Product Photography for Shopify EC Sites | On-Site vs. Shipping Shoot, Costs, and RetouchingProduct Photography for Shopify EC Sites | On-Site vs. Shipping Shoot, Costs, and RetouchingProduct Photography for Shopify EC Sites | On-Site vs. Shipping Shoot, Costs, and Retouching

Introduction: Product Photography as EC Site Salesfloor

On an EC site, customers cannot handle the product in person. Product photography takes on the role of the sales associate.

Image quality directly affects conversion rate. The same product can create very different impressions depending on lighting, composition, and background.

When preparing product pages for a Shopify site, deprioritizing photography quality makes it difficult to achieve results — no matter how much effort goes into design or functionality.

On-Site vs. Shipping Shoot

There are two main approaches to product photography.

On-Site Shoot

A photographer travels to your location and shoots your actual products, space, and staff on-site.

• Enables photography that reflects real usage scenes and lifestyle context
• Allows brand atmosphere to be captured in the actual environment
• Well-suited for large products and installed fixtures
• Travel and accommodation costs are billed separately

Estimated cost: From ¥100,000 for a half day / From ¥150,000 for a full day (travel and accommodation billed separately)

Shipping Shoot

You package the products and send them to us, and we photograph them in our studio.

• Lower cost because no photographer travel is required
• Well-suited for simple, consistent results against white or gradient backgrounds
• Ideal for small, lightweight products
• Products returned after photography

Estimated cost: From ¥70,000 for a half-day equivalent / From ¥120,000 for a full-day equivalent

Which approach is best suited to your situation depends on the type of product, size, and intended presentation. Please confirm the details in a consultation with our team.

What Is Included in the Cost

Photography costs include the following:

• Photographer fee (equipment included)
• Photography direction
• Basic retouching (described below)

Not included:

• Travel and accommodation costs for on-site shoots (billed at actual cost)
• Model and stylist coordination fees
• Advanced retouching and compositing

The figure shown in the estimate form represents the base photography cost only. Travel and accommodation are billed separately at actual cost.

What Basic Retouching Covers

All photography output requires retouching (post-processing). The following basic retouching is included in our photography cost:

• Brightness and contrast adjustment: Correcting the image so the product's colors are reproduced accurately
• Color grading: Adjusting the color tone to match your brand's visual identity
• Background removal / white background finishing: Processing that brings visual consistency to EC product listings
• Removal of minor blemishes and reflections: Removing dust or unwanted reflections that appear during the shoot

The following are not included (and incur additional cost):

• Multi-layer compositing
• Heavy visual effects (glow, effects, etc.)
• Logo and text overlays (these fall under banner production)

Retouched images are delivered in a state ready to upload directly to Shopify's product pages.

Using Photography on Your Shopify Product Pages

Retouched images can be uploaded directly from Shopify's product admin screen.

Preparing multiple shots per product enriches the gallery on the product detail page. On a typical EC site, the standard composition is 1 main image + 3–6 sub images.

In addition to product photography, we also offer product image production — design-enhanced images that include explanatory text, comparison tables, and usage scenes to encourage purchase.

Summary

Product photography is one of the highest return-on-investment activities for improving EC conversion rate.

• On-site shoot: Best when you want to capture the atmosphere of the actual environment
• Shipping shoot: Better suited for cost-conscious projects and straightforward product photos
• Basic retouching included: Delivered ready to upload to Shopify immediately after the shoot

Enabling the "Product Photography" option in the estimate form adds the photography cost to your baseline estimate. Detailed conditions will be confirmed by our team when we follow up with you.