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
Package price to quote
$2,050
Total hours (shoot + edit)
24.0
Editing hours
16.0
Effective hourly at this price
$85.42
Cost per delivered image
$3.42
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How to use this
- 1Enter shoot hours (coverage) (hrs).
- 2Enter editing hours per shoot hour.
- 3Enter target hourly rate ($).
- 4Enter business overhead (%).
- 5Enter gear amortization per wedding ($).
- 6Enter travel cost ($).
- 7Enter delivered images.
- 8Read your package price to quote on the right — it updates as you type.
- 9Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Most new wedding photographers price off what competitors charge and end up under minimum wage once editing time is counted. This tool starts from your target hourly rate, adds shoot hours plus editing hours (editing typically runs 1.5–3x shoot time for a full wedding gallery), layers in gear amortization and a business overhead percentage, then shows the package price needed to hit your number. It also breaks out cost per delivered image so you can sanity-check against your own past deliverables.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Shoot hours (coverage): 8 hrs
- Editing hours per shoot hour: 2
- Target hourly rate: 65 $
- Business overhead: 25 %
- Gear amortization per wedding: 60 $
- Travel cost: 40 $
- Delivered images: 600
Results
- Package price to quote: $2,050
- Total hours (shoot + edit): 24
- Editing hours: 16
- Effective hourly at this price: $85.42
- Cost per delivered image: $3.42
What each field means
Inputs
- Shoot hours (coverage) (hrs)
- The shoot hours (coverage) used in the calculation, measured in hrs. Starts at 8 hrs so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 1–20 hrs.
- Editing hours per shoot hour
- The editing hours per shoot hour used in the calculation. Starts at 2 so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0.5–5.
- Target hourly rate ($)
- The target hourly rate used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 65 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Business overhead (%)
- The business overhead used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 25 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–100 %.
- Gear amortization per wedding ($)
- The gear amortization per wedding used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 60 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Travel cost ($)
- The travel cost used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 40 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Delivered images
- The delivered images used in the calculation. Starts at 600 so you have a working example on load.
Results
- Package price to quote
- 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.
- Total hours (shoot + edit)
- Returned as a decimal number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Editing hours
- Returned as a decimal number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Effective hourly at this price
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Cost per delivered image
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
Why is editing time bigger than shoot time?
Culling 3,000–5,000 raw frames down to 500–800 finals, color grading, and retouching takes real hours. A 2x-to-3x multiplier on shoot hours is typical for full-wedding delivery; album design or heavy retouching pushes it higher. Skipping this step is the single biggest reason photographers underprice.
What should overhead include?
Software subscriptions (Lightroom, gallery hosting, CRM), insurance, website, marketing spend, backup storage, and a slice of continuing education. For most solo shooters this lands between 20% and 35% of labor cost. Studios with employees run higher.
How do I use the cost-per-image number?
It's a sanity check, not a pricing method. If your per-image cost is wildly different from what similar photographers in your market charge per gallery, either your hours estimate or your target rate needs adjusting before you send a quote.
Should travel be a separate line item or baked in?
For venues over 30-45 minutes from your base, itemize it separately on the invoice so clients see it's location-driven, not padding. Baking it into a flat package price works for a defined local radius but hides cost drivers if you expand your service area.
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.
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See if adding a second photographer is worth it after their day rate and your markup.
Wedding Album Cost of Goods Calculator
Price an album from print lab cost, design time, and target margin.
Wedding Videographer Package Pricing Calculator
Price a highlight-film package from shoot hours, edit hours, and gear cost.
Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Wedding Photographer Package Pricing Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/photographer-package-pricing-calculator
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/photographer-package-pricing-calculator" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wedding Photographer Package Pricing Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Wedding Photographer Package Pricing Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/photographer-package-pricing-calculator) (2026).