Product Photography Cost: Pricing Guide & How to Save Money | Omi.so

Dec 11, 2024

Product photography costs: more than money? | Omi.so

In eCommerce, a single pixel can be the difference between a sale and a scroll-past. That sleek product photo that made you stop mid-scroll? Until recently, creating it meant coordinating lighting specialists, equipment rentals, studio time, and post-production experts. But that's changing fast. According to Shopify's 2023 Commerce Report [source], professional product photos still drive 40% higher conversion rates — they're just not being made the way you might think.

Just ask Clarins or Moët Hennessy, who have transformed their approach to product photography. But we'll get to that.

The traditional product photography landscape

Product photography has come a long way from a person with a camera and a white backdrop. Today's eCommerce demands have transformed it into something far more complex. Understanding how it works (and what it costs) will help you make smarter decisions about your visual content.

How are photography services charged?

Photography studios have developed different pricing models over time. Each serves a different need. Here's what works best for different situations:

By the hour ($150-300)

Studios typically charge $150-300 per hour. Sounds simple, right? But there's more to consider. That perfect shot of a wine bottle takes:

45 minutes just to set up lights
Up to an hour of actual shooting
Another half hour for cleanup and file prep
Extra time for feedback and adjustments

This model makes sense for complex products that need special attention. But watch out — costs climb quickly when you're shooting large catalogs or need revisions.

By the product ($75-200)

As eCommerce grew, studios started charging per product — usually $75-200 per item. This includes:

Several standard angles
Basic editing and background removal
File optimization
A few revision rounds

This pricing works well for predictable shoots. But if you're launching hundreds of products quarterly, costs multiply fast with each new item.

By the finished image ($50-150)

The newest approach charges $50-150 per final image. You get:

Freedom to shoot what you need
Full post-production treatment
Files ready for every platform
Minor tweaks included

This works for brands who want flexibility but only want to pay for images they'll actually use. At $50 per image, it's the most cost-effective traditional approach — but "traditional" is the key word here.

Just ask Daan Tech, who tripled their content output after switching to Omi's Virtual Photo Studio, reducing their average cost per image to just $1 — a fraction of traditional photography rates.

But to understand why that's revolutionary, let's look at what goes into a traditional photo shoot's price tag.

The quickly escalating costs of product photography is a result of all the logistics, equipment, and location dependencies you need to get even the most basic photos done.

Your next product shoot could cost 90% less

Omi’s Virtual Studio eliminates equipment rentals, specialist fees, and studio rentals — all while moving faster. Want to see for yourself?

Book a free strategy call

Explore Omi's Virtual Studio for free

Real costs of a professional shoot

Walk into a professional product shoot and you'll find more than just a photographer. Here's what you're really paying for:

Studio basics:

Studio space: $50-200 per hour (location matters)
Pro-grade equipment: $200-500 daily
Lighting specialist: $75-150 per hour
Digital tech managing files: $50-100 per hour

And that's just the shoot. Post-production often costs as much or more:

Basic retouching: $50-100 per hour
Complex products need several hours each
File management: $25-75 per hour
Color correction and formatting for different platforms

Hidden costs nobody tells you about

Ever rushed a holiday campaign shoot? That urgency comes with a 50% premium on standard rates. And reshoots? They happen more often than you might think:

Marketing wants different angles
Stakeholders request styling changes
Products get updated mid-shoot
Different markets need different versions

Each reshoot costs 25-50% of the original session. That's not counting lost time and delayed launches.

The business cost of traditional product photography

The eCommerce industry keeps growing. Consumer expectations keep rising. And somewhere in between, businesses need to figure out how to create better product images without breaking the bank.

Each new market adds costs (and complexity)

When Institut Esthederm planned their international launch campaign, they faced a common scaling dilemma: how to create consistent, high-quality content across 13 countries, each with unique market needs.

In the world of traditional product photography, this meant:

Adapting to local style preferences
Shooting different packaging
Considering cultural presentation
Timing seasonal content differently

Then factor in product variations:

Every color needs its own shoot
Size comparisons need special setups
Bundle shots multiply the work
Special editions need unique treatment

Their solution? Switching to Omi’s Virtual Photo Studio doubled their video assets while maintaining perfect consistency across all channels — from social media to CRM to paid advertising. Want to see for yourself? Try the Virtual Studio (the free plan includes everything except a 3D version of your product).

Weeks of production time = weeks of missed sales opportunities

According to Salesforce's 2023 Shopping Index [source], timing can make or break a product launch. Because modern eCommerce moves fast:

New products need:

At least 5-8 images each
Different formats for every platform
Marketing support images
Social media content

And seasonal campaigns? Even tighter deadlines:

Holiday shots needed months ahead of time
Back-to-school timing is critical
Fashion seasons won't wait
Flash sales need instant support

Moët Hennessy Wine Estates learned this first hand. Coordinating photography across their wine houses meant weeks of planning — time they couldn't spare in today's market.

Creative freedom costs thousands in traditional studios

In traditional processes for product photography, every creative direction comes with a price tag. Want to test different photo backgrounds? That's another studio day. Different lighting setup? Reset everything. New angle? Get ready to move all the equipment. You're forced to make a choice: play it safe or risk expensive reshoots.

Virtual photography changes this entirely. You can:

Test multiple creative ideas without rebooking studio time
Try different lighting setups in seconds
Create variations for different markets instantly
Compare options side by side
Launch your strongest content faster

With Omi's Virtual Studio, neither classic white background product photography nor fun-loving creative product photography multiplies your budget. You can iterate freely, experiment with different concepts, and optimize your content based on what works — all without the traditional trade-off between creativity and cost.

And with our video add-on, you can use the same 3D models to create studio-quality videos for your website, social media, and marketing campaigns. One model, endless possibilities for both photos and videos.

Meet Omi’s Virtual Photo Studio: more content, less complexity

Remember when streaming replaced DVDs? Virtual photography is doing the same thing to traditional product shoots. It's not just about saving money — it's about rethinking what's possible.

Your next product shoot could cost 90% less

Omi’s Virtual Studio eliminates equipment rentals, specialist fees, and studio rentals — all while moving faster. Want to see for yourself?

Explore Omi's Virtual Studio for free

Never do these things again:

Virtual photography eliminates these complexities entirely.

Booking studio time
Shipping products around
Coordinating multiple teams
Paying for equipment and staff
Managing endless revisions

Instead of these, using Omi, you can create unlimited product visuals without the traditional overhead of studios, shipping,

Pre-approve designs to guarantee consistency

Ever tried to match product photos taken months apart? Moët Hennessy Wine Estates faced this challenge across nine wine houses before going virtual. Now their process is simple:

Save perfect lighting setups
Reuse exact camera angles
Keep colors perfectly matched
Share templates globally
Use pre-approved scenes to reduce revisions

Endro Cosmétiques showed what this means in practice. They updated their entire site for Christmas in two days — work that used to take weeks.

Making the switch

Moving to virtual photography isn't complicated, but it does take making a decision.

The entire process typically takes just three steps:

Create a free account to explore the studio (includes everything except a 3D model of your products).
Have a 3D artist model your products (takes up to 2 weeks)
Start creating unlimited visuals

Think of it like learning any new tool — start small, get comfortable, then explore. Most teams begin by setting up their templates and getting the team up to speed (don't worry, our Virtual Studio is designed to be simple). Then it's just about adding more products and finding your rhythm. Before you know it, you're transforming how your entire brand creates content.

Brands cut production time by 90% with Omi

Let's look at why companies are switching to virtual product photography

Get unlimited product shots from a single digital model

Look at any major retailer's website. Each product shows multiple angles. Every color has its own set of shots. Seasonal updates refresh the entire catalog. Behind each of those images? A separate photo shoot — unless you're working virtually.

Virtual photography means:

New shots in minutes, not days
Automatic variant creation
Instant seasonal updates
Bundle shots without inventory
Consistent quality throughout

Create seasonal campaigns faster: from 17 weeks to 9 days

Holiday campaigns used to mean months of planning. Here's how Endro Cosmétiques changed that story:

Old way:

3 months planning ahead
2 weeks in the studio
1 week editing photos
1 week making changes
Limited room for updates

New way:

1 week planning
2 days creating content
Changes happen instantly
Unlimited variations
Complete creative freedom

The result? They earned a perfect 5/5 quality rating while activating their campaign across all channels in record time. And you can too — especially if you get inspiration from seasonal marketing templates.

Ditch 20 separate shoots for one Virtual Studio

Before virtual photography, Clarins struggled with photo shoots across 20 markets. They needed:

Different studios worldwide
Teams in every region
Multiple photographers
Long approval processes
Complex translations

Now they create once and adapt instantly:

One tool for all markets
Automatic regional updates
Consistent global quality
Fast approvals
Local control when needed

Their team says it best: what took months now takes days.

Virtual photo studios: better for more than just your budget

When you add up the studio fees, equipment costs, revision cycles, and hidden expenses, traditional product photography impacts more than just your budget — it affects your entire go-to-market strategy. Here's what that means in practice:

Traditional photography means:

$50-150 per image
Weeks of production time
Limited creative exploration
Complex scaling costs
Hidden fees for rush jobs and reshoots

Virtual photography transforms this equation:

Less than $1 per image on average
Production in days (or even hours), not weeks
Unlimited creative iterations
Scale without additional shoots
No surprise costs

The beauty of virtual photography? What used to take months (from idea to image) now happens in days or less. What used to cost thousands now costs hundreds. And those impossible deadlines? They're not so impossible anymore.

Ready to see how virtual photography could transform your content production?