I've researched both and found both are very different from each other. For those who know the differences, which do you prefer? Do you offer both to clients? Do you shoot both styles for personal projects? Have you tried or often mix both styles into 1 personal project?
I'm not a very big editorial shooter. I much prefer crafting 1-3 solid commercial images exactly to spec. When I first started out I tried to do the magazine circuit but found it exhausting because I am hyper-critical of my work. The thought of delivering 10 images for a story was overwhelming to me. I would only like 1-3 of them, and I would hate seeing the rest floating around.
Once in a while I still do editorial type work, but I much prefer the commercial side of things.
I find that 'editorial' and 'commercial' have become adjectives for styles rather than for what they truly are: a visual story versus more stand-alone images meant to highlight the subject / brand.
My market is a very commercial one, so my bread and butter is commercial fashion. In terms of my creative preference, it is definitely editorials. Creating a vision, and then bringing it to life through moodboards, storyboards, and building an effective team are all pieces of a charmed process for me. Consistency has become a point of focus for myself in my photography, and editorials are a great way to get that practice in putting together a consistent flow of images. In terms of social media, my editorial images are always the ones with the biggest reaction, versus my commercial work.
Always glad when I see your discussions, by the way, Chris! Looking forward to more!
Thanks both Peter and Kendra! I am still trying to grow as a fashion photographer and trying to understand both editorial and commercial better as it gets fairly confusing especially from a fashion photography blog where at times some commercial fashion advertisements have a mix of both telling of a story and focus on the product. I don't know ever since hearing and watching Von Wong's success with fashion work gets me thinking of fusion fashion photography for personal projects of course where I have most of the control than client work where I'd need to master to do one or the other or just whatever the client demands of course.
Kendra yup, I have more lol.