Have you ever calculated your actual hourly wage?

The answer might scare you. Most photographers start with a simple pricing model: look at what the competitors are charging, and charge slightly less. It feels safe. It feels logical.

But from a business perspective, it is suicide.

The Hidden Costs of a “Simple” Shoot

Let’s say you charge $300 for a 2-hour portrait session. That sounds like $150 per hour—a fantastic wage, right? Wrong.

You are forgetting the “Invisible Hours”:

• Pre-production: Emails, planning, travel (2 hours).
• The Shoot: Actual photography (2 hours).
• Post-production: Culling, editing, exporting, delivering (3 hours).
• Admin: Invoicing, backing up files, marketing (1 hour).

Suddenly, that 2-hour shoot is actually 8 hours of work. Your $150/hour just dropped to $37.50/hour.

And We Haven’t Even Touched Taxes

Depending on where you live, taxes and social fees will eat roughly 30-50% of that gross income. Now you are down to roughly $20/hour.

Still sounds okay? Well, did you pay for your camera? Your Adobe subscription? Your website hosting? Your insurance?

Stop Guessing. Start Calculating.

This isn’t meant to discourage you. It is meant to empower you. The moment you treat photography as a business based on data, not feelings, is the moment you become profitable.

You don’t need to charge what “everyone else” is charging. You need to charge what you need to survive.

We built a tool specifically for this. Before you send your next quote, run your numbers through our Rate Calculator on the home page. It takes 30 seconds, and it might just save your business.[Button: Go to Calculator] (Länka denna knapp till startsidan)