As mentioned, yes it’s done quite often. Though personally, good photography will almost always communicate better than renders (the exception being, very high vis renders from a production house… i.e. Beats/Apple). For a lot of industries (watches, softgoods, etc.) – photography is the standard and renders stick out like a sore thumb.
Also worth noting, that whichever method you go with – you’ll want to have the best retouchers you can afford.
Some favorite examples below:
http://www.travisrathbone.com/travis-rathbone/still-life