How to get a quote for food photography

How much does food photography cost?

Getting a quote for food photography can be daunting if you’re not sure where to begin. Many photographers do not display their prices (I promise there's a reason for this) and there are a wide array of different pricing approaches.

Food photography pricing can range from a few hundred pounds/dollars with an inexperienced photographer just getting started, right up to hundreds of thousands of pounds/dollars for an in-demand advertising specialist. And everything in between.

In general, when you pay more for photography, you will be working with a more experienced, better skilled photographer and you will have more control over the final output. 

Advertising photography commands the highest fees and for this you buy the capacity to control every tiny detail of the scene, right down to the last pixel. The photographer will be executing a very specific brief and the final images must communicate that completely. This type of photography is shot in a large studio with 10-20 support crew who are all professionals in their own right, commanding higher fees in return for their precision, subject knowledge and experience.

The less you pay, the more you rely on luck to achieve the images you want, with the photographer approximating your brief to the best of their experience, skill and capabilities.

Types of food photography shoots

I find it useful to group food and drink shoots into the following three categories:

• You need a small number (1-10) of very carefully tailored hero shots (advertising)
• You have a fixed shot list (5-20) and need specific images for a specific use (branding/marketing)
• You need a large number of images that represent your brand for a variety of uses, but you are more flexible about the subject matter (branding/marketing/social media)

All these shoot types have their place in the food brand journey and it really depends on the marketing budget available and brand requirements at the time.

How to find food photographers

Once you’ve decided which approach is best suited to your needs, it’s time to look at portfolios. A portfolio is how the photographer shows you what they can do – the kind of lighting they can create, how food/drink/products will look when styled for camera and whether they are able to achieve a group of consistent brand images suitable for the use you have in mind. 

A photographer may also include case studies of shoots they have completed for brands, as well as personal creative projects they have worked on to develop their skills and show you what they can do. This kind of information is typically in the News or Projects part of a photographer’s website.

This is your best guide to finding a photographer who can achieve the specific look you have in mind for your brand. You can find photographer portfolios by searching the internet, looking on Pinterest, LinkedIn or Instagram and by using professional photographer directories such as the Association of Photographers.

Try and include as many style-related words as you can when writing searches for a photographer – think about how you would describe the light, colour, use of props and general vibe of the final images. For example, ‘bright, modern, colourful drink photographer’ or ‘rustic, neutral product photographer’.

How to get a quote for food photography

Once you’ve found a photographer or a few photographers you like, it’s time to get a quote. As mentioned, most food photographers do not list prices on their website, so you will need to explain your project to them to get an accurate quote. Putting together these quotes is an expected part of a photographer’s job and done with no obligation.

You might find a photographer that is exactly what you are looking for and only request their quote. You may want a range of quote to evaluate costs and approaches – three is a good number to provide a range, but avoid overwhelm.

Small brand quotes

For small brands, I always put together a custom proposal and quote, tailored to your project. 

This proposal includes example images in the style you requested, detailed pricing and a full guide to my photography process, so you will know exactly what I can offer within your budget.

If my portfolio is the kind of thing you're looking for, please get in touch for a quote.

Large brand quotes

For large-scale photography shoots for out-of-home campaigns, packaging and other advertising commissions, I am agent-represented. I shoot regularly for clients such as Cadbury, Müller and Lidl – see my advertising portfolios.

I work together with photo agent and shoot production company Swerve Represents, bringing together the very best stylists, set designers, lighting, digital and motion professionals for shoots across London studios.

We craft every element of the scene in minute detail, to precisely execute an ad agency brief.

For more information, please get in touch with Lucy Barbour at Swerve Represents for a tailored estimate.

Information required for a food photography quote

These are the key questions a photographer will ask to be able to give you an accurate quote. There may be other questions, depending on the project or photographer, but these are a good starting point. You don’t have to be completely decided on the answers to all these questions, but the more information you give, the more accurate your estimate will be.

What is your budget?

Although not everyone finds it easy to talk about money, one of the most useful pieces of information for a photography quote is your budget, even if this is a range. As I have mentioned, there are different types of photoshoot and different budgetary approaches. Your budget will let the photographer know how many days they can shoot for you, which support staff they can use and what scenes/sets they can likely create. 

How many images in total?

This helps determine the type of shoot and approach that is right for your brand.

How many ‘scenes’ do you hope to capture?

What kinds of scenes/sets would you like your product or food/drink to sit it? A single product on a plain white background? Or a carefully built scene decorated with a variety of interesting props? And everything in between.

You can use examples from the photographer’s portfolio or send the photographer any images you have collected if you find this hard to describe.

DO YOU NEED MOTION? VIDEO OR GIFS?

Motion always takes longer and costs more. GIFs are the cheaper option as they can be easily integrated into a stills shoot, but they will still take more time. Each GIF is comprised of multiple images and a high quality GIF takes planning and precision to make the frames run together smoothly.

Video adds considerably more time onto a shoot. You require a completely different lighting set up and often multiple takes to capture the action just right.

Where will you be using the images?

Where the images will be used often affects the price. Typically, the more money expected to be generated by the image, the more it will cost. This is because the quality of the photographer’s unique creative work is a key factor in the brand’s capacity to earn money and is therefore more valuable. This concept is called ‘usage’ in professional photography.

For smaller brands, usage may not add any extra money to your shoot, depending on the photographer. My approach is to keep usage extremely low for smaller brands using the images for general marketing (their website/social media/newsletter), but charge a small additional fee for individual images used in paid-for adverts. In a paid-for advert, the image is being specifically used to generate money for the brand and is therefore more valuable.

Typical small brand examples:

• brand website
• brand social media
• brand newsletter
• organic media outreach
• boosted social ads
• print ads (magazine/poster/leaflet)
• packaging

What kind of food/drink/product are we shooting?

This helps the photographer understand the kind of scenes you are hoping to create, whether they will need a professional food stylist, as well as cost for ingredients.

Do you need hands/models in the images?

Hand models can range from using the hands of a general shoot assistant or stylist to a professional model, paid by the half day. Professional models have their own portfolios of work and you can ‘cast’ exactly the hand you want for your scenes.

Using full body models will require professional casting, wardrobe and commercial releases.

When are your preferred shoot days?

The photographer will know how long it will take to plan and pre-produce your shoot as well as how many shoot days it will require. They will also have upcoming bookings. 

The photographer will tell you whether those specific shoot days are available or logistically realistic and offer you alternative shoot days/time frames if required.

When do you need the final images?

Post-production editing is a key part of most photographers’ workflow and for many a substantial part of the final look. This is also how a photographer achieves a complete set of branded images, with consistent light, colour, tone, mood and framing.

This means the images will not be complete at the end of the shoot day and extra days are required to retouch the final light, colour and composition of the scenes. A general minimum is 1 extra work day per shoot day for post-production editing.

Where do you want to shoot the images and do you need to be on set? 

Some photographers have studios, either as part of their home or a dedicated site. Others use professional rental studios as required. This influences the cost. I shoot in a mix – a well developed home studio for smaller brands that do not need to be on site and large rental studios in London for high budget advertising shoots with 10+ agency and clients on set.

Some clients need to be on set during the shoot, overseeing everything happening in detail and approving images as they come out of the camera. This set up is best suited to a rental studio and the client may need to factor in travel to the location.

If you don’t need to be on set, there are a wide variety of options for virtual approval of images:

• Approve a moodboard, plan and set of test images, then let the photographer execute the rest of the brief (shooting and editing). This way you will see the images when they are edited and cropped, which is useful if you are not experienced with creating photography and might not be able to imagine the change from a RAW image negative and a fully retouched final image. 
• Photographer completes one group of images (a scene/set) and uploads to an online gallery for feedback/approval. 
• Approval via WhatsApp – this is the fastest, but you will only see a low quality screenshot of the unedited image, the size of your phone’s screen.

example images that communicate your preferred style of photography?

This is very helpful for us to understand the look and scenes you are trying to create and what it will take for us to achieve them.

Choosing a food photographer

Now you have 1-3 quotes, it’s time to decide.

The main factors in this decision are:

• Budget and planned use of the images
• Strength of each photographer’s portfolios and their demonstrable skills
• Photographer/s quotes and what’s included
• Professionalism of the photographer in your dealings with them so far

It is tempting to be guided by cost alone if you have a range of prices before you, but I would encourage you to really consider the quality of the photographer’s work. Can they show you work that is similar to your requirements? The closer the better.

What is included in their quote? Are you hiring a photographer for the shoot day alone or are they offering extensive pre-production as well? Do they need you to supply a detailed brief or are they able to art direct the scene for you? Can they not only shoot your images, but perhaps develop your entire brand’s visual style?

Their professionalism should also be a factor. Are they responsive to emails? Did they provide a thoughtful, timely quote? Do they have systems in place for mood boards, shoot planning and image approval/delivery? Good systems will make your life easier and require less of your time during the pre-production, production and post-production phases of a shoot.

Once you have decided, it’s time to let the photographers know your decision. Even if not successful, we really appreciate being told a shoot is not going ahead. Often we have put a lot of thought and time into putting together your quote and have started to block out parts of our schedules. It is great to know as soon as possible if a shoot is not going ahead, so we can plan our other work accordingly.

Feedback is also really welcomed (at least by me) – it’s really useful to know if things have changed at your business, the style wasn’t quite right or the quote was outside of your brand’s budget. No hard feelings 😀

If my portfolio is the kind of thing you're looking for, please get in touch for a quote.

Nancy Anne produces vibrant, playful imagery for advertising clients, working out of photography studios in London and Leeds. 

She shoots bold, stylised photography compositions, capturing food, drink and still life images in a fun, colourful, pop style.

Keep up to date with her latest food and drink photography projects and commissions via the News section of this website, her monthly photography newsletter or over on Instagram / LinkedIn.

Nancy Anne is represented by photographic agency Swerve Represents and is also an accredited AOP member. Get in touch to discuss your project or to book Nancy Anne for a job.