Amongst the wealth of artistic photography that exists in the world I wonder what Deviants think about commercial/advertising photography.

Last year and to some extent this first quarter of 2012 I've photographed a lot of commercial images. A foray into this genre about twenty years ago brought a modicum of success; initially from clients wanting my naive approach rather than professional agencies. Very rapidly the fun waned, and the requests dried up and things returned to normal.

This recent excursion has been fun. No fixed objectives or commissioning hype and this has only provided an excellent stress free zone, the whole enterprise has benefitted. I've no real axe to grind only the awkward looks from art photographers who shudder at the thought. I have a deep respect for this business genre, and disdain just fires me to leap into advertising's waiting arms; Sagittarian links spur me on. Its controlled yet subtle exploitation of scenes requires at times a slight 'ganging up' on the models that maintain their ideal for photographic beauty and style ignoring characterisation. Perhaps using actors would be better?

As an admirer of cinematography's story-telling, the simple execution of photo shoots now becomes the making of an epic. Re-takes are the order of the day until the exact image is perfected, much to the irritation of the cast. Although I personally cannot commit to video unlike many people, I have become aware that shooting video may provide the answer and also offer a 21st century adjustable product. But nothing's new is it – it's all been done before at some time. My life remains wonderfully sweet and positive, but that's all down I guess to being a Sagittarian.