How the KDW Creatives Free Photography Calculator Works
If you are a photographer wanting to figure out what to charge for your photography services, then this pricing guide is for you. Our photography pricing calculator is a free tool for anyone to use. It goes into detail covering all possible scenarios you need to keep in mind when formulating your price.
Table of Contents
There are countless photography services calculators out there, however, they either come with a price tag or don’t take into account all the details. We wanted to give all photographers – starting and experienced ones alike a chance to calculate all the cost involved in producing a single photo.
For the photography pricing calculator to work you would need to enter your base salary. If you aren’t sure what your base salary is, you can look for the base salary calculator.
The photography pricing calculator goes into lots of detail, however, if any of those aren’t relevant to you, you can leave them blank. Our target market is photographers from different industries and with different goals in mind. The result however is the same – you will know what you should charge for your work.
Regardless of whether you are shooting fashion, e-commerce, weddings or architecture, this pricing guide will give you the exact idea about the costs involved in every single shoot.
To help you form a clear picture, you will get a quote breakdown at the end of each section. The final quote will show your Day Rate and Half Day rate including buffers and local tax.
Scroll down for a step-by-step detailed explanation of each section
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Your Base Salary for Photography Project Quotes Explained
When you are in the business of photography, just as in any other business you need to take into account many things that will form your price. The basic running costs such as equipment investment, your education and experience, taxes, time spent preparing for the photoshoot and discussing the details with your client are the pillars you need to always consider when establishing the base salary.
On top of that, depending on what type of photography you are doing, you will have additional expenses such as renting a studio, travelling to and from location, hiring assistants, spend time setting up and the photoshoot itself. For this purpose, most photographers use Half Day rates and Day Rates.
Do you need to travel to get to the photoshoot location? What other costs are involved when going on-site?
- Travel
Do you need to rent a car or you can get to the photoshoot location with a taxi? Keep in mind to calculate the trip back too.
- Food
Will your client provide you with meals or you need to take care of this yourself?
- Accommodation
If the shoot is longer or it ends very late in the evening, you should consider renting a room to stay the night. Add this cost to your quote too.
- Travel Time
How many hours would you need to spend getting there?
- Travel Time Rate
The rate you should charge for the time it took you to reach the location. Generally, this rate is lower than your hourly rate.
Once the photo shoot is over, you need to start working on the post-processing part. Depending on the project and expected photo style, each photo can take from 10 minutes up to hours of editing.
- Number of photos requested
How many photos did you and your client agree to initially? Is there a space for upselling? Depending on the type of photography, your initial package might be 5 digital photos included and the rest can be purchased additionally.
- Photo editing rate
If you are working on product photography, often there are hours of post-processing work involved behind each photo that makes the cut. Keep in mind the price of the editing software you use. You can also outsource the editing or some part of it to a third party. What would they charge and how fast is the turnaround time?
- Licencing
How much will you charge for the copyrights of your photos? Is unlimited printing for personal use included in your price? Does your client have the right to post them on social media without giving you the credit? Are you willing to fully give away your copyrights to the images for commercial use? If you are using a model in the shoot remember they may have licensing costs for large format/ commercial photography use – get this ironed out prior to the shoot.
- Album design
If you are a wedding or a family photographer, you will likely encounter clients that want their photo books printed. Albums take time to design and compile, along with knowledge in Photoshop for alignment purposes. All of this takes time on your end well before printing. The prices of photo books vary on many factors. Your location, size and quality of paper will all impact the price greatly. Make sure to do your research before quoting your price for this service.
- Print-on-demand for commercial use
You can use the work you’ve created and make an additional income by submitting your designs on print-on-demand services. However, ensure that you have this covered in your contract to avoid any potential issues with your clients.
How to Get The Most Out of Your Quote
There is probably nothing more disappointing when you realise that the quote you gave to your client doesn’t even cover the basic running expenses. We all have made these beginner mistakes, but as long as we learn and do it fast then the initial loss won’t bother us for too long.
Use our photography calculator to get a full grasp of the expenses around your photography business, regardless if you are a professional or someone who does this as a hobby. This is a free photography calculator created to help you and you can use it at your advantage completely free of cost.
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Do you think we’ve missed something? Let us know! We are happy to listen to your suggestions and help others in the process.
