Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Required day rate
$1,697
Annual revenue needed
$101,838
Effective hourly (incl. editing)
$94.29
Total working hours per year
1,080
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How to use this
- 1Enter target take-home salary ($).
- 2Enter annual overhead (gear, insurance, software) ($).
- 3Enter billable shoot days per year.
- 4Enter edit hours per shoot day.
- 5Enter effective tax rate (%).
- 6Read your required day rate on the right — it updates as you type.
- 7Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Shoot days are only part of the work. Editing, admin, and marketing consume unbilled hours, and gear, insurance, and software come out before tax. This reverse-engineers a sustainable day rate.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Target take-home salary: 65000 $
- Annual overhead (gear, insurance, software): 14000 $
- Billable shoot days per year: 60
- Edit hours per shoot day: 8
- Effective tax rate: 26 %
Results
- Required day rate: $1,697
- Annual revenue needed: $101,838
- Effective hourly (incl. editing): $94.29
- Total working hours per year: 1,080
What each field means
Inputs
- Target take-home salary ($)
- The target take-home salary used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 65000 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Annual overhead (gear, insurance, software) ($)
- The annual overhead (gear, insurance, software) used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 14000 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Billable shoot days per year
- The billable shoot days per year used in the calculation. Starts at 60 so you have a working example on load.
- Edit hours per shoot day
- The edit hours per shoot day used in the calculation. Starts at 8 so you have a working example on load.
- Effective tax rate (%)
- The effective tax rate used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 26 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–55 %.
Results
- Required day rate
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Annual revenue needed
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Effective hourly (incl. editing)
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Total working hours per year
- Returned as a whole number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
Why is my effective hourly so low?
Because editing, culling, client emails, and travel are unbilled. A 10-hour wedding routinely carries 8 to 15 hours of post-production, which is why day rates look high relative to hourly work.
Should second shooters come out of this?
Yes — add their cost to overhead or subtract it from the day rate before you compare rates with other photographers.
Accuracy and limitations
- Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
- Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
- This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.
Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Photographer Day Rate Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/photographer-day-rate
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/photographer-day-rate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Photographer Day Rate Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Photographer Day Rate Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/photographer-day-rate) (2026).