FAQS

What kind of clients do you typically work with?

I work with CPG food and beverage brands worldwide: marketing teams, social media teams, brand managers, agencies, chefs, entrepreneurs, startups, and national companies of every size. Everything from emerging pantry brands to established global brands.

Working with that many teams builds a real instinct for what makes a product stand out in a crowded category. If you have a product worth photographing, we will make it look unforgettable.

Do you work with startups and small brands, or only established companies?

Both, genuinely. Some of my favorite work has come from founders with one SKU and a deadline. But I also love the polished demands of a big creative team.

Startups often begin with a free 15-minute call because they are not always sure what they need yet, and that is fine. Bring a product, a launch date, or even a vague idea. I will talk it through with you and come back with a plan and a quote. There is no obligation.

Established brands tend to arrive with a shot list and a deck already. Either way works.

Do you travel, or do I need to be in Southern California?

I am based in Southern California and serve Los Angeles, San Diego, and the SF Bay Area, but a large share of my work is for brands nowhere near me, from national restaurant chains to regional food companies. I travel to work on location as needed, and the studio works virtually across any time zone.

You have three options:

1. Ship your product to the studio. The most common choice. You watch the shoot live over Zoom, Google Meet, or Teams and give feedback in real time.
2. I come to you. On-location work at your facility, kitchen, farm, or restaurant.
3. Hybrid. Studio work for the packaging and hero shots, on location for the story.

Distance has never been the deciding factor. Product and concept are.

What is the difference between hiring you and hiring a general product photographer?

Focus, and a kitchen.

A general product photographer can light a box. Food is a different problem: it wilts, melts, separates, and looks worst exactly when the light is best. I am a trained chef as well as a commercial photographer, so the food is cooked and styled to photograph well rather than placed in front of a camera and hoped over.

The second difference is scope. Studio stills, lifestyle with models, stop motion, video, and retouching all happen under one roof. Most brands assemble that from three or four vendors and pay a coordination tax for the privilege.

What is your style? Do you have a signature look?

The product is always the hero. My look is true, enhanced color and food that reads as delicious rather than styled to death.

Beyond that, I would rather talk about focus than signature. I shoot food and beverage and nothing else, which is why the studio shots, lifestyle, motion, and stop motion we deliver all come out looking like they belong to the same brand. Whether it is a packaging shot destined for a label or an appetite-triggering hero for a campaign, the job is to set the right mood and make imagery your audience actually connects with.

Do you offer food styling, or do I need to hire someone else?

Food styling is always included. I am a trained chef, and we handle all of it in-house, so the food looks as good in the frame as it would on a plate in front of you. The studio keeps its own prop and surface library, so almost any creative direction is on the table, literally.

Do you do video, reels, and stop motion, or just stills?

All of it, in the same shoot day.

Stop motion and GIFs are something of a specialty. They are unreasonably effective for CPG brands on social, and they are hard to do well. We also produce reels, UGC-style content, and full video for brands that need motion alongside their stills.

The advantage of shooting it together is consistency. Your video, your stop motion, and your packaging shots all look like the same brand because they were lit and styled by the same team on the same day.

Do you specialize in shooting libraries for CPG food and beverage companies?

Yes, and it is most of what we do. We build libraries that cover everything from your website and social to Costco, Target, Amazon, Walmart, print, TV, and in-store TV.

Clients love that the same branded look carries across studio shots, product family shots, stop motion, video, and lifestyle images, so a season of content arrives with variety and intention rather than as a pile of unrelated files.

What exactly does a food photographer do?

A food photographer makes your product impossible to scroll past.

I shoot commercial food and beverage photography for packaging, e-commerce, menus, editorial features, advertising campaigns, and social media. The platform changes constantly. The mission does not: make the product look delicious, feel on-brand, and sell.

How much does CPG food photography cost?

Every job gets a real bid rather than a guess, and you will not wait long for one. You also will not be starting from zero, because we have packages built for different stages of a brand:

• Startup and e-commerce. A starter library to get a new product live on your site, Amazon, and social.
• Mid-size projects. A campaign, a seasonal push, a product launch, a refresh.
• Full brand libraries. Studio stills, product family shots, lifestyle with models, stop motion, and video, all shot to one consistent look across every platform you sell on.

Most clients do not arrive knowing which one they need, and that is expected. Part of my job is helping you choose, including talking you out of a bigger package when a smaller one would do the same work.

Most of this work runs as a content sprint: one day, one crew, all you can shoot. The fastest way to a real number is the free 15-minute call. Bring a product, a deadline, or a rough idea.

How do you determine the price of your services?

Every project is bid for size and scope. There is no rate card, because a single-SKU e-commerce set and a lifestyle campaign with models and stop motion are not the same job, and pricing them the same would shortchange one of us.

What drives the number:

• Scope. Number of products, number of sets, set complexity, image and video formats, family shots, in situ, and so on.
• Models. Whether the shoot includes people.
• Changes and additions on set. Revisions and new requests as we shoot.
• Time. Hours, half days, or full days.

What stays constant is that styling, props, surfaces, models, and retouching are all in-house. No line item for outsourced help, no coordination tax, no surprise costs at the end. Usage is included in the fee, in perpetuity, so you will never get a licensing invoice later.

I build your deck to fit your budget, not the other way around. Tell me the number you are working with and I will find the efficient version of your project. If you want to sketch the shape of it first, the CPG Photo Shoot Planner will show you roughly how many days your list needs before we even talk.

What is your turnaround time?

Turnaround depends on project size, but final edited images are typically delivered within one to two days, and up to a week for larger productions.

We prioritize your most important images and video first and keep polishing the rest in order of importance, so you are never waiting on the whole set before you can start using the best of it.

How far in advance should I book?

This one always comes up, and the real answer is: how fast can we get the deck together and the product here? The studio works on a rolling basis and we are always busy rolling projects out, so once your concept and product are ready, we can move quickly.

For larger projects or peak seasons, booking 2 to 4 weeks ahead helps lock in the best availability.

How many images do I get? How many can you shoot in a day?

The average is 30 to 50 selects in a day for quality work for social and web libraries. There are many options for increasing that, and of course we are happy to work on print and packaging projects that output a few intentional and high quality assets.

You can run your own list through the CPG Photo Shoot Planner and get a detailed plan so we can estimate and help you stay on budget.

How many products can you photograph in a day?

It depends on the shoot, and every shoot has to be fine tuned to the budget. We have shot anywhere from 2 products in a day to 100. A hundred is possible when we have a lot of stations running and the assistants to keep them moving. Two is right when the product has to be engineered before it will photograph.

The CPG Photo Shoot Planner is the fastest way to see what your own list needs. Run it, send us the plan, and we will fine tune it with you.

Why does the number of sets change how much we can shoot?

Because a shoot day is really a set building day with photography in between. The build is the expensive part, and once a set is lit, more frames on it cost very little.

How long a build takes depends entirely on the work in it. We have a deep prop room and a lot of capability to build, so we are happy to study what you have in mind and quote it. What stays true either way is the trade: the more sets you want in a day, the fewer products go through each one. Grouping a list onto fewer sets is usually the cheapest way to get more images.

Why does e-commerce take longer than social?

E-commerce is held to a catalog standard now. Every frame has to be straight, clean, and consistent with the rest of the range, and it carries far more changes.

Social is the fastest work we do, which is why a social library day returns more assets. It is fun and creative.

How long does a photo for packaging take?

Longer than a web image of the same product, and it should be planned separately from your library work.

Packaging art gets printed, it gets scrutinized at a size nobody views a web image at, and it has to hold up. By planning ahead of time we can create the perfect package shot, and we would rather scope it properly than fold it into a library day.

How many recipes or prepared dishes can you shoot in a day?

Eight in a day is the practical ceiling, and that only works when we prep them all in advance and then run the shoot.

Our record is nine, with a crew of three and the client on hand helping, and it was too rushed. Past eight we can see it in the results, so we would rather add a prep day than push it. All prep and styling happens here, by us.

How long does a session take?

It depends on the scope. Most clients want a library of assorted images, stop motions, and reels, and that typically fits into a single shoot day. That is what our content sprint is built for: an all you can shoot approach to a day, where planning is what turns it into a great one. Packages are always customizable to your needs.

A shoot day is eight hours. About 40 minutes go to setting up at the start and 40 to wrapping, cleaning, and backing up at the end. We do not break for lunch.

What if I don't know what I need yet?

Then book the free call. That is what it is for.

Plenty of people arrive with a product and a vague sense that their current photos are not working. That is a completely reasonable place to start. Fifteen minutes, no obligation. I will talk through your goals, your budget, and what would actually move the needle, and come back with ideas and a quote.

You do not need a shot list to have a conversation.

What is your process from start to finish?

My workflow is smooth, collaborative, and built to keep you in the loop:

1. Consultation. We talk through your vision, goals, and needs.
2. Proposal and quote. You get a clear plan with deliverables and costs.
3. Pre-production. Shot lists, moodboards, props, and logistics are finalized.
4. The shoot. In my studio or on location, with real-time viewing and feedback.
5. Post-production. Editing and retouching until you are satisfied.
6. Delivery. Final high-resolution files, ready to publish.

Feedback is welcome at every step, not just at the end.

Do you shoot in-studio or on location?

Both. My studio is fully equipped for controlled, detail-perfect CPG product and beverage photography, and it also has an outdoor patio, kitchen, and dining room ready for lifestyle work. Beyond the studio, I love on-location food photography: restaurants, kitchens, or anywhere that best tells your story.

Because I work with clients worldwide, many simply ship their product to the studio and join by video, with live viewing and feedback, so you are part of the shoot no matter where you are.

What should I prepare before the shoot?

A clear shot list, inspiration images if you have them, and your product shipped to the studio. That is enough to keep the day efficient and stress-free. If you do not have a shot list yet, that is exactly what pre-production is for.

One more thing that costs you ten minutes and saves hours: photograph your product with your phone and send it over. It tells us more about what the day will really take than any brief can.

What if my product is not photo ready?

Then we plan for it rather than discover it on the day.

Look at that phone photo and ask whether you would use it as is. A camera records what is in front of it. It does not render. We can straighten a package, fill it more or less, clean an edge, and retouch a label, and all of that is ordinary.

Some packaging needs real work before a frame is shot. Vacuum packed and mylar bags have to be opened, propped flat on a scaffold, and repacked by hand. Boxes get built. Seams get sealed or retouched out. Warehouse stock arrives scratched, dented, and with labels printed crooked.

None of that is a problem. It is just time, and it is far cheaper to price it in than to find it with the lights on. Send the photo and we will tell you exactly what your samples need.

Do I need a prep day?

Sometimes, and it is usually the cheapest decision in the budget.

A prep day is intake, prepping the dishes, and building anything the shot list needs that does not exist yet. We do not charge for shopping, but we do need time for extensive food prep, product prep, and model casting. On one national brand job we had to bake a bun to a specific size before the burger could be shot at all.

Prep can be a few hours, a half day, or a full day. We are flexible, and it maximizes shooting without adding another shoot day.

Can I give feedback during the shoot?

Absolutely, feedback is encouraged. I offer real-time collaboration by text, Google Meet, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams, so you can watch progress and weigh in as we shoot. It is always easier to change something while the set is still standing.

One person with the authority to say yes is the single best thing a client can bring to a shoot day, whether they are here in the studio or on a screen.

Do you shoot to Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Costco image specs?

Yes, and this matters more than most brands realize.

Every retailer has its own requirements for background, framing, margins, resolution, and file format, and a beautiful image that fails spec is a rejected listing. We shoot to those specs deliberately, including GS1 standards for retail product imagery, so your files are compliant on delivery rather than after three rounds of rework.

What equipment do you use?

Phase One medium-format and Nikon systems for stills, a Canon cinema camera and iPhones for food video and stop motion, and a Sony for run and gun work which is great for social and BTS on motion sets. Specialized lenses, and professional lighting: strobes, LEDs, and modifiers, plus LED and ambient kits that are perfect for on-location shoots.

Behind all of that is a fully stocked library of props, surfaces, and sets to bring any creative vision to life.

Who owns the images, and what usage rights do I get?

You get full usage, in perpetuity, included in my fee. I retain the copyright. You get to use the work.

Packaging, e-commerce, Amazon, your website, social, advertising, print, in-store, whatever comes next. Forever, with no expiration, no territory limits, and no licensing invoice showing up two years from now.

Food and CPG companies run on razor-thin margins and impossibly busy schedules. Since that is who I work for, usage is built into the fee, so it is one less thing to track, renegotiate, or worry about. You paid for the images. Use them.

The copyright I keep simply lets me show the work in my portfolio and promote the studio. That is it.

Do you use AI to make my images?

The short answer is no. We do not create entire images in AI and deliver them as photography. AI is an important tool in the studio. Read our full AI Position Statement.