Second Shooter Cost Calculator

What's a typical markup on a second shooter's day rate?

20%-40% is common — it covers the coordination overhead of briefing them, managing their card handoff, backup, and liability of a subcontractor on-site under your brand, plus the extra editing time their footage generates. Below 15% rarely covers that overhead once editing time is honestly counted.

Why does a second shooter add editing time instead of just doubling image count?

You still have to cull and color-match their card against yours, decide which of the two angles for a given moment makes the final gallery, and integrate their frames into one cohesive edit — that reconciliation step doesn't exist when there's only one shooter's footage.

When does adding a second shooter actually pay off for the client relationship, not just the invoice?

Guest counts over roughly 120-150, multiple simultaneous getting-ready locations, or a couple's strong emphasis on candid guest coverage during the reception are the classic cases — situations where one photographer physically cannot be in two places that matter to the story.

Should the second shooter be a contractor or employee?

Most working second shooters are booked as independent contractors for a single event under a simple day-rate agreement, but check your state's worker classification rules if you use the same second shooter repeatedly and control their schedule closely, since that pattern can trigger employee classification.