Good product photography in Leeds typically costs between £400 and £1,200 a day for a white-background catalogue shoot, or £15–£60 per finished image, depending on complexity. At Dock Street Studio we shoot tethered into Capture One on a Nikon Z8, light with Godox SL150s, and deliver retouched files within 5–10 working days. This guide walks you through pricing models, what’s actually included, and how to brief a shoot that earns its money back on your product pages.
If you sell anything online — from Yorkshire knitwear to small-batch gin — the photos doing the heavy lifting on your product pages are quietly deciding whether people click “Add to basket” or bounce. Here’s how to commission them properly.
Why does product photography matter for ecommerce?
Product images are the closest thing online shoppers have to picking something up off a shelf. Baymard Institute research consistently shows image quality as one of the top reasons people abandon a product page, and Shopify’s own data points the same way: better photography correlates directly with higher conversion rates.
In practice that means three things for a Leeds business:
• Clean, consistent product shots make your shop look trustworthy on the first scroll.
• Lifestyle imagery tells people who the product is for and where it fits in their life.
• Detail shots — stitching, grain, finish, weight — close the gap between screen and shelf.
We see this most clearly with our textile and homeware clients across Yorkshire. A swatch shot well, with the right rake of light across the weave, sells the cloth. The same swatch lit flatly under a phone torch doesn’t.
How much does product photography cost in the UK?
There are two pricing models you’ll see quoted across Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield and Harrogate, and they exist for different reasons.
Day rate
A studio day rate covers the photographer, the space, the lighting kit and a set number of hours (usually 8). In Leeds, day rates for product work generally sit between £400 and £1,200, depending on the studio, the kit, and whether a stylist or assistant is included. Day rates suit volume work — catalogue shoots, lookbooks, anything where you’ve got 30–80 SKUs to get through.
Per-image pricing
Per-image is better for smaller runs or where every shot needs to be perfect for a campaign. UK rates usually fall between £15 and £30 per image for straightforward white-background work, and £40–£80+ per image for lifestyle, composite, or heavily retouched shots. The price reflects setup, shoot time and post-production rolled into one number per finished file.
What actually affects the price
A few things move the needle:
• Number of SKUs. More products means more setups, more time, more files to retouch.
• White background vs lifestyle. White backgrounds are fast; lifestyle takes styling, props and often a model.
• Model use. Adding a model brings in a day rate, agency fees and usage licensing.
• Post-production complexity. Clipping paths, shadow work, colour matching to a specific Pantone or fabric reference all add hours.
• Send-in vs on-location. Shipping products to the studio is usually cheaper than us packing the kit out to your warehouse.
What’s included in a Dock Street product shoot?
We run a fairly standard professional setup, but the details matter. Here’s what a shoot day in our Holbeck studio actually looks like.
Kit and lighting. A Nikon Z8 (or Z9 for the longer days) on a Sigma Art macro or Nikkor Z 24–70mm f/2.8, depending on the product. Lighting is built around Godox SL150 continuous LEDs through softboxes and grids, with a white cyc wall for seamless backgrounds and black flags for control. Continuous light means what you see on the monitor is what you get — useful when a client is in the room making call-by-call decisions.
Tethered Capture One workflow. Every frame lands on a 27” monitor within a second of the shutter firing. You can sit next to me, check sharpness at 100%, approve a shot, and move on. No “we’ll see how it came out” — decisions get made in the room. Files are stored on CF Express and backed up live to a second drive.
Basic retouching included. Dust spotting, minor blemish removal, white-balance correction, background clean-up, and a consistent crop across the set. For ecommerce this is usually enough.
File formats and delivery. You get high-resolution JPEGs (sRGB, 3000px on the long edge) for web, plus optional TIFFs or 16-bit PSDs for print or further work. Delivery is via a private gallery link, typically within 5–10 working days. RAW files are kept on archive for 12 months.
For larger projects or anything with a specific colour-critical brief, see our product and ecommerce photography service page on.
Which type of product shoot do I need?
This is the question most people are really trying to answer. Here’s a side-by-side of the three formats we shoot most often.
Most of our Leeds clients end up with a blend: a catalogue day for the bulk SKUs, plus a half-day lifestyle session for the hero images that lead the site.
Where in Leeds can I shoot, and what about send-in?
Our studio is on Dock Street in Holbeck, two minutes from Leeds station, with parking and loading access for bigger drops. Most clients prefer to attend on the day — particularly for fashion, food or anything where art direction is happening live on the Capture One screen.
For clients further afield (we regularly ship-and-shoot for brands across Yorkshire, Bradford, Wakefield, Headingley, Hunslet, Hyde Park, York and beyond), send-in works well. Pack your products with a clear shot list, courier them in, and we handle the rest. We photograph, retouch, deliver, and ship the products back insured and tracked.
Frequently asked questions
How many products can you shoot in a day?
For a straightforward white-background catalogue setup, we typically shoot 30–80 SKUs in a day, depending on size and how many angles each product needs. Lifestyle work with styling and props is much slower — usually 10–20 finished hero shots in a day.
Do you provide a white background and infinity cove?
Yes. We have a permanent white cyc wall in the studio for full-length and larger products, plus sweep paper and acrylic surfaces for smaller items shot on a table-top. Backgrounds can be matched to pure #FFFFFF in post if your platform requires it (Amazon, for example).
What file formats do you deliver?
Standard delivery is high-resolution JPEG (sRGB, 3000px long edge) suitable for web and ecommerce. On request we also supply TIFF, 16-bit PSD with layers, or print-ready CMYK files. RAW files are kept on archive for 12 months and can be released if needed.
How long does retouching take?
Basic retouching — dust, blemishes, white-balance, background clean-up — is included and usually delivered within 5–10 working days. Heavier post-production (composites, ghost mannequin, advanced colour-matching) adds time and is quoted per image. Rush turnaround within 48 hours is available for an additional fee.
Do you ship products back after a send-in shoot?
Yes, every time. Products are repacked carefully and returned via insured, tracked courier within a few days of the shoot wrapping. We cover return shipping within the UK on send-in jobs over £500; smaller jobs are quoted at cost.
Do I need to attend the shoot?
You’re very welcome to, and many Leeds clients enjoy sitting in on the Capture One monitor and approving shots live. But it’s not required — we’ll send a clear shot list confirmation before the day and a proof gallery after, so you can review everything before final delivery.
Ready to brief a shoot? Drop us a message with your product list and rough timing, and we’ll come back with a proper quote within 24 hours. Things just click.
Mark Wheelwright, Dock Street Studio Leeds