What is Industrial Photography?
Photography itself has lots of different categories. One, which is a favourite here at Masoud Raoufi, is Industrial photography.
This is a type of commercial photography. And as you can probably tell, it’s in an industrial setting.
It allows us to showcase various areas of an industrial business. From the factories to the mines, manufacturing plants, assembly lines, and operational processes.
Definition of Industrial Photography
Industrial photography is the process of capturing images of industrial settings. This includes industrial equipment, machinery, and workers. It’s also a form of commercial photography.
How Do Businesses Use Industrial Photography?
Businesses can use industrial photography for various reasons. It really depends on the end goal.
It can be used for advertising, product documentation, process documentation, marketing, and so forth.
It can also be used to just capture the industrial environment. This can be used for in-house use, such as history documentation or for other individuals such as investors or stakeholders.
For the most part, however, it’s for advertising or marketing. Having this type of photography is a fantastic way to build a brand people know and love.
Is Commercial and Industrial Photography the Same?
Yes and no. Industrial photography is a type of commercial photography. Think of it as a sub-section for commercial photography.
Commercial photography is a type of photography that captures products and/or services for commercial purposes. In the case of industrial photography, you’ll most likely be capturing one of the two.
The only major difference is that industrial photography is the type of products/services you capture. For instance, instead of physical products, it’ll be the process of making them, etc.
Types of Industrial Photography
Industrial photography is a sub-section of commercial photography, but industrial photography also has several sub-sections. The following are some popular types of industrial photography :
- Manufacturing Photography
- Construction Photography
- Product Photography
- Architectural Photography
- Environmental Portraits
- Aerial and Drone Photography
- Industrial Process Photography
- Safety and Compliance Photography
- Operational Photography
- Corporate Photography
1. Manufacturing Photography
When it comes to manufacturing photography, the main goal is to capture the production process.
Not only for machinery, either. But also the workers. Typically, it’s the whole assembly line, so whatever or whoever is required for that process will be captured with manufacturing photography.
Without question, this is the most popular type of industrial photography. The reason is that it can be used company-wide.
These images can be used in marketing materials, websites, annual reports, and in stakeholder meetings. Really, anything you like that needs to highlight product capabilities and processes.
2. Construction Photography
A different type of industrial photography is construction photography. Usually, this is pre-build, so photos are taken only during construction, not after completion.
As you can imagine, this is perfect for construction companies. They can be used in marketing materials, progress reports, and more.
Sometimes, this will also include post-construction photos. However, at this point, it’ll be more interior photography than construction photography.
3. Product Photography
With product photography it’s on a fine line of being a type of industrial photography. However, it is. It’s just a little different from “normal” product photography.
With “normal” photography, it’s more about the final product. These photos will then be used on your e-commerce website or marketing materials.
However, product photography on the industrial side is more about the manufacturing process and how the products go from nothing to something.
4. Architectural Photography
Architectural photography is in the same boat as product photography. It is a part of industrial photography. There’s just a very fine line.
You have architectural photography for homes. However, you can also use it for industrial purposes. An industrial photography idea regarding architectural photography would be something like taking photos of warehouses, plants, and factories.
These photographs, like many of the sub-sections mentioned, can be used for multiple reasons. These can even be used to sell an industrial building.
5. Environmental Portraits
Another type of industrial photography is environmental portraits. These are when a portrait image is taken in a subject’s usual environment. In this case, an industrial setting.
This usually includes a person in the image. For example, a welder welding or a forklift driver driving.
The goal of these photos is to capture the role and scale of the operations. These can be used for anything you want, from brochures to website/social media content.
6. Aerial and Drone Photography
Because of the size of industrial settings, aerial and drone photography is normally used to showcase the entire factory, plant, etc.
Aerial and drone photography does this very well. It’s an aerial image, so it captures the entire factory from a birds-eye view.
Even better, it can capture the environment surrounding it. So, if it complements the images, you can capture this as well as the property.
Like many of the other types of industrial photography, you can then use this for a range of marketing or in-house materials.
7. Industrial Process Photography
As you can imagine, industrial process photography is when you take images of the process of a service or product.
It’s similar to construction material. Therefore, you’ll capture the product/service before and during production.
The overall goal here is to showcase how the product/service is done. It can be used to then showcase to your customer how your product/service is done to ensure quality.
8. Safety and Compliance Photography
This type of photography is normally for in-house purposes. It can be used for processes, documentation, or posters. It can be used for other types of materials, but it’s usually these key areas.
The goal of this type of photography is to promote safety and compliance in a specific setting. Not all industrial businesses are the same, so being unique here can improve the safety and compliance of an industrial setting.
Of course, this isn’t mandatory. However, it can certainly improve safety within this type of environment.
9. Operational Photography
Operational photography is almost the same as industrial process photography. The only difference is that it doesn’t need to be just the process. It can be the entire operation.
What we mean is capturing all parts of the operations in an industrial setting. This may include office staff, management, and warehouse staff just doing their everyday work.
Like many of the photography types above, the usage of this type of photography is endless. It can be used across the entire company, both online and offline.
10. Corporate Photography
And the last type of industrial photography is corporate photography. This type of photography can range from taking images of boardrooms to executive and company events.
There is a sector for corporate photography. However, this is corporate photography in the industrial industry. That’s the only “true” difference.
Why Industrial Companies Need Industrial Photography
Industrial companies should consider industrial photography for several reasons. These include but are not limited to the following:
1. Marketing and Branding
The first and most prominent reason is for marketing and branding.
When you have photographs of your property, processes, and workforce, you can use them across all your marketing or branding materials.
For instance, you could use them on a website. On a brochure. On a pitch deck. On social media. Or all of them. You can even reuse photos over and over again.
Though marketing and branding aren’t a “must-have” for industrial businesses because of the nature of their business, it can still be very rewarding.
Yes, it’s true that most industrial business is done in the boardroom. However, it doesn’t mean that marketing and branding can’t change the perspective of the partner, investor or customer leading up to the meeting.
2. Client and Stakeholder Communication
When it comes to client and stakeholder communication in the industrial industry, it can be difficult.
As professionals, you know the industry inside and out. You know about the machines, the processes, and everything required to create an end result.
However, stakeholders and clients don’t. And typically, they don’t want to know everything. They just want to know the basics to understand the process.
Yes, you could do a walk around the facilities. That works. However, a more scalable solution is using images, images that make the technical details more accessible for those who are interested.
3. Training and Safety
When it comes to training and safety in an industrial setting, every company is different. They have different machines, processes, and safety equipment.
One of the best ways to offer training and safety, in this case, is by providing images of your specific business. Doing this ensures the best amount of safety and also training.
Simply put, if the images in the training and safety materials are from the same environment where the workers will be, it boosts its effectiveness.
Not only this, but you can also showcase these photos to investors and partners. They’ll also want to know how you train and ensure safety.
4. Project Monitoring and Reporting
Images can also be used to monitor and report on a project. For industrial warehouse settings, not so much, but for construction, very much so.
When it comes to large-scale construction projects, such as apartment buildings, hospitals, tunnels, etc., usually there are several parties involved.
Some of these parties may not even be in the location of the construction. They could be the other side of the world.
In that case, you can use industrial photography for construction projects to keep all investors and stakeholders updated, no matter where they are.
5. Global Reach and Online Presence
And lastly, images spread faster than word of mouth (if used correctly). Simply put, word of mouth only goes so far. It stays within groups of people.
But what about new groups, groups that aren’t part of your operations? That’s where images (or video) can be used online. Doing this increases your brand awareness and potentially attracts new clients, partners, or investors.
You can use this content for everything and anything. From enhancing SEO to improving your social media presence. Literally anything.
Get Industrial Photography in Dubai
At Masoud Raoufi, we’ve been helping industrial companies with their industrial photography in Dubai over the last 12 years. Since then, we’ve worked with 100s of different clients and on 100s of different projects.
Whether you want to grow your industrial company’s social media presence, share processes with stakeholders, or just document your company’s success, reach out. We’ll be more than happy to help you with this process.
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