lighting conditions from dimly lit conference halls to outdoor Somerset venues.
Workplace and Environmental Photography
Workplace photography captures your business environment, showing your team at work, your facilities, and your processes in action. This photography is essential for recruitment materials, corporate websites, annual reports, and marketing that emphasizes your people, culture, and capabilities.
Environmental portraiture places people in their work context rather than isolating them against plain backgrounds, creating more authentic and engaging imagery that tells the story of what you do and how you do it.
Retail and Store Photography
Retail businesses need photography showcasing their spaces, product displays, and shopping experience. Retail photography creates images for marketing materials, social media, website galleries, and promotional campaigns, helping potential customers envision visiting your Somerset retail location.
Drone Photography for Commercial Projects
Drone photography provides aerial perspectives impossible from ground level, perfect for showcasing commercial properties, construction progress, large facilities, agricultural operations, and Somerset’s rural business locations. Aerial photography creates dramatic overview shots highlighting scale, context, and location while providing unique perspectives for marketing materials and corporate communications.
Why Experience Matters in Commercial Photography
In 34 years photographing businesses across virtually every sector, I’ve learned that commercial photography success depends on understanding business objectives as much as technical photography skills. When a manufacturing company needs industrial documentation, they’re not primarily interested in artistic vision—they need clear, accurate images that work for their specific purpose, whether that’s marketing, compliance, or training materials.
My breakthrough came shooting lifestyle photography for Clarks Shoes, which taught me how commercial imagery needs to balance aspiration with authenticity, looking professional while feeling real. That project led to years photographing automotive campaigns, where I pioneered HDR imaging techniques for CGI rendering in the UK automotive sector—technical innovation solving specific business problems.
Working with clients from the Environment Agency to Mimecast, from Welsh Tourist Board to major property developers like Persimmon Homes, I’ve developed the ability to understand diverse business requirements quickly and deliver photography that achieves specific objectives. Commercial photography isn’t about my vision as a photographer—it’s about understanding your vision as a business and having the technical ability to capture it effectively.
What’s Included in Commercial Photography Projects
Pre-Production Planning
Before any commercial shoot, we’ll discuss your objectives, how images will be used, and what success looks like. For complex projects, this includes location scouting, lighting planning, shot lists, and scheduling coordination. Understanding requirements before the shoot ensures we capture everything needed efficiently.
Professional Photography
Whether shooting in-studio, at your Somerset business location, or on-site anywhere in the South West, I arrive with appropriate equipment for your specific requirements. This might range from portable lighting for workplace photography to specialized product photography lighting, from drone equipment for aerial shots to video capabilities when moving imagery is needed.
Advanced Retouching and Post-Production
Commercial images receive professional post-production appropriate to their use. Product photography might require background removal, color correction, and detailed retouching. Food photography needs color enhancement ensuring dishes look delicious. Industrial photography might need perspective correction and exposure adjustments. The level of retouching is determined by how images will be used and what your brand standards require.
Files Optimized for Different Uses
You’ll receive files formatted for their intended purposes—high-resolution images for print, web-optimized versions for websites, and social media-formatted files when needed. For e-commerce product photography, this includes properly sized, formatted, and optimized files meeting platform requirements.
Usage Rights and Licensing
Commercial photography licensing is tailored to your needs. Most Somerset business projects include full commercial usage rights for your specific purposes. For advertising campaigns with broader reach, we’ll discuss appropriate licensing ensuring you have the rights needed while keeping investment proportional to usage.
Somerset-Specific Commercial Photography
Having worked throughout Somerset for over three decades, I understand the local business landscape and what makes Somerset commerce distinctive. Whether you’re photographing manufacturing in Bridgwater, agriculture on the Somerset Levels, retail in Taunton, hospitality in the Blackdown Hills, or technology businesses in Yeovil, I bring local knowledge alongside technical expertise.
Somerset’s business diversity—from traditional industries like agriculture and food production to modern sectors like aerospace and technology—requires a commercial photographer who can work effectively across completely different environments. I’m equally comfortable photographing advanced manufacturing facilities as I am documenting traditional Somerset cider production or capturing contemporary restaurant interiors.
I understand Somerset’s unique challenges: rural locations requiring careful logistics planning, agricultural businesses needing photographers who understand seasonal timing, heritage buildings requiring sympathetic lighting approaches, and Somerset’s changeable weather necessitating flexible scheduling for outdoor commercial photography.
Different Business Sectors, Different Approaches
Manufacturing and Industrial
Somerset’s manufacturing sector requires commercial photography that serves dual purposes—marketing imagery showcasing capabilities while creating documentation for health and safety, training, and process optimization. Industrial photography often works in challenging conditions with limited natural light, requiring specialized equipment and health and safety compliance.
Food and Hospitality
Somerset’s thriving food scene, from farm-to-table restaurants to artisanal food producers, needs photography that makes food look as delicious in images as it tastes in reality. Food photography combines technical skill with understanding of styling, timing, and the ability to work quickly before food loses visual appeal.
Agriculture and Rural Business
Agricultural photography requires understanding seasonal timing, respect for working farms, and the ability to create compelling imagery in outdoor Somerset environments where lighting and weather are unpredictable. Somerset’s agricultural sector needs photography that balances tradition with innovation, showing modern farming practices while respecting heritage.
Retail and Consumer-Facing Businesses
Retail businesses need photography that helps potential customers envision their experience, from store interiors showing atmosphere and layout to product displays highlighting merchandising approach. Somerset’s independent retail sector particularly benefits from authentic photography that differentiates them from national chains.
Professional Services and Corporate
Somerset’s professional services sector—from legal firms in Taunton to accountancy practices in Yeovil—needs commercial photography for marketing materials, websites, and recruitment. This typically combines workplace photography, team portraits, and environmental imagery showing your business environment and culture.
Technology and Innovation
Somerset’s growing technology sector needs commercial photography that positions them as innovative and professional. This might include workplace photography showing collaborative environments, product photography for hardware, or event photography documenting launches and conferences.
Understanding Commercial Photography Investment
Commercial photography investment varies dramatically based on project complexity, usage requirements, and deliverable volume. A simple half-day product photography session capturing 10-15 items differs significantly from a multi-day industrial documentation project or an ongoing annual contract providing regular content.
The value of commercial photography extends beyond the photography day itself. It includes decades of experience understanding how to solve specific business problems visually, technical expertise ensuring images work across all intended applications, and the creative ability to make businesses and products look their best while remaining authentic.
When evaluating commercial photography investment, consider usage breadth and duration. Images used regionally for one year represent different value than imagery used nationally in advertising campaigns for multiple years. Most Somerset business projects fall into moderate usage categories—regional marketing, corporate websites, social media, and business development materials—with licensing reflecting these typical business uses.
How Commercial Photography Projects Work
1. Initial Consultation and Brief
We’ll discuss your requirements, objectives, and how images will be used. For straightforward projects, a phone conversation might suffice. Complex projects benefit from meeting at your Somerset location to see the environment and understand specific challenges.
2. Quote and Planning
You’ll receive a detailed quote outlining photography services, deliverables, usage rights, and timeline. For larger projects, this includes pre-production planning, shot lists, scheduling, and logistics coordination.
3. Photography Day(s)
I arrive with appropriate equipment for your specific requirements, whether that’s portable studio lighting for workplace photography, specialized product photography equipment, drone capabilities for aerial shots, or video gear when moving imagery is needed.
4. Post-Production and Retouching
Images receive professional post-production appropriate to their use and your brand standards. Turnaround typically ranges from 48 hours for straightforward projects to 1-2 weeks for complex post-production requiring extensive retouching.
5. Delivery and Usage Rights
Final images are delivered via secure download with clear documentation of usage rights. You receive files formatted for different applications—print, web, social media—ensuring everything is ready to use where you need it.
Technical Capabilities
While clients don’t need to understand technical details, it’s worth knowing the capabilities available for your Somerset commercial photography projects:
Studio and Portable Lighting
Professional studio lighting equipment ensures consistent, high-quality results whether shooting in controlled studio environments or on-location at your Somerset business. Portable lighting systems allow studio-quality results in your workplace, warehouse, or any location.
Drone Photography Capabilities
CAA-certified commercial drone operation provides aerial perspectives for showcasing properties, facilities, and locations. Drone photography is particularly effective for Somerset’s rural businesses, construction projects, and businesses where location and context are selling points.
Product Photography Expertise
Specialized product photography equipment and techniques ensure products are accurately represented while looking their absolute best. This includes both clean e-commerce photography on white backgrounds and lifestyle product photography showing items in context.
Food Photography Equipment
Specialized food photography lighting creates the color accuracy and appetizing appearance food imagery requires. I understand food styling principles and work quickly to capture dishes at their visual peak.
Industrial and Manufacturing Photography
Experience working in challenging industrial environments with appropriate safety equipment and understanding of health and safety requirements. Industrial photography often requires working around operational schedules and safety protocols while creating compelling imagery.
Video Production Capabilities
When moving imagery is more effective than stills, I offer professional video production including fully stabilized video walkthroughs, corporate videos, and promotional content. Many commercial projects benefit from combining stills photography with complementary video content.
Why Somerset Businesses Choose Me for Commercial Photography
Over 34 years working with Somerset businesses across virtually every sector, I’ve developed a reputation for understanding business requirements quickly and delivering photography that achieves specific objectives. This means being as comfortable photographing high-tech manufacturing as traditional agriculture, as adept at corporate events as food photography.
I’ve worked with everyone from FTSE companies to Somerset family businesses, from major brands like Clarks Shoes to local startups. The technical excellence remains consistent regardless of client size—what changes is project scale, not quality. A Somerset independent retailer receives the same professional approach and technical capability as a major corporate client.
My work has been featured nationally and internationally, including Somerset Life magazine and Country Life appeared in national publications like Country Life, and won recognition in international photography competitions. But the real measure of commercial photography success isn’t awards—it’s whether your images achieve your business objectives, look professional, and accurately represent what makes your Somerset business distinctive.
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of businesses do you photograph?
I work across all commercial sectors—manufacturing, retail, hospitality, agriculture, professional services, technology, and more. Over 34 years, I’ve photographed almost every type of Somerset business, from aerospace manufacturing to artisanal food production, from corporate offices to working farms.
Can you photograph at our Somerset business location?
Yes, most commercial photography happens on-location at your premises rather than in studio. I bring appropriate equipment for your specific environment, whether that’s a manufacturing facility, retail space, office, restaurant, or outdoor agricultural setting.
How long does a commercial photography project take?
Simple projects might be completed in half a day. Complex projects might require multiple days of photography plus pre-production planning. Turnaround for finished images typically ranges from 48 hours to 2 weeks depending on post-production complexity.
Do we receive full rights to use the images?
Most Somerset business projects include full commercial usage rights for your specific business purposes. For advertising campaigns with broader reach, we’ll discuss licensing appropriate to your usage. Usage rights are always clearly documented in the project quote.
Can you handle ongoing commercial photography needs?
Yes, many Somerset businesses prefer ongoing relationships rather than one-off projects. This might be regular product photography as inventory changes, quarterly workplace documentation, or annual corporate photography updating team images and facility shots.
What if we need both photography and video?
I offer both stills photography and professional video production, including fully stabilized video walkthroughs, corporate videos, and promotional content. Many commercial projects benefit from combining stills and video content, providing versatile assets for different marketing applications.
Ready to Discuss Your Commercial Photography Project?
Whether you need product photography for your Somerset business, industrial documentation, food imagery, corporate event coverage, or comprehensive commercial photography for marketing materials, I’d be happy to discuss your requirements and explain how we’d approach your specific project.
Phone: 07850 534084
Email: [email protected]
Website: simonplant.co.uk
I cover all Somerset areas including Taunton, Bridgwater, Yeovil, Chard, and throughout the Somerset Levels, Blackdown Hills, and surrounding regions. For most commercial projects, I work on-location at your business premises rather than requiring you to come to a studio.
For businesses considering larger commercial photography projects, I’m happy to visit your Somerset location to discuss requirements, see your environment, and explain exactly how we’d approach your project. There’s no obligation—just a conversation about whether I’m the right photographer for your needs.