The 10 Best Commercial Photographers in Washington, D.C.

What’s the business of Washington, D.C.? Government, of course, is what pops into people’s heads. What many don’t seem to consider, however, is that being the nation’s capital brings a thriving—even booming—local economy, incredibly rich with commercial opportunities of all kinds. This is not only great news for Washington, D.C., commercial photographers, but it explains why there’s so much talent in the field in D.C.! Here are some of the most creative among them.

1. Adriana Escalante

An incredibly versatile photographer, Adriana Escalante has devoted her professional time running her boutique photography business since 2005. Although her Instagram account is heavily devoted to her work in editorial fashion and beauty, there are hints of her commercial projects.

Pay a visit to her website, however, and her commercial work reveals itself, giving us an eyeful of brilliant product shots and food photography. Captured mostly in-studio with a bright, clean, minimalistic style, these are magazine caliber images, as applicably versatile as the talented photographer who captured them.

2. Arielle Lewis

Creative editorial and contemporary portrait photographer Arielle Lewis doesn’t just take pictures of models and make them look pretty “on film” for the personal branding portraits she does—she creates and photographs visual concepts. Besides technical skill, this imagination and creativity are what she brings to her commercial advertising and promotional campaign projects.

Her approach is intelligent, befitting purpose, ranging from conservative to creatively wild. Many of her most powerful images don’t even require any tech wizardry at all, just a camera and a person behind it who knows what she’s doing.

3. Amy Linn Doherty of Pawpro Media

Specializing in commercial and residential property photography, Amy Linn Doherty often likes to use High Dynamic Range (HDR) and fusion photography techniques to make her work pop, techniques that are a bit unique among Washington, D.C., commercial photographers.

This cool technique lets her produce images that appear closer to what we perceive with the naked eye, with a wider visual range, and more clarity, detail, and color. Her vivid photos typically require multiple shoots, the results of which she then blends together. The visual effect is actually subtle, but most definitely present, not to mention very appealing.

4. Jennifer Chase

It’s probably not the best idea to check out Jennifer Chase’s website and portfolio if you’re hungry—she masterfully photographs food, drinks, and restaurants, and you’d seriously be looking for a bite to eat after poring through her work.

Impressively, her shots have an available light look-and-feel, and many have natural settings, and yet they’re bright, crisp, and really appetizing to look at. She also specializes in photographing the interiors of restaurants, bars, and other travel and hospitality venues. It really is risky looking through her work; now we want to just hang out and relax as well.

5. Zach Miller

The DC Metropolitan area’s real estate market seems to be in a constant state of boom, which translates to boon for Zach Miller’s real estate photography. Miller does both residential and commercial properties, and capturing exteriors and interiors. His objective is straightforward: get aesthetically-pleasing yet accurate visuals of these properties, from just about every standard point of view, for a variety of purposes, from marketing to documentary.

His portfolio is full of these bright and clean images he no doubt amasses from each property he works on. One other related specialty of his: Miller also photographs on-going construction projects, including aerial perspectives, which are all quite fascinating to look through.

6. Jeff Mauritzen

If your commercial visual needs are more stylistically documentary and stock imagery, Jeff Mauritzen’s your guy. Bonus points if you’re into travel, nature, and wildlife—Mauritzen’s a contributing photographer for National Geographic Travel—but he puts his obviously useful skills to work on other commercial niches.

A visit to his Instagram account will mostly be a Nat Geo-esque experience, so trek on over to his website to see more samples of his solid commercial images. Although delivering largely standard fare (see “documentary”)—sharp, bright, clean, well-composed, and communicative—Mauritzen does some stellar product shots, and we wonder why he doesn’t do more of those.

7. Amanda Ghobadi of The Branding Babe

Can’t help but love Amanda Ghobadi’s business name: The Branding Babe. Unforgettable. And it tells you exactly what she specializes in and can do for you. Her personal branding photography images, specifically of women go-getters in all industries, are typically bright, upbeat, and colorful. Fun!

These are very well-thought-out photographs, her subjects in environments and doing activities befitting their industries and personalities. These women are comfortable, confident, and enjoying themselves, and you surely can feel that in Ghobadi’s work. 

8. Scott Suchman

Although the look is familiar and fairly standard among Washington, D.C. commercial photographers that specialize in food, Scott Suchman’s work has a subtly yet palpably more realistic look and feel. As in, “we went to this restaurant, ordered this dish, and this beautiful, delicious, delightful thing is exactly what they put in front of us!”

Paying close attention to the details, these are notches above the usual smartphone fare your pals post of their meals on Facebook. These are often meticulously prepped. We figure there are a bunch of things at play: the lighting, often producing more distinctive shadows; the angles he takes the picture from; the way he preps the food for a more real life look; likely all of the above and more. Whatever it is he actually does, Suchman is a master at it.

9. Mary Parker

On drones affecting her career in interior and architectural photography, Mary Parker recalls being “tethered at construction sites,” and even “dangled in a crane bucket to get the height perspective.” Now drones can do those, to her relief it seems. Likely won’t even matter at all for someone with her experience, and her industry reputation, judging from her extensive list of clients.

Even without that validation, browsing through her images—full of very well-lit, clean images of buildings and establishments, inside and out, often sans humanity, it’s plenty evident that professionally, Parker’s been very busy.

10. Noah Willman

Although Noah Willman doesn’t say any more than that he’s a photographer, the work he shares with us is packed with portraits, headshots, and other personal and professional branding images. Willman’s work is visibly technically top caliber (clear, bright, sharp, well-composed, etc.), but what really caught our eye is that smiles are quite rare. It looks like he’s filling the “we’re serious, and we mean business” niche of that specialty.

If that’s your objective—and judging from his extensive list of top-tier clientele, you’d be far from alone—among Washington, D.C., commercial photographers, Willman’s definitely your guy. Check out his work, and see if you aren’t reminded of this line from the movie, The American President: “We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them.” Willman has a portfolio full of them.

There’s a lot going on in the District!

Sometimes, it feels like Washington, D.C., is the center of it all. The city has a pulse and a vibe that’s all its own, and thankfully it’s home to a ton of talented creative professionals. These Washington, D.C., commercial photographers support brands and products with style and authenticity, and we can’t wait to follow their careers in the years to come.

Find unique photoshoot locations in Washington, D.C., on Peerspace