What food photography actually costs
Most pricing pages in this industry are written by software companies that want you to buy an app. This one is written by a photographer who has been lighting food in Southern California since 2005, and it has a real number in it.
Two-hour, four-hour and full-day rates, plus hourly if you need five hours rather than eight. Every rate includes unlimited images. I do not charge per image, and I never have.
Edited images land within three business days of the shoot. That is the standard, not a rush fee. If you are against a menu print date, tell me and I will work to it.
A typical four to five hour shoot produces over a hundred usable images, because each plate is shot from four or five angles rather than once.
Why I don’t charge per image
Per-image pricing means counting shots on set and negotiating over the twelfth dish. It makes everybody cautious at exactly the moment you want to be trying things, and it is the reason so many restaurants end up with six good photos and a menu full of gaps.
I charge for the time, and you get everything from it. A hero shot, an overhead, a close-up, a medium vertical and a horizontal of the same plate is five images you can use in five different places — the menu, the website, the ordering app, the Instagram grid and the story.
What a shoot day actually looks like
About thirty minutes to set up lighting and equipment and get it dialled in. The camera runs tethered to a laptop, so you see every frame as it is shot, keep quality control and give feedback before we move on rather than three days later.
Once the dishes start coming out, five to ten minutes per shot. We work the shot list we agreed beforehand, and we can cover your menu shots, your ordering-app shots and your creative social shots in the same visit.
Photography and video in the same day
Photography uses strobe lighting. Video uses LED. They are two different set-ups, so we either split the day or build both rigs — and there is a discount for booking them together rather than as two separate shoots.
A video day can produce ten to twenty finished videos, cut vertical for Instagram and TikTok as well as wide.
What changes the price
How long you need. A half day suits most independent restaurants. A full menu, or photo and video together, usually wants a full day.
Styling load. A burger that has to hold up under lights is a different job from a plated dish shot in ninety seconds. Ice cream, melted cheese and anything with foam are the expensive ones.
A hired food stylist, when a dish genuinely needs one. More on that below.
Travel. Orange County, Los Angeles and San Diego are normal territory. Palm Springs, or anything needing an overnight, adds cost.
Set build. Shooting in your dining room is included. Props, specialty surfaces and backgrounds beyond my kit are quoted separately.
What you don’t pay for
- Per-image fees
- Licensing tiers or usage renewals
- Rush fees for the standard three-day turnaround
- Re-shoots of anything that is my fault
Tell me what you’re working with
Send the number of dishes, your city and roughly when you need it. I will come back with a straight number.
Pricing questions
The ones that come up on nearly every call.
How much does food photography cost for a small restaurant?
Flat rates start at $495. There are two-hour, four-hour and full-day options, and hourly rates on top of that, so you are not paying for an eight-hour day when you need five.
Most independent restaurants I shoot for need a half day.
Do you charge per photo?
No. Every rate includes unlimited images, and a typical four to five hour shoot produces over a hundred usable frames.
Each plate gets four or five angles — a hero, an overhead, a close-up, a medium vertical and a horizontal — so one dish gives you images for the menu, the site, the ordering apps and social.
Is a food stylist included, and do I even need one?
Often you do not. Most kitchens are perfectly capable of preparing food for camera, and I will tell you beforehand what to prep differently — food for a photograph is built differently from food going out to a customer.
When a dish genuinely needs a stylist — a cheese pull, a built sandwich, a stacked pizza that has to hold for an hour under lights — I bring in experienced food stylists and quote it. It is not bundled into every job just to pad the invoice.
Can I get photography and video on the same day, and is it cheaper?
Yes, and there is a discount for booking both together. Photography runs on strobe lighting and video runs on LED, so they are two different set-ups — we either split the day or build both rigs.
A video day can produce ten to twenty finished videos, cut vertical for Instagram and TikTok as well as wide for your site.
How quickly do I get the images?
Within three business days of the shoot. That is standard, not a rush fee.
Can I see the photos while you are shooting?
Yes. The camera runs tethered to a laptop on set, so you see every frame as it happens, keep quality control and redirect before we move to the next dish. Nobody is waiting until delivery to find out the shot was wrong.
Where can I use the images, and for how long?
Everywhere, indefinitely. Menus, your website, delivery apps, social, print and paid advertising. No licensing tiers, no usage renewals, no expiry date.
What is quoted separately?
Props, specialty surfaces and backgrounds beyond what I bring, a hired food stylist when a dish needs one, and travel outside Orange County, Los Angeles and San Diego.
There are no per-image fees, no licensing tiers and no rush fees for standard turnaround.