How Dave Cruz Photography Prices and Quotes an Assignment

Updated

Dave Cruz Photography does not publish a price list or fixed packages. Every assignment is quoted individually, and the site states that each custom quote is based on four things: the brief, production, image usage, and delivery needs. To get a number, you contact the studio with your project details. The practical takeaway is that you should arrive at that conversation with a clear scope, a usage plan, and a deadline, because those are the inputs the quote is built from.

What the quote is based on

The site describes the quote as custom per assignment and names the factors directly. In plain terms, each one changes the amount of work and the rights involved:

Quote factor What it covers What you should be ready to explain
Brief The creative and business goal of the shoot Audience, message, where the images will appear, brand standards
Production Planning and shooting the assignment Location (studio or on location), number of setups, people or products involved, schedule
Image usage How and where the final images will be used Channels, markets, length of use, whether paid media is involved
Delivery What you receive and when File formats, retouching level, organization of files, turnaround

Because usage is a named factor, the same shoot can be quoted differently depending on whether the images run on a website, in a national campaign, or in paid advertising. If your plans change after the quote, expect the usage terms to be part of that conversation.

The four service areas you'd be quoting

The studio organizes its work into four markets, and knowing which one your project falls into helps you describe it accurately:

  • Brands — marketing photography, campaigns, corporate storytelling, workplace culture, industrial environments, editorial-style brand imagery.
  • Products — controlled studio and location imagery for advertising, e-commerce, launches, catalogs, and sales materials.
  • Athletes and fitness — portraits and action-driven imagery for athletes, trainers, teams, fitness brands, and sponsorships.
  • Professional headshots — portraits for executives, entrepreneurs, teams, speakers, and other professionals.

The site also notes more than 30 years of visual storytelling experience and lists clients including St. Jude, Boeing, Honeywell, General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Disney, Marriott, Associated Press, and Bloomberg. Service area is described as Atlanta, Marietta, and nationwide.

How to prepare before you ask for a quote

Since no rates are posted, the quality of your first message largely determines how useful the reply is. A request that includes the following will get you a more precise quote:

  1. State the goal. What the images need to do — sell, explain, recruit, or build trust — and who they are for.
  2. Name the category. Brand campaign, product set, athlete portrait, or headshot, and roughly how many images or setups you expect.
  3. Describe production. Studio or location, city, whether people, products, or both are involved, and any scheduling constraints.
  4. Spell out usage. Where the images will run, in which markets, for how long, and whether paid placement is planned.
  5. Specify delivery. File types, retouching expectations, how files should be organized, and your deadline.

The studio's own framing is that every assignment begins with the audience, message, use, and deadline — so those four items are the minimum to include.

What to expect and what isn't stated

  • No public pricing. The site shows no rates, packages, or price ranges, and no payment platforms are listed. Treat pricing as something you obtain by contacting the studio, not something you can look up.
  • Quote, not estimate-by-menu. The wording is "custom quote based on the brief, production, image usage and delivery needs," so don't expect a standard day rate to be published.
  • Contact is the entry point. The site directs inquiries to "Contact us about your photography needs," and the portfolio sections (marketing work, products, athletes, headshots) are the best preparation for describing what you want.

If your project is a single headshot, the brief and production sections of your request will be short, but usage and delivery still apply. If it's a multi-image campaign across markets, expect those same four factors to carry most of the weight in the quote — which is why clarifying usage and deadline up front is the most reliable way to avoid a revised quote later.