FAQ
Ecommerce product photography, answered straight.
Everything brands ask before booking a shoot - pricing, timelines, shipping, files, rights, and where AI fits. If your question isn’t here, ask it anyway: a real person answers within one business day.
● Pricing and scope
What it costs, what you get.
How much does product photography cost?
Packages start at $750, À la carte services are priced per image so you can plan by SKU - day rates when a project genuinely calls for one. The full breakdown of what’s included and what changes an estimate lives in the pricing guide →
How many images do I need per product?
Depends where they’ll live. An Amazon listing supports a white-background main plus a full secondary stack; most brands run 5-8 images per hero SKU across pack shots, details, and lifestyle. The Amazon guide breaks down the stack.
What’s included with every image?
Studio capture, basic retouching, color correction, white or transparent background, and web-ready exports - plus full commercial usage rights, worldwide, in perpetuity. Baseline, not add-ons.
Do you shoot for Amazon and Shopify?
Every week. Compliance-aware Amazon mains and stacks, and catalog-consistent Shopify sets that stay uniform across every product page.
● Process and timing
From your shelf to your listing.
How fast will I get my images?
Standard delivery is 5-7 business days from shoot day, with rush available when a launch can’t wait. Estimates come back within one business day.
How do I get my products to you?
Ship them to our Lake Forest, CA studio - estimate first, box second. Return shipping is prepaid. The full packing drill is in the prep and shipping checklist →
Do I have to visit the studio?
No. Most clients never set foot in it. Brief, shoot, review, and delivery all run remotely - your products make the trip so you don’t have to.
What if I need changes after delivery?
Basic retouching and color correction are part of every image, and anything beyond baseline is spelled out in your written estimate. If something needs adjusting after delivery, tell us specifically what feels off - specific feedback gets sorted fast.
● Files and rights
Your files, your rules.
Do I own the photos?
You hold a perpetual, worldwide license to use them for your brand - forever, on every platform, no renewals. The full plain-English breakdown: usage rights, explained →
Do I get raw files?
No. The deliverable is finished, retouched images in the formats you need - that’s where the quality lives. Raw files stay in the studio.
What formats do you deliver?
Multiple formats and aspect ratios per platform - Amazon-spec mains, Shopify-ready pages, social crops - organized and labeled so your team never has to guess which file goes where.
Can I crop and edit the files myself?
Freely - resize, crop, and adapt them to any channel’s format. For deeper changes like new backgrounds or recolors, send them back; retouching is what we do all day.
● AI and lifestyle scenes
Real product. Built worlds.
Do you use AI in your photography?
Yes - the hybrid way. Every image is built from a real studio photograph of your actual product; AI builds the scene around it. No invented bottles, no garbled labels. The whole workflow: AI product photography →
Are AI images allowed on marketplaces?
The rule that matters is accurate representation of the actual product. Because hybrid images start from a photo of the real item, the product representation stays true - and main images still follow standard white-background specs.
Are the people in lifestyle images real models?
No - people and hands in scenes are AI-built and art-directed around your product. No casting, no model fees, no talent-rights renewals. The product itself still comes from the real photograph.
What products do you shoot?
Skincare and beauty, supplements, food and beverage, electronics, fashion, and consumer packaged goods of every stripe - if it sells on a listing, it fits under our lights.
Still curious? Ask a human.
Response within one business day. Call (619) 261-7332, or send the project through the estimate form and get real numbers back.