Product Photography Pricing: What It Actually Costs
Day rates for product photography start at $2,500. That covers the photographer’s time on set, nothing else. We shoot as much of your catalog as we can cover in a day; if there’s more than that, it runs into a second day at the same rate. Final deliverables get billed separately, based on how many hours of post-production the images need.
Day rate vs. total cost
The $2,500 day rate is show-up-and-shoot. It’s not a per-image or per-product price, it’s what it costs to get the photographer on-site and shooting for the day.
Retouching gets billed by the hour, separately. Some projects only need light color and exposure correction. Others need real time in post, sometimes multiple hours per image. What drives that number is how complex the shot is, not a flat per-photo fee.
What moves the total price
How many days the shoot takes, since that depends on how much catalog you’ve got versus what fits in a day. How many post-production hours the images need. What kind of shot you need: Amazon-style on white, environmental, with a hand model, or lifestyle with talent. And what usage rights you need for the final images.
What we need for an exact quote
Three things: how many products, what they are, and how you need them photographed (Amazon-style on white, environmental, with a hand model, lifestyle with talent, and so on). With that, you get a quote scoped to the job before anything is booked.
Real project examples
Komuso Design is a good example of how retouching hours swing inside a single project. Their product shots were heavily detailed retouching, piece by piece, while the lifestyle work for the same brand needed a much lighter touch. Rev Hair was a single-product e-commerce set. Magic Leap was a multi-day campaign mixing product and lifestyle photography. Tribeca’s Kitchen was a full day on location covering menu photography, portraits, and interiors. Different scope, different quote, every time.
FAQ
How much does product photography cost in Los Angeles?
Day rates start at $2,500, covering the photographer’s time on set. Total project cost depends on how many days the shoot takes and how many hours of post-production the final images need.
Do you charge per photo?
No. The day rate covers the shoot itself. Final deliverables are billed by post-production hours, which vary depending on how much retouching each image needs.
What’s included in the day rate?
Just the photographer’s time on set. We shoot as much of your catalog as fits in a day; retouching is billed separately once we know what the final images need.
What happens if my catalog takes more than one day to shoot?
It runs into a second day at the same day rate.
What do you need to give me an exact quote?
How many products, what they are, and how you need them photographed: Amazon-style on white, environmental, with a hand model, lifestyle with talent, and so on.
Have a catalog or campaign that needs a quote? Tell me what you’re shooting and I’ll scope it out. Get a quote →