How to reduce the cost of photographing identical items?

Even with a limited budget, you can get clean, clear, and visually consistent photographs of your products. This will make your catalog more attractive and ultimately help increase sales. For a range of identical products, simpler yet no less effective photography solutions are possible.

To ensure the result meets your expectations, it’s important to consider six basic recommendations when preparing the Brief.

One lighting setup

I always try to organize the shoot so that one lighting setup works for all products at once. Light, background, and composition are set up once, and then I simply swap the items carefully. For the client, this means fewer shooting hours and a lower cost per image-without compromising quality. 

Consistent style

It’s often tempting to shoot each item a bit differently. I understand that, but if the goal is a websit e, catalog, or marketplace, a consistent style works better. I usually recommend one or two angles, the same composition across the series, and a focus on clarity and clean presentation of the product.

A clear brief

The clearer we agree on everything before the shoot, the smoother and more cost effective the whole process will be. When I understand in advance where the images will be used, which angles are required, and wha t is definitely not needed, I can organize the shoot maximum efficiently without unnecessary tests or reshoots.

Shoot everything in one session

If possible, I always recommend shooting the entire product line in one day. This way, there’s no n eed to reset the lighting each time or return to previous setups. Plus, the whole series looks visuall y consistent, which is especially important for a brand.

Consistent retouching

When working with a series, I use a unified retouching approach. This speeds up post production and helps maintain a consistent, clean look across all products. As a result, the client gets a neat, cohesive series without paying for extra editing hours.

Reference image

Create one “reference” image polished to perfection and then match all other photos to this standard. This is a great way to maintain high quality acros s the entire series while keeping the budget under control.

Budget is something that can and should be discussed — I’m always open to conversation. In most cases, it’s possible to offer a simpler yet equally effective solution tailored to a specific task.

My goal is not just to create beautiful images, but to make sure the photographs actually work — and, of course, are cost-effective.