Photo shoot, agency, AI tool or one campaign?
A small brand has four ways to get product content. A shoot or an agency gives you polish at a high price per asset, a single-job AI tool covers one format, and one campaign covers every asset in one look.
By Nick Taylor · Updated · 3 min read
What are the four options?
| Option | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Photo shoot | A first set of clean product photos | Every new format or scene is another booking |
| Agency | Big launches with a full team | Price per asset, minimums, and a long chain of people |
| Single-job AI tool | One format, fast | Your ads, site and social can end up looking like three brands |
| One campaign | Every asset in one look, priced per asset | You need at least one clear photo of each product |
What does a photo shoot really involve?
More people than the photographer. For lifestyle shots you also need models, someone on hair, makeup and styling, someone directing, often a location, then editing and rounds of changes.
If you're doing lifestyle stuff, who are the models and how long can you use their likeness for? Who's doing their makeup or styling? Who's directing the photo?
Model rights are the one founders miss most. Usage is usually licensed for a set term, and keeping a face in your ads for a second year costs extra. We put numbers on all of it in how much product photography costs.
When is an agency worth it?
When you're a large brand with a look you've refined over years, a team that already knows it, and a budget that's set aside for it. You get a predictable result from people who've done it before.
The result they're going to get is going to be predictable. They already know the expense. It's already budgeted for.
For a small brand the math rarely works. You pay for the sales process, the account manager and the shoot crew, and every change request travels through all of them.
Where do single-job AI tools fit?
They're good at one thing each: an ad generator, a UGC-video app, a background swapper. If you only ever need that one format, one of them may be all you need, and we'll say so.
The trouble starts when you need the full set. Each tool reads your product a little differently, labels drift, and you end up as the person stitching it all together.
What is one campaign?
One brief, one creative direction and one cast, turned into every asset your product needs: product shots, lifestyle shots, Meta ads, UGC-style video, social posts, banners and motion. Each one is priced per asset, with no subscription.
I didn't want a founder paying every month for something that they didn't fully need, just so that I can say that I have good monthly recurring revenue.
You give about 15 minutes per asset type, and 1 to 2 hours for a full campaign. Your brand's setup carries over, so the next campaign starts from what the last one learned.
So which should you pick?
| If you are | Pick |
|---|---|
| A large brand with a set look and a budget for it | Keep your photographer or agency |
| A brand that needs one format and nothing else | A single-job tool |
| A small brand that needs the whole set to match | One campaign |
| Without a single clear photo of your product yet | A phone photo in daylight, or a short packshot session, first |
If you're a small brand, I don't think spending a large chunk of money on a product shot is going to be what moves the needle. That money would probably be best deployed in other places, such as marketing, ad budget, contractors.
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