Soona

Soona is the on-demand photo and video content studio for e-commerce + DTC brands, founded in 2019 by Liz Giorgi and Hayley Anderson in Denver, Colorado. The pitch is direct: traditional product photography requires hiring photographers + scheduling shoots + paying for travel + waiting for editing — costing $5K-$50K per shoot and taking weeks. Soona provides on-demand professional photo + video studios with live virtual shoots, professional photographers, and rapid turnaround at flat per-photo + per-video pricing. For e-commerce brands needing consistent content output without traditional production overhead, Soona is one of the most-recommended modern content studios. What makes Soona distinctive is the virtual studio model + flat pricing + speed. Traditional product photo studios charge by day + hour, requiring estimates + scope negotiations + scheduling weeks ahead. Soona is essentially 'photography as a service' — you ship products to one of Soona's studios (multiple US locations), join a live virtual shoot via Zoom-style interface, direct the photographer in real-time, see photos as they're captured, approve final shots, get edited deliverables within days. The pricing is transparent + flat ($39 per photo, $93 per video clip) — no hidden fees, no negotiation, no surprises. The core feature set: • **Virtual product shoots** — live virtual studio sessions you direct via web interface • **In-person shoots** — book full-day shoots at Soona studios (Denver, NYC, Minneapolis, Austin, Phoenix) • **Photo packages** — $39 per photo with multiple angles + lifestyle + on-white + on-color • **Video packages** — $93 per video clip (15-second clips for TikTok/Reels/ads + product demos) • **Stop motion + GIF** — animated product content for social + ads • **AI features** — AI background swaps, AI scene generation, color correction • **Model + lifestyle shoots** — professional models + lifestyle settings for premium brands • **Multi-angle product photography** — 360° + multiple angles per product • **Quick turnaround** — typically 1-3 business days from shoot to delivery • **Asset management** — organize delivered content in your Soona account • **Brand kits** — save brand colors + style preferences for consistent shoots across orders • **Marketplace integrations** — direct delivery to Shopify, Amazon Vendor Central, social platforms • **Team accounts** — multi-user access for marketing teams • **Studio rentals** — rent Soona studios for your own shoots if you have in-house team For e-commerce + DTC brands + small businesses the use cases: • **Product photography at scale** — refresh product catalogue without hiring photographer • **Amazon listing photos** — main + alternate + lifestyle photos meeting Amazon requirements • **Social media product content** — daily product videos for TikTok/Reels/Instagram • **Paid ad creative production** — high-volume creative variation for testing ad campaigns • **Seasonal campaign content** — quickly refresh holiday/seasonal photography • **New product launch content** — rapid content production for product launches • **Influencer-style content** — model + lifestyle shoots without coordinating influencer programs • **Wholesale catalog photos** — consistent multi-product photography for catalogs • **Recipe + food content** — food + beverage product content for ecommerce The pricing is flat per-photo + per-video. Photos at $39 each, video clips at $93 each. Stop motion / GIF at $93 each. Soona Cards (subscription) for active brands: $0 monthly with $39 photos + $93 videos, or higher tier with discounts + faster turnaround. No minimum order. Compared to traditional photographers ($1K-$10K per shoot day for similar deliverables), Soona is dramatically cheaper for moderate content volume. Compared to AI product photography (Pebblely, Booth.ai, etc.), Soona produces visibly more authentic + professional results. Where Soona wins clearly: flat transparent pricing eliminates negotiation + estimation friction; virtual shoot model means you can direct shoots from anywhere; rapid turnaround (1-3 days) matches modern content cadence demands; quality is genuinely professional (real photographers + studios + lighting); the marketplace integrations make delivery seamless to e-commerce platforms; supports both photo + video + animation in one workflow. Where it loses: requires shipping products to Soona studios (logistics + time + cost); per-asset pricing can scale meaningfully for high-volume brands; for very specific creative visions, traditional photographer hires offer more control + customisation; AI-generated product photography (Pebblely, Booth.ai) is significantly cheaper for brands willing to accept AI aesthetic; some product categories (large items, dangerous items, food requiring handling) don't fit Soona's studio model well. My take: for e-commerce + DTC brands producing 10-100 photo/video assets per month, Soona is genuinely the right call and the modernised studio experience is meaningfully better than traditional photographers. The economics work for brands at any scale: solo founders refreshing product catalogue, growing DTC brands needing daily social content, established brands wanting consistent rapid content production. For solo founders with 1-2 products and tight budgets, AI product photography (Pebblely, Booth.ai) at $20-$50/month is more cost-effective. For premium brands needing custom creative visions for hero content, traditional photographer hires for special projects + Soona for volume production combines best of both. Soona has built the modern playbook for e-commerce content production — and the trajectory suggests it becomes increasingly important as DTC content demands accelerate.