Product Photography

Most shops need packshots for every product and styled or lifestyle images for a smaller selection.

Marketplaces set their own image rules, and they change. At the time of writing, bol.com asks sellers for a main image on a white, neutral background showing the front of the product as large as possible, without text, logos, watermarks or models, and recommends at least 1200 × 1200 pixels so the zoom function works. Amazon has similar rules for its main image. Always check the current partner or seller guidelines before the shoot.

Tell the photographer which marketplaces you sell on. The same photos can then be delivered in the right sizes and crops for each, which is much cheaper than reshooting later.

Some products take much longer per item:

• Glass, bottles and cosmetics reflect everything; they need controlled lighting and careful retouching.
• Jewellery is small and shiny, and usually needs focus stacking.
• Clothing needs steaming and either a model, a mannequin or a ghost-mannequin edit.
• Food has a short window before it looks tired; see restaurant photography for dishes.
• Large items like furniture need space and often a location shoot.

These affect the price per product more than anything else, so describe your range honestly in the request.

Most product photographers work in their own studio, so you send or drop off the products and get them back after the shoot. For larger or heavier items, the photographer comes to your warehouse or showroom with a portable setup.

Prepare products before they go: remove stickers, fold or steam textiles, and send a spare of anything fragile. Add a list with SKUs or product names so the files can be named correctly — it saves hours when uploading to your shop.

Quotes to businesses are often excluding BTW; ask for an invoice with your company details. For images that tell a wider brand story, combine with branding photography.

Product photographers quote in two ways, and it helps to know which suits you:

• Per product or per image works for simple packshots in volume: the same setup, the same angles, one product after another. You know the cost per SKU in advance.
• Per half day or day works for styled images, lifestyle scenes and mixed or complex products, where the time per product varies.

The €250 starting price covers a small set of simple packshots. A catalogue of 100 products with three angles each, or jewellery with focus stacking, will be quoted higher. Send a product list with dimensions and materials, and a few example images from shops you like, and the quote will be much more accurate.

Reshoots are the hidden cost: new colour variants, seasonal packaging, a product that changed supplier. Ask the photographer to keep the setup notes so new products match the existing ones. For how pricing works across services, see our pricing page.