Chris Frara is a commercial photographer and creative director based between Los Angeles and San Diego, with over 10 years shooting product, lifestyle, and brand campaigns for consumer brands across California. Clients include Dior, Nike, Puma, Levi's, Calvin Klein, Casamigos, and Harper's Bazaar.
Los Angeles & San Diego · Commercial Photography & Video
Chris Frara,
Commercial Photographer
If you are launching a product line, building a campaign, or ready for imagery that finally matches the level of your brand, this is where that work gets done. Commercial photography and video for wellness, beauty, lifestyle, and apparel brands across Los Angeles and San Diego.
Trusted by
I work with brands at every stage. A $1,000 product shoot and a $10,000 campaign both get the same preparation and the same care. The question is always the same: not just how the image looks, but how it performs when it lands in front of a real customer.
What I shoot
- Commercial product photography for ecommerce and advertising
- Brand campaign photography and lifestyle campaigns
- Campaign video production for paid media and social
- Creative direction for full campaign production
Los Angeles
commercially
photography
South African roots.
Two decades of LA.
I grew up in South Africa and moved to Los Angeles in my early twenties, and that background quietly shapes everything about how I shoot. Growing up there gave me a way of reading people and light that is genuinely difficult to explain, easier to just point to in the work. People notice something in the images, a warmth or a quality of presence that is genuinely hard to name, and after more than two decades in this city, it is layered with a real understanding of how Los Angeles and San Diego actually work as markets.
I know the light in Malibu at seven in the morning and how brands in Venice want to feel. That is not something you pick up quickly. It comes from years of shooting here and paying close attention to what actually lands.
Before photography, I spent close to a decade running international ecommerce operations across fashion and consumer goods. That part of my thinking never left the building, and it is honestly what makes the difference on set.
Most photographers are focused on the frame. I am focused on what the frame has to do for the business. Small brands get a level of thinking they would normally have to pay a creative agency for. Large brands get someone who already understands the brief before they have finished explaining it.
South Africa → Los Angeles → San Diego
You've seen the work.
Let's talk about yours.
No pitch, no pressure. Just tell me what you're working on.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Yes. We're based between Los Angeles and San Diego and shoot commercial photography and video for wellness, beauty, jewelry, lifestyle, and apparel brands across Southern California. Whether you need a single product shoot or a full campaign production, everything is built to work where it actually runs: on product pages, in paid ads, and across social.
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We offer product photography, ecommerce photography, fashion, beauty, jewelry, full brand campaigns, and campaign video. Creative direction is part of most projects. A lot of our work is product and ecommerce imagery built to convert on a product page or perform in ads. On the other side, we also produce full campaigns with talent, location, styling, and video delivered together. Either way, the prep and the standard of work stay the same.
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We work with consumer brands of all sizes, from founders shooting their first product line to established names running national campaigns. Most of our clients are in wellness, beauty, lifestyle, apparel, and jewelry across Los Angeles, San Diego, and Southern California. Some are coming to us because they're launching something and the images have to work from day one. Others have been with us for years on campaigns you'd recognize, like Dior, Nike, and Casamigos. What they all have in common is that they care deeply about how their brand shows up in the world. If that sounds like you, you're in the right place.
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Yes, and for most projects it's where the biggest difference gets made. Before anything is booked, we work through the concept, shot list, mood, and references together so every frame has a clear purpose before we step on set. You end up with a more efficient shoot day and images that feel considered rather than figured out on the fly. If you don't have an in-house creative team, this is usually the part clients tell us they didn't know they needed until they had it.
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Before photography, I spent close to a decade running ecommerce and consumer brand operations, and that background shapes every shoot I walk into. Most photographers are thinking about the frame. I'm thinking about where that frame is going to live, how it needs to perform on a product page, hold up in a paid ad, and feel right when someone scrolls past it on their phone. That shift in thinking changes everything about how a shoot gets planned and what you walk away with.
Working with me is straightforward. You get a clear plan before we shoot, honest communication throughout, and final files that are actually ready to use without another round of back and forth. No surprises on the day and no chasing after delivery. Ten years of commercial work across Los Angeles and San Diego. The level of preparation and care stays the same regardless of the budget.
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It depends on the project. A focused studio product or ecommerce shoot starts around $500 and scales from there based on products, styling, and deliverables. Brand shoots and lifestyle sessions typically start around $1,500, and a full campaign production with talent, location, video, and creative direction is scoped separately. Share what you have in mind, and I'll come back with a real number. For a full breakdown of what different shoot types cost, the brand photography pricing guide covers it in detail.