Guide · Vancouver
How Much Does Architectural Photography Cost in Vancouver?
Why architectural and interior photography is quoted per project — and what actually moves the number.
Travis Zhang's architectural and interior photography in Vancouver starts at CA$1,100 for a half day (up to 4 hours on site, 12 retouched images) and CA$2,000 for a full day (up to 8 hours, 20 images, twilight included), plus 5% GST. Most of his single-client projects land between CA$2,200 and CA$4,000 all-in. What moves the number is scope rather than hours: how many finished images you need, how many locations, the light window (twilight or dawn), and who will use the images. Several firms sharing one shoot — architect, designer and builder — each pay less than a standalone commission. Final images are delivered within 10 business days of your selection.
Starting prices
These are Travis Zhang's published rates, the figures most projects start from. The final number depends on scope and licence — which is why they are starting prices rather than a menu — but you should not have to ask what a shoot costs before you know whether to call.
| Booking | From | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Half day | CA$1,100 | One location, one continuous light window, up to four hours on site. Up to 12 retouched images. Suits a single restaurant, the main rooms of a residence, or one office floor. |
| Full day | CA$2,000 | One location across the day’s full light cycle — including a sunrise or twilight window where the brief calls for it — up to eight hours on site. Up to 20 retouched images. Suits a whole property, a restaurant with its exterior, or anything that needs both daylight and dusk. |
| Additional day | CA$1,400 | For more locations, or scope that will not fit one light cycle. |
| Twilight or dawn add-on | CA$450 | Added to a half day when the exterior needs the blue-hour window. Already included in a full day. |
| Extra retouched images | CA$80 each | Beyond the count included. |
| In-situ portrait | CA$200 | Added to an architectural shoot: a portrait of the architect, designer or builder in the finished space, for press, awards and your About page. 3 retouched images. |
| Rush editing | CA$450 | Final images within 5 business days of your selection, instead of 10. |
All prices are in Canadian dollars, plus 5% GST. Two separate locations on the same day are booked as a full day: a half day covers one location and one light window.
What projects actually come to: a typical single-client commission — one full day, a handful of extra images, one licence — lands between CA$2,200 and CA$4,000 all-in. Hospitality work and projects shared between several firms usually run CA$3,000 to CA$5,000. The starting prices above are the floor, not the expectation.
Scope is defined by the number of finished images, not by hours on site: the hours are a ceiling that protects the day, not a meter. If the scope grows once we are on site, we agree the addition before I carry on shooting.
What the fee includes
Planning, the shoot, selection, full retouching, delivery in web and print sizes, and a licence to use the images for everything you would normally use them for — your website, portfolio, social media, advertising, press and awards submissions. No time limit.
Turnaround
A proof gallery within 3 business days of the shoot; you pick your images; final retouched files within 10 business days of your selection. Rush delivery (5 business days) is CA$450. If you have a hard deadline — an awards entry, a publication, an opening — tell me when you book and I will plan the shoot date around it.
What is quoted separately
Two things sit outside the base licence. Developer sales material — presentation centres, sales brochures and listing campaigns for units being sold, priced on the campaign. And transfer to third parties — another firm, a supplier or a property manager using the images — which is where cost sharing comes in. Your own advertising is already included.
Cost sharing: when more than one firm wants the images
A finished building usually has several people who want the same photographs — the architect, the interior designer, the builder, the developer, sometimes a furniture or lighting supplier. Rather than each commissioning a separate shoot, the industry practice is to share one: each additional party licenses the set for 30% of the creative fee, and the total is split between everyone.
Worked example: a CA$2,000 full day with the architect as client. The interior designer and the builder both want the images. Two extra parties at 30% each brings the invoice to CA$3,200, split three ways — about CA$1,067 per firm, for a set that would have cost each of them CA$2,000 alone. Everyone commits before the shoot; a party added afterwards pays a standalone licence.
Buyout
If you would rather own the copyright outright, that is available at twice the base fee. Most clients find the standard licence already covers everything they do, so it is rarely needed — but it is there.
Hotels, restaurants and short-term rentals
Hospitality work uses the same day rates with a different licence: three years, covering your website, social channels, print collateral and your listings on Booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb and the other OTAs. Renewal is straightforward. I have run short-term rentals myself for eleven years, so the brief usually starts from what actually converts a booking.
Travel outside Metro Vancouver
Travel anywhere in Metro Vancouver — including Richmond, Burnaby, Surrey, Langley, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge and the North Shore — is included. Beyond it, travel is a flat fee, so you can work out the total yourself:
| Where | Travel | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Day trip, near | CA$150 | Squamish, Abbotsford, Mission, Chilliwack |
| Day trip, far | CA$300 | Whistler, Hope, the Sunshine Coast, Victoria, Nanaimo. BC Ferries fares at cost. |
| Overnight | CA$600 per travel day | Kelowna and the Okanagan, Tofino, the BC Interior, other provinces, the US and abroad. A travel day is a day spent travelling, not shooting. Flights, car rental and lodging at cost with no mark-up; meals CA$75 a day. |
If more than one client books in the same area on the same trip, the travel is split between them. Travel is plus 5% GST like everything else. An overnight trip makes it easy to catch both twilight and the next morning’s light, so a full day is usually the better booking.
More: how these prices are set
Why these are starting prices, not a menu
Architectural and interior photography is a commissioned, licensed creative service — closer to hiring an architect than buying a product off a shelf. Two factors make a single published rate misleading. First, every space is different: a 600 sq ft condo and a 40,000 sq ft hospitality project demand very different amounts of time, lighting and problem-solving. Second, you are not just paying for the photographer's time on site — you are paying for a licence to use the resulting images, and that licence can range from a single designer's portfolio to a developer's nationwide ad campaign.
For that reason, a Vancouver photographer quotes per project. A proper quote starts with a short brief — the property, the deliverables and where the images will appear — and the number follows from that. The starting prices above tell you the order of magnitude; the brief turns them into a firm number.
The main factors that drive cost
- Scope and number of spaces. A single hero exterior is one thing; a full set covering exterior, lobby, amenities, suites and detail shots is another. More distinct spaces means more setups, more lighting and more time.
- Size and complexity. Large floor areas, double-height spaces, tricky mixed lighting (daylight plus tungsten plus LED), reflective glass and difficult sightlines all add time and technical work.
- Number of final images. This is usually the biggest lever you control. Each final image is individually composed, captured (often as a blend of multiple exposures or flash frames) and carefully retouched. Ten polished finals take meaningfully less time than thirty.
- Access, permits and logistics. Strata approval, building-management coordination, secured parking and loading, after-hours access, or shooting an occupied hotel around guests all add planning and on-site time. Drone/aerial work over parts of Metro Vancouver may need airspace authorisation, which adds lead time.
- Time of day and return visits. The best exterior light is often a narrow window at dawn or dusk ("blue hour"). Capturing a twilight exterior and daytime interiors can mean two visits, or an early start and a late finish — which is reflected in the quote.
- Styling and preparation. Decluttering, adjusting furniture, fresh flowers or a dedicated stylist all lift the final result and can be built into scope. Whether the space is shoot-ready or needs prep on the day affects the time.
- Equipment and deliverables. Shoots are made primarily on Nikon; Phase One medium-format is available on request for the highest-resolution work, and Matterport virtual tours can be added. Aerial/drone coverage is available where airspace permits.
- Licensing and usage. The single most important driver — covered in its own section below.
Licensing: what you're really paying for
The fee covers two things: the work to create the images, and a licence to use them. Usage is what separates a modest portfolio shoot from a premium commercial commission, even when the time on site is identical.
- Who uses the images. Often several parties want the same shoot — the interior designer, the architect, the builder, the developer and a furniture or product supplier. Each is a separate user; under cost sharing each additional party licenses the set for 30% of the creative fee and the total is split, so everyone pays less than a standalone commission.
- Where and how they appear. Portfolio and social use is the most modest tier. Editorial and PR, paid advertising, out-of-home, real-estate sales marketing and product packaging each carry broader rights.
- Duration and territory. A one-year local web licence differs from a multi-year national campaign.
- Exclusivity. Most licences are non-exclusive; if you need to lock images away from competitors, that's a separate consideration.
The practical takeaway: tell the photographer up front who will use the images and where. It produces an accurate quote and avoids awkward (and costlier) re-licensing later.
How project-based quoting works in practice
A straightforward, transparent process looks like this:
- Brief. You share the address or floor plans, the spaces to cover, your deadline, and — importantly — who will use the images and how.
- Shot list and scope. Together you agree roughly how many final images you need and whether twilight, drone, styling or Matterport are involved.
- Written quote. You receive a project fee that bundles pre-production, shoot time, post-production/retouching, and a clearly defined usage licence — no hidden line items.
- The shoot. Captured across Metro Vancouver — Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, Coquitlam, North and West Vancouver — and elsewhere in BC.
- Delivery. Edited, retouched high-resolution finals (with web-optimised versions) under the agreed licence.
If your budget is fixed, say so early. Scope is flexible: the number of finals, the number of spaces and the extras (twilight, aerial, styling) can be tuned to land the project where you need it.
How to get an accurate quote faster
You'll get a sharper number — and usually a better price — by arriving with the details that drive cost:
- The property type and approximate size (sq ft or number of rooms/spaces).
- How many final images you expect to need.
- Your intended usage: portfolio, editorial/PR, advertising, sales marketing, packaging, etc.
- Who else will want to use the images (designer, architect, builder, developer, suppliers).
- Whether you need twilight exteriors, drone/aerial, or a Matterport tour.
- Access constraints — strata, building management, occupied spaces, parking/loading.
- Your deadline and any awards or publication submissions you're shooting for.
To brief a project or request a tailored quote, get in touch at [email protected] or via the contact page. You can also see the range of work on the architectural photography page.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a half day of architectural photography cost in Vancouver?
With Travis Zhang, from CA$1,100. That covers one location, one continuous light window of up to four hours on site, and up to 12 fully retouched images, with a licence for your website, portfolio, social media, press and awards submissions. A full day is from CA$2,000 with up to 20 images and the twilight window included.
Is architectural photography priced by the hour or by the day?
By the half day or day, with the number of finished images as the binding term. The hours (four for a half day, eight for a full day) are a ceiling that protects the booking, not a meter — a shoot that finishes early does not cost less, and a shoot that needs more than the agreed scope is discussed before it continues. That is fairer than an hourly rate because two shoots of the same length can need very different licensing and retouching.
What is cost sharing?
When more than one firm wants the same photographs — typically the architect, the interior designer, the builder and the developer — they share one shoot instead of commissioning several. Each additional party licenses the set for 30% of the creative fee, and the total is split between everyone. On a CA$2,000 full day with two extra parties, that is about CA$1,067 per firm. Everyone commits before the shoot.
Do I own the photographs after I pay?
In Canada the photographer holds copyright by default; what you buy is a licence, and the standard one here has no time limit and covers everything a client normally does with the images. If you want to own the copyright outright, a buyout is available at twice the base fee. Most clients never need it.
Why does usage or licensing change the price if the shoot takes the same time?
Because you are paying for both the creation of the images and the right to use them. A photograph used only in a designer's portfolio carries a modest licence, while the same image used in a national advertising campaign, on product packaging or for sales marketing is worth more to the people using it. Telling the photographer up front who will use the images and where produces an accurate quote and avoids costlier re-licensing later.
What's the single easiest way to lower the cost of a shoot?
Adjust the number of final retouched images and the number of distinct spaces covered. Each final image is individually composed, captured and retouched, so trimming the shot list is usually the most effective lever. Extras such as twilight exteriors, drone/aerial coverage, styling and Matterport tours can also be added or removed to fit a fixed budget — just share your budget early so scope can be tuned to it.
Do you charge for travel outside Vancouver?
Travel anywhere in Metro Vancouver — including Richmond, Burnaby, Surrey, Langley, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge and the North Shore — is included. Day trips beyond it are a flat CA$150 (Squamish, Abbotsford, Mission, Chilliwack) or CA$300 (Whistler, Hope, the Sunshine Coast, Victoria, Nanaimo; ferry fares at cost). Overnight work elsewhere in BC, in other provinces or abroad is CA$600 per travel day, plus flights, car rental and lodging at cost and CA$75 a day for meals. Clients booking in the same area on one trip split the travel. All plus 5% GST.