What food photography costs in 2026

Published prices at a glance

United States: published prices

We found five US food photographers who publish their prices. A small menu shoot costs $347 to $495: three of the price lists give this for 10 dishes or 10 photos. A half day, or 20 to 30 dishes, costs about $650 to $1,000. Styled packs cost $800 to $2,100.

In the packages that state a number of photos, one photo costs about $26 to $40.

United Kingdom: published prices

We found five UK food photographers who publish their prices. A short session of 1 to 2 hours costs £190 to £250. A half day costs £350 to £775. A full day costs £550 to £1,500.

Three of the five price lists state that a commercial licence is included. Travel is often extra outside the photographer's area, so the lowest prices can rise for a London restaurant.

Canada: published prices

We found only three Canadian price lists with a base price, so read this section with care. Starting prices run from CA$200 for a 60-minute shoot in Vancouver to CA$1,000 for a studio project in Toronto.

Australia: published prices

We found six Australian food photographers who publish their prices. A shoot of up to 2 hours costs A$400 to A$950. A half day for a menu costs A$650 to A$1,400. A full day costs A$2,400 to A$4,500 plus GST.

Prices per image differ a lot. Bark gives A$80 to A$210 per dish on its platform, and one Melbourne photographer charges A$30 per image from 15 images and A$10 per image from 100 images. For that reason we give no single price per dish.

Does the city change the price?

Less than you may expect. Snappr states that it sets its rates per country, not per city. Bright Foody shows the same prices on its London page and on its Manchester page, plus travel. Bark gives average quotes for a photoshoot, for all types of photography: £250 in London, £245 in North-West England, £280 in Scotland and £125 in the West Midlands. London is close to the UK average of £245.

Some differences do exist. One East Midlands photographer gives local clients a lower price. Bark's Australian guide puts commercial photographers in Sydney above those in Melbourne. Studio hire on Peerspace averages $53 per hour in Chicago, $76 in New York, $77 in Los Angeles and $107 in Miami. Food stylists charge more per day in large US cities than outside them.

This page replaces the 26 city pages that we published before. Most of the figures on those pages had no source. We keep a page for three cities and give the local evidence there: London, New York and Miami.

What is included, and what is extra

Read the price list before you compare two quotes. The items below are where the quotes differ.

• Editing. Inside most package prices. An extra edited image costs $20 in one US price list, and A$20 to A$80 plus GST in two Australian price lists.
• Usage licence. A licence for your menu, website, delivery apps and social media is normally inside the price. A separate licence fee appears in advertising work.
• Food stylist. Normally quoted per day, not per shoot: $600 to $900 outside large US cities and $1,000 to $1,500 in cities such as New York (2023 figures), and £200 to £800 in the UK. In Toronto, Jules Design quotes about CA$1,000 per day and Novo Creative adds CA$600 for a stylist. Most of the restaurant packages that we found have no stylist.
• Studio. Most of the restaurant price lists that we found are for a shoot at the restaurant, with no studio fee. If you need a studio, Peerspace averages are $53 to $107 per hour in four US cities, and one London kitchen studio costs from £400 for a 9-hour day.
• Travel. It differs for each photographer. Examples: $0.50 per mile outside the Chicago area, A$0.60 per kilometre near Melbourne, a A$60 parking fee in central Sydney, travel costs added outside Northampton, and no travel fee inside the city on Snappr.
• Tax. Many UK, Canadian and Australian prices are given before VAT, HST or GST.

An advertising shoot is a different product

The prices above are for menu photos. A campaign for advertising costs much more, because it has a crew and a paid licence. Two published US estimates show the scale: $5,500 for a one-day drinks shoot with 4 images for 1 year (2025), and $26,000 for a three-day restaurant campaign with 20 images for 10 years (2023). Stylists, props and retouching were extra in both. The drinks shoot also had a studio fee.

Free photoshoots from delivery platforms

Some platforms pay for a shoot. Check the limits before you rely on one.

• DoorDash (US). A free photoshoot for most restaurant partners, if the menu has no professional images yet and the service is available in the area. It is a 1.5-hour session for up to 20 menu items and one header image. You pay for the food and the preparation. You can use the photos on your website and social media, but not on other delivery platforms.
• Uber Eats (US). New partners get one complimentary photo shoot at onboarding. The Uber page shows no price for a second shoot.
• Grubhub (US). Its Marketplace plans list a free professional menu photoshoot. Grubhub gives no limits on the page.
• Deliveroo (UK). It sells two packages: Silver (1 hero photo and 15 item photos) and Gold (1 hero photo and 25 item photos). The price is not public.
• Just Eat (UK). Its partner help page gives photo rules and offers no photoshoot.

The AI option: what MenuPhotoAI costs

MenuPhotoAI makes a professional menu photo from a photo that you take of your own dish. You upload up to 25 photos at a time, choose one look, and get the results in minutes. One photo costs $0.89 to $1.96, which is less than the $26 to $40 per photo of the US packages above. All prices are on the pricing page.

It does not replace a photographer for every job. If you need people in the photo, your dining room, or an advertising campaign, book a photographer. Check the platform rules also: Deliveroo does not permit AI-generated images. See what each delivery platform allows.

How to choose

For a full menu on a small budget, the lowest published prices are the marketplace bookings and the short menu packages: about $350 for 10 dishes in the US and £190 plus travel for 10 dishes in London. For a brand shoot with a stylist, plan for a half day or a full day and add the stylist's day rate.

If your dishes change often, the cost of a new shoot each time is the real problem. That is the case where an AI tool that works from your own photos saves the most.

1. Count the dishes that need a photo.
2. Check if your delivery platform gives you a free shoot.
3. Ask two photographers for a written quote that lists editing, the licence and travel.
4. Try 5 free photos in MenuPhotoAI and compare them with your real plates.

Questions

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