Photography Pricing Calculator
A price for a photography job from shoot hours, the editing hours they imply, an hourly rate, job costs and a margin — ex-GST and on the invoice.
Editing time is the shoot time × the editing ratio (the hidden hours).
How the photography pricing calculator works
Editing time is the shoot time × the editing ratio (the hidden hours). Labour is every working hour × the rate; add job costs for the base; the price ex-GST is the base ÷ (1 − margin), and the invoice adds GST. The effective hourly rate is the price over the shoot hours alone — what a client sees.
Formula: Price ex-GST = (Hours × Rate + Costs) ÷ (1 − Margin) · Invoice = × 1.1
How the price is worked out
Total hours first, then price to a margin
The calculator starts with the hours the job really takes: editing hours = shoot time × editing ratio, and total working hours = shoot + editing. A ratio of 2–3× the shoot is typical once you count importing, culling, colour work, retouching, export and delivery. Then it prices: price ex-GST = (total hours × target rate + job costs) ÷ (1 − margin), and adds 10% for the inc-GST figure. The margin sits on top of your labour, because the business has costs of its own.
The number-one pricing mistake is charging for shoot time only and working the editing for free. A rate that looks healthy per shoot hour collapses once it's spread across the hours you actually worked — which is why the breakdown also shows your effective rate per shoot hour.
Worked example
A 3-hour portrait shoot at a 2× ratio is 6 hours of editing — 9 working hours. At $150/hr that's $1,350 of labour, plus about $50 of job costs = $1,400, and at a 20% margin the price is 1,400 ÷ (1 − 0.20) = about $1,750 ex-GST. Scale it to a 10-hour wedding: 20 hours of editing means 30 working hours = $4,500 of labour, plus a second shooter (~$1,000) and an album (~$800) as job costs — around $7,875 ex-GST at the same margin, which sits right in the mid-tier Australian wedding market.
This is a job margin, not net profit. Marketing, tax, the gaps between jobs and your own downtime still come out of it. Use it alongside your profit margin and charge-out rate numbers, not on its own.
Rates & editing ratiosJob costs, margin and GST
The costs that have to be in the price
Beyond your time, every job carries real costs: travel, prints and albums, a second shooter for big events, insurance, software subscriptions and — the one everyone forgets — gear depreciation. Charge the value the kit loses, not its sticker price: a $15,000 kit that's worth about $9,000 when you replace it has shed $6,000, and spread over roughly 100 jobs that's about $60 a job in wear. Bodies, lenses and cards don't last forever, and if replacing them isn't in your pricing, you're funding it out of your own wage. Put these in as job costs and the margin becomes real instead of imaginary.
Pricing to a margin
Margin is profit as a share of the price, so you divide by one minus the margin: price = cost ÷ (1 − margin). A $1,400 job at a 20% margin is 1,400 ÷ 0.80 = $1,750. That's why margin and markup differ — a 20% margin is a 25% markup on cost. The margin is what the business earns after paying you for your hours, and it's what funds the quiet months.
Where GST fits
If you're registered for GST — compulsory once turnover hits $75,000 — the 10% you add belongs to the ATO, not you. Price your margin on the ex-GST figure, then add 10% for the quote. A job priced at $1,750 ex-GST is $1,925 inc-GST. If you're not registered, there's no 10% to add and the two are the same.
Frequently asked Frequently asked questions
Where these figures come from
Photography pricing is a standard service-business costing method, not a legislated figure. The method here follows mainstream margin pricing practice, with the GST handling set to Australia's 10% goods and services tax.
- Total working hours — editing hours = shoot × ratio (typically 2–3×); total = shoot + editing.
- Price to a margin — price ex-GST = (total hours × target rate + job costs) ÷ (1 − margin); margin is profit as a share of price.
- Job costs — travel, prints and albums, second shooter, insurance, software and gear depreciation (a $15,000 kit losing ~$6,000 of value across ~100 jobs ≈ $60/job).
- GST — Australia's goods and services tax is 10%; a registered photographer adds 10% to the ex-GST price (registration compulsory at $75,000 turnover).
- Baselines — 2026 planning figures only: working rates $100–500/hr, day rates $1,200–3,500, second shooter $600–1,200/day, mid-tier wedding packages $4,500–7,500. Use your own costs.
- Further guidance — business.gov.au — Australian government business guidance.
Last checked: July 2026. This is a planning estimate, not financial or tax advice. Rates, costs and editing times vary by genre, experience and region — use your own figures and confirm your GST treatment with your accountant or the ATO.
Understanding your resultSelect the question that matches where you are right now.
The headline number is the price to quote for the job ex-GST — your total working hours at your target rate, plus job costs, marked up to your margin. The breakdown splits the shoot from the editing, shows the labour and costs, and gives the inc-GST figure and your effective rate per shoot hour.
What to do with itUse it as the floor for your quote. If the market won't bear it, either tighten the editing ratio, trim job costs, or accept a thinner margin — the breakdown shows which lever moves the most.
What it is notIt's not your net profit. Marketing, tax, downtime and the gaps between jobs come out of the job margin, and it isn't tax advice — confirm GST treatment with your accountant.
The effective rateWatch the rate per shoot hour. It's the number that exposes hourly-only quoting — a job that looks like $580 an hour is really $150 an hour once the editing is counted.
Three things move the price: how long you shoot, how long you edit, and what the job costs you before you've earned a cent.
The editing ratioThe most powerful input on the page. At 2× a 3-hour shoot is 9 working hours; at 3× it's 12. Guess it low and you'll work the difference for free.
Job costsTravel, prints, a second shooter, insurance and gear depreciation — about $60 a job on a $15k kit. Uncosted, they come straight out of your margin.
Target rate & marginThe hourly rate pays you for your working time; the margin pays the business on top. Nudge either and watch the ex-GST price and the effective rate per shoot hour move together.
A few habits keep pricing honest across every job, not just the one you're quoting.
Time your editingTrack the desk hours on a few jobs and use your real ratio. Most photographers discover it's higher than the number they'd been assuming.
Cost the gearDivide the kit over the jobs it will shoot before replacement. It's a real cost of every frame, not a one-off you absorbed years ago.
Sell the outcomePackage prints, albums and galleries so the client buys the product, not your hours — the margin holds and the perceived value rises.
Job pricing is one lever. Model the rest of the business alongside it.
The full marginTurn job prices into an overall profit margin.
Profit margin calculator → Your hourly rateWork out the charge-out rate your business needs.
Charge-out rate calculator → Get the GST rightAdd or strip 10% GST on any figure.
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Don't forget the editing hours Edit ~2× the shoot time
The number one pricing mistake photographers make is charging for shoot time only. Culling, editing and retouching typically take two to three times the shoot itself — a 3-hour shoot means around 6 hours of editing, so 9 working hours in total. Price the shoot hours alone and you're working the editing for free. This calculator builds the editing time in via a shoot-to-edit ratio, so the price reflects the real work.
| 3-hr shoot | ~6 hr editing |
|---|---|
| Total work | 9 hrs |
| Ratio | 1:2 to 1:3 |
- Shoot-only pricing Editing for free
- Price Total hours
Pricing a portrait session ≈ $1,750
A 3-hour portrait shoot with 6 hours of editing is 9 working hours. At $150/hr plus about $50 of job costs and a 20% margin, that's around $1,750. That may sound high for a 'few hours', but it's covering nine hours of skilled work plus gear and business costs, not three. Package it with prints or an album and the perceived value rises while your margin holds — clients buy the outcome, not the hourly rate.
| Working hours | 9 hrs |
|---|---|
| At $150/hr | $1,350 labour |
| Price | ≈$1,750 |
- Add prints Raises value
- Sell The outcome
Pricing a wedding ≈ $7,875
A wedding is a big day of work with a mountain of editing. Ten hours of shooting at a 2× edit ratio is 30 working hours; add a second shooter (~$1,000) and an album (~$800) as job costs, and at $150/hr with a 20% margin the price lands around $7,875. That aligns with the mid-tier Australian wedding photography market ($4,500–7,500+). Weddings look lucrative until you count the 20+ hours of editing hidden behind the day itself.
| Shoot | 10 hrs |
|---|---|
| Total work | 30 hrs |
| Price | ≈$7,875 |
- Second shooter +~$1,000
- Album +~$800
Hourly, package or day rate? Day rate $1,200–3,500
There are three ways to price. Hourly (build in editing, as this calculator does) suits variable jobs. A day rate — commonly $1,200–3,500 in Australia, often with a second shooter added — is simple for full-day commercial and event work. Packages (with prints, albums, galleries) shift the client's focus from your time to the product and usually earn the most. Most photographers blend them: packages for weddings and portraits, day or hourly rates for commercial.
| Day rate | $1,200–3,500 |
|---|---|
| Packages | Highest earning |
| Hourly | Variable jobs |
- Commercial Day rate
- Weddings Packages
The costs that eat your margin Gear, travel, second shooter
Beyond your time, real costs come out of every job: travel, prints and albums, a second shooter for big events, insurance, software subscriptions, and gear depreciation. A $15,000 kit that loses about 40% of its value over its working life sheds ~$6,000 — spread across roughly 100 jobs, that's about $60 a job in wear. If these aren't in your price, your margin is an illusion. Add them as job costs and set a genuine profit margin on top (15–30% is a healthy service-business range) so the business, not just your labour, gets paid.
| Gear dep. | ~$60/job |
|---|---|
| Second shooter | $600–1,200/day |
| Margin | 15–30% |
- Uncosted Fake margin
- Business Must get paid too
Why photographers underprice They forget the invisible hours
New photographers often set a rate by looking at the shoot time and a number that 'feels okay per hour', ignoring editing, admin, gear, marketing, tax and the gaps between jobs. The result is an effective rate far below what it looks like — a $1,750 portrait session is only about $583 per shoot hour once you spread it over the nine real hours. Pricing on total work plus costs plus margin is how a hobby that pays becomes a business that lasts.
| 'Feels okay'/hr | Ignores editing |
|---|---|
| $1,750 session | ~$583/shoot hr |
| Price on | Work + costs + margin |
- Hidden hours Kill hobby rates
- Sustainable Full costing
Worked examples
| Inputs | Suggested price (ex-GST) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| A 3-hour shoot at 150 an hour, 2× editing, 20% margin | $1,687.50 | 1,687.50 ex-GST |
FAQFrequently asked questions
What rate and ratio should you use?
The price is only as good as the hours and the rate behind it. These are 2026 Australian planning baselines — always swap in your own numbers: Working rates — $100–500/hr . Genre, experience and market set where you land. Newer portrait work sits low; established commercial and editorial work sits high. Day rates — $1,200–3,500 . Common for full-day commercial and event work, usually with a second shooter charged on top. Second shooter — $600–1,200/day . A real job cost for weddings and big events, not something to absorb. Mid-tier wedding packages — $4,500–7,500 . A useful sanity check: if your costed number lands far outside this, re-check your hours, ratio and costs. Editing ratio — 2–3× . Time your own editing across a few jobs and use the real figure. Heavy retouching pushes it higher; high-volume light-edit work pulls it lower. The biggest error in photography pricing is treating the shoot as the job. It isn't — the shoot is the part the client sees, and the editing is the part that fills your evenings. Count both, price both, and the rate looks after itself. Job costs, margin & GST
How much should a photographer charge?
Working rates in Australia run roughly $100–500 an hour depending on genre, experience and market, with day rates commonly $1,200–3,500 and mid-tier wedding packages around $4,500–7,500. But those headline numbers only make sense once you price the real hours. A 3-hour portrait shoot with a 2× editing ratio is 9 working hours; at $150/hr plus about $50 of job costs and a 20% margin that's roughly $1,750 ex-GST. Start from the hours the job actually takes plus your costs and margin, then sanity-check the result against what your market pays — not the other way around.
How do I price a photography session?
Work out the total working hours first: editing hours = shoot hours × your editing ratio, then add the shoot itself. Multiply the total by the hourly rate you want, add the job costs (travel, prints, second shooter, gear depreciation, insurance), then divide by one minus your target margin: price ex-GST = (total hours × target rate + job costs) ÷ (1 − margin). Add 10% GST on top if you're registered. Pricing this way means the editing, the travel and the gear are all paid for, rather than quietly coming out of your own pocket.
How long does photo editing take?
Typically two to three times the shoot time once you count importing, culling, colour work, retouching, export and delivery. A 3-hour shoot means roughly 6 hours of editing, so 9 working hours all up; a 10-hour wedding can mean 20+ hours at the desk. The ratio climbs for heavy retouching and drops for high-volume work with a light edit. This is the single most under-counted part of photography pricing — time your own editing across a few jobs and use your real ratio rather than a hopeful guess.
Should I charge hourly, a day rate or packages?
Most photographers blend all three. Hourly pricing — with the editing built in, as this calculator does — suits variable and short jobs. A day rate, commonly $1,200–3,500 in Australia and often with a second shooter charged on top at $600–1,200 a day, is simpler for full-day commercial and event work. Packages that bundle prints, albums and galleries move the client's attention from your time to the product and usually earn the most. Whichever you quote, work the number out from total hours plus costs plus margin first — the pricing model is just how you present it.
Why do photographers underprice?
Because they price the visible hours and forget the invisible ones. The number-one mistake is charging for shoot time only and working the editing for free — but admin, marketing, travel, insurance, software, tax and the gaps between jobs are all unpaid too, and gear wears out (a $15,000 kit that loses about $6,000 of value across roughly 100 jobs is around $60 a job). A $1,750 portrait session sounds generous for 3 hours until you notice it's about $583 per shoot hour spread over 9 real hours, before costs. Pricing on total work plus costs plus a genuine margin is what turns a hobby that pays into a business that lasts. Sources
The sources behind this calculator
- Corporate Finance Institute — EBITDA — why EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure with no single definition
- US SEC — Non-GAAP Financial Measures, Compliance & Disclosure Interpretations — the disclosure rules that exist precisely because EBITDA is not standardised
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission — the Australian corporate regulator
Last checked: July 2026. These are standard management-accounting definitions; where a term has no single agreed definition, the page says so.