Photography Rate Calculator — Day Rate & Pricing

Add your target annual income to your total business costs (insurance, equipment, software, travel, marketing, etc.), then divide by the number of shoot days you can realistically book per year. Most full-time photographers shoot 80-150 days per year.

Include equipment depreciation, insurance (public liability, professional indemnity), software subscriptions (Lightroom, Photoshop), website hosting, marketing, professional memberships, accounting, travel, training, and a contingency fund. These typically total £5,000-£15,000+ per year in the UK.

Because every shoot includes unpaid hours: travel, setup, editing, culling, delivery, client communication, invoicing and admin. A typical 8-hour shoot day generates 12-20 hours of total work. Your day rate must cover all of these hours, not just the shoot itself.

No. A half-day still blocks most of your day (travel, setup, editing), so it should be priced at 60-70% of your full day rate, not 50%. This reflects the opportunity cost of not being able to book a second job that day.