Commercial Photographer

By Maria Madera

Description of a Commercial Photographer

Commercial photographers take pictures of many objects, like buildings, models, merchandise, artifacts, and landscapes. These pictures are used in a variety of media, including books, reports, advertisements, and catalogs. Photographers make and preserve pictures, tell a story, or record an event. To create commercial-quality photographs, photographers need professional equipment. Making a good picture requires choosing and presenting a subject to achieve a particular effect, and selecting the right cameras and other photographic enhancing tools. For example, photographers may enhance the subject's appearance with natural or artificial light, shoot the subject from an interesting angle, draw attention to a particular aspect of the subject by blurring the background, or use various lenses to produce desired levels of detail at various distances from the subject.

Education of a Commercial Photographer You'll need technical and conceptual skills to use photography equipment, as well as creative and marketing skills to understand the best ways to set up photographs for advertising. Many colleges, universities and technical schools offer bachelor's degree programs in photography or fine arts. These programs include instruction in equipment use, film and photography techniques, types of photography work, creativity and artistic expression. Because many advertising photographers work as freelancers, business knowledge is also beneficial.

Salary & State of this career

The average salary of a photographer ranges from about

$64,000-$77,000 Salary also depends on about where you get

hired.

Colleges for Commercial Photography

San Francisco, California <“Academy of Art University”> Santa Barbara, California <“Brooks Institute”> Sacramento, California <“International Academy of Design

and Technology- Sacramento”> Hollywood, California <“Los Angeles Film School”> Valencia, California <“California Institute of the Arts”> San Diego, California <“Art Institute of California- San

Diego”>

A Day in a Commercial Photographer’s Life

8:00 a.m. Wake up 9:00 a.m. Drive to the designated location 9:45 a.m. Start to photograph an advertisement for Coca-Cola 11:30 a.m. Choose pictures and enhance quality 12:30 p.m. Return to my office 2:00 p.m. Print Pictures and e-mail

Attire Mostly Casual, wear something that makes you look professional but that you are comfortable in, to do different positions or angles.

Benefits & Insurance Professional Liability insurance (Errors and Omissions) is

designed to provide for the photographer or videographer's legal defense and pay for awarded damages when another party alleges some negligence or wrongdoing that resulted in a loss. General Liability coverage specifically addresses bodily injury, property damage, and personal/advertising injury. (www.packagechoice.com)

Some benefits are that depending for who you work for it will open more opportunities and experience you have.

Who’s Hiring? KOFY - San Francisco, CA CoStar Group, Inc. - Modesto,

CA Tim Tadder Photography -

Solana Beach, CA Liz Claiborne, Inc. - Los

Angeles, CA

Apple - Santa Clara Valley, CA Lucky Brand Jeans - Los

Angeles, CA Progenuity - Beverly Hills, CA Zenfolio, Inc. - Menlo Park, CA

How To Use a Tripod

1. When you have arrived at you location or on the set and are ready to set up your tripod, it is best to extend the legs before you spread them into position. 2. You will get the legs into roughly the same length. To extend the legs, un-lock the first section of the tripod and extend the leg to the desired position3. Press the locking tab back into the closed position Repeat these steps for the rest of the legs4. Fine tuning the camera height can be done with the center column. Once you have adjusted the desired height , loosen the locking knob on the center column and lift the camera into position5. With the camera in the position you want re-tighten the locking knob to secure the column into position6. When you finish you know are ready to have a great day of photography.

MemoMemoDate: May 6, 2012To: Coca-Cola CompanyFrom: Maria Madera, Coca-Cola PhotographerSubject: Coca-Cola AdsThank you for contacting me regarding the pictures. Also, I would like to remind you about the date you would like me to photograph your product again. In addition, I will not be available in the next two weeks due to personal conflicts. So, I have already contacted many of the magazines that have considered our ads.If you have any questions regarding the dates please feel free to contact me at 1(760) 765-4321.

Business Letter2002 Paradise Creek Ln.Valley Center, CA 92082May 4, 2012The Coca-Cola CompanyAdvertisement DepartmentP.O. Box 1734Atlanta, GA 30301, USADear Coca-Cola:I have loved photographing . I also have previous experience photographing for Aquafina. In addition, I would love to photograph Coca-Cola. So, I would like ask if you have any spots open for a photographer.I would be able to help you Monday through Thursday. I’m also very flexible with my hours. I could photograph your product for advertisements. Furthermore, I can contact many magazines and newspapers to advertise your product. With this said I hope it gives you a good idea of the way I work. Please send me information and applications if you are in any way interested. I have attached some samples of my work so feel free to contact me at 1(760) 765-4321 at any time between 9:00 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Thank You.Sincerely,Maria MaderaMaria Madera

California Reality CheckYour Monthly Expenses San DiegoHousing $ 0.00Utilities $ 360.00Food $ 300.00Transportation $ 470.00Clothes $ 300.00Health Care $ 73.00Entertainment $ 175.00Personal $ 175.00Misc $ 300.00Savings $ 107.65Student Loan Debt $ 155.05Monthly Expenses $ 2,415.70Annual Expenses $ 28,988.40Taxes ( 15% of Annual Expenses) $ 4,348.26Annual Salary Needed $33,336.66

Works Cited "California Reality Check." California Reality Check. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 April 2012. <http://www.californiarealitycheck.com>. "College Search – University Search – Career Search | Search By Degree." College Search – University Search – Career Search | Search By Degree. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May 2012. <http://www.searchbydegree.com>. "Degrees & Courses from Top Colleges and Universities: Degree Directory." Degrees & Courses from Top Colleges and Universities: Degree Directory. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May 2012. <http://www.degreedirectory.org>. "FindYourArtSchool.com - Complete Directory of the Best Art Schools, Art Institutes, Art Colleges, Art Programs, and Art Classes. Find Your Art School!." FindYourArtSchool.com - Complete Directory of the Best Art Schools, Art Institutes, Art Colleges, Art Programs, and Art Classes. Find Your Art School!. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2012. <http://www.findyourartschool.com>. "Job Search | one search. all jobs. Indeed.com." Job Search | one search. all jobs. Indeed.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 March 2012. <http://www.indeed.com>. "PayScale - Salary Comparison, Salary Survey, Search Wages." PayScale - Salary Comparison, Salary Survey, Search Wages. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 March 2012. <http://www.payscale.com>.

Survey (5 Q’s) What is the annual salary of a photographer? What are two colleges providing education for a

photographer? Does this job have flexible hours? What do you do first to set up a tripod? What are two businesses hiring?