YumYum Agency
Food photography costs: how to compare restaurant shoot quotes
A practical guide to comparing food photography quotes by dish count, shot types, location, editing and usage rights, with a reusable shoot brief.
Define deliverables before hours
Ten final images of five dishes represent a different brief from ten images of ten dishes. A wide website banner also needs a different composition from a clean menu image. List products, angles, final formats and distinguish original shots from crops derived from them.
Food preparation affects the work
Group dishes by type and preparation time. Products assembled at the last moment or served hot require kitchen coordination. Drinks, sauces and packaging may need different setups. If you add products on the day, confirm the effect on time and deliverables before production starts.
Shot style and location
Menu images need clarity and consistency; social content may require a styled scene, props and food styling. Venue and team photographs add another scope. Explain the available space and kitchen facilities and what the team must supply. Travel or local production for projects outside Cairo or Egypt must be agreed in the quotation.
Editing, rights and delivery
Ask about selection, retouching, revision rounds, crops, formats and timing. State whether the photographs will appear in menus, on websites, in advertising or on delivery platforms and document the permitted usage. Raw files and third-party reuse should not be assumed to be included.
Compare equivalent proposals
Break each quotation into production, styling, editing, travel and extras where relevant. Compare the same product count, final images, scenes, crops, usage and dates. A lower total may exclude something you need; a higher total may include work that does not serve the present brief. Identify the scope difference before comparing prices.
Use the shoot brief
The downloadable brief includes fields for each dish, placement, angle, aspect ratio, kitchen readiness and approver. Add the city, venue, deadline and references. Treat unresolved requirements as questions rather than silent assumptions.
Resolve omissions before booking
Ask for clarification if the proposal omits final image counts, review dates or rescheduling arrangements. A combined price should still state inclusions and exclusions. This guide is not an approved YumYum price list; send a brief for a project-specific quotation.
Download the editable planning template (CSV)