  In this paper, we study total and differential observables of electro- and
photoproduction of light $\rho$, $\omega$ and $\phi$ mesons as functions of the
center-of-mass energy of the $\gamma p$ collision and momentum transfer squared
$|t|$. The corresponding vector mesons wave functions have been computed in the
framework of relativistic AdS/QCD holographic approach. A satisfactory
description of all available data on ground-state $\rho(1S)$, $\omega(1S)$ and
$\phi(1S)$ mesons production cross sections has been achieved in the color
dipole picture. Finally, the key observables of excited $\rho(2S)$,
$\omega(2S)$ and $\phi(2S)$ states production in $\gamma^{(*)} p$ collisions
have been presented here using a common wave function formalism. This study
reveals a large theoretical uncertainty coming from the modeling of the partial
dipole amplitude in the nonperturbative kinematical domain. Hence, the latter
could benefit from future measurements of photoproduction of the excited
states.
