How much should independent photographers charge?
Photographers price by the session or package, not the open hour, but you still need a target hourly rate to know whether a package covers your time, gear, and editing hours — not just the time on-site.
Estimate your rate
A starting point for photography — adjust to your own numbers.
~$95.25 / visit
Based on a 90-minute visit at an effective rate of ~$63.50/hour. Formula: (target income + expenses) ÷ (billable hours/week × 50 working weeks), converted to a per-visit price. This is a starting estimate, not a guarantee — adjust for local market rates.
What moves the rate
- Session type: a 1-hour portrait session is priced very differently from 4-8 hours of wedding or corporate event coverage
- Experience and portfolio strength (student/beginner photographers charge $40-110/hr building a portfolio; high-end professionals command $170-500+/hr)
- Editing and delivery time (budget 1-2 hours of post-processing per hour shot — this is unpaid time unless it's built into your rate)
- Package inclusions: number of edited images, print rights, online gallery, and usage/licensing terms (commercial usage commands a premium over personal-use-only)
- Gear and travel requirements (studio lighting, second shooter for events, or travel outside your normal radius all add cost)
- Local market (New York and California photographers charge 50-100% more than lower cost-of-living states)
Base rate set at $175/hr, inside the $150-350/hr national portrait range and near the low end of the $150-500/hr event range — most solo photographers start closer to the portrait side before booking larger event packages. Default visit length of 90 minutes models a typical portrait/family session (shoot time plus setup); multi-hour event and wedding packages are priced by multiplying this hourly rate by the hours booked, not by adjusting the visit-length field. The $3,500/yr expense default covers camera body and lens replacement/upgrade amortized over a few years (~$1,500-2,000/yr), Adobe Creative Cloud or equivalent editing software (~$300-700/yr), backup storage and memory cards (~$200-300/yr), a portfolio website (~$200-400/yr), and general/professional liability insurance (~$300-500/yr) — no vehicle line since most solo photographers use a personal car rather than a dedicated business vehicle.