When working low end commercially you need to take the photo that the customer is expecting.
That can mean making it very plain.
You take a photo of a sprocket that is evenly lit with a white background. Snap. Usually this works out quite well and the client is happy. I figure the vision is shared.
It can also mean that a woman wants a photo of herself as she sees herself (Photoshop) Which is primarily a psychological challenge to understand how she sees herself. (With a timer running). The vision here is hers, and that is what I had to create.
I once had a client who wanted me to take photos of tufts of hair she was selling. (not her own hair, she harvested it from human subjects)
That was a huge creative challenge.
It was all black hair.
A tuft of hair evenly lit does not look at all appealing. A tuft of hair does not ever look appealing to begin with.
How do you get someone to look at a photo at some hair and go "yeah that".
The immediate thought was to find a find a model or mannequin to pose the hair in context. Nope. Didn't want that.
That project became quite expensive for me before I figured out a way to make her happy.
I think being a stubborn git I would probably have proceeded to find my own tufts of black hair and continue shooting it until I got it right since it became a real challenge.
When I worked for myself, and I work creatively, I can shape what I capture. This is where the passion was for me.
If you are a top 1% photographer, clients hire you for your vision and creative style. They give you big budgets, crews, etc. I never got anywhere near that commercially.
At least one famous 1% photographer has such a well-oiled machine set up, that they only have to show up and press the trigger.
But they have initial meetings with the client, give them a taste of celebrity.