What is the Difference Between Editorial and Commercial Photography?

This week, I wanted to cover something quick, but equally something that I get asked very frequently: “What is the difference between editorial work, and commercial work?”

Editorial work is usually imagery that is shot for a print or online magazine. Most of the time, there is more than one image in an editorial, and it usually has some sort of story, or flow to it. The images take you on a journey. The images may also be used to illustrate an article, and help to bring the written words to life.

They are usually more creative, and allow photographers to experiment with more interesting light, and/or composition. Editorial shoots are often less lucrative for photographers, as budgets tend to be smaller (or none existent). A lot of fashion photographers (myself included) use editorials as a chance to build portfolio work, which is used to attract commercial clients.

Commercial work is most often imagery that is used to sell a product (clothing, accessories, travel, hotels, food, etc). They can be a single image, or more than one, but there tends to be less emphasis on “telling a story” and more focus on highlighting the product.

Whilst some commercial shoots can be very creative, they often come with stricter boundaries, and restrictions on what can be done in the shots. On the flip side, commercial shoots almost always have much bigger budgets, so photographers tend to make most of their income doing commercial shoots (I do!).

Some photographers choose to only shoot commercial work, and not worry about editorial. I personally adore working on editorial content, as magazines are what have always excited me the most about fashion photography.

There's no right or wrong, no better or worse. Whatever you want to do, or are attracted to shooting, is what you should be aiming for.

I really hope that this quick explanation of editorial and commercial photography has been helpful!