How to price photography from your real costs
Most photographers pick a number that "sounds right" or copy a competitor, then wonder why a full calendar still leaves them broke. The fix is to price from the bottom up, from what it actually costs you to run the business and deliver the work. Photographers call this your cost of doing business (CODB).
Here is the logic this calculator runs:
- Overhead + your pay, spread per session. Add your yearly business expenses to the salary you want, then divide by the number of paying sessions you book in a year. That is what each session has to carry just to keep the lights on and pay you.
- Direct costs of the session. Travel, prints, the album, a second shooter, props. The costs that only exist because that job exists.
- Your true cost to deliver. The two above, added together. Charge below this and you are paying to work.
- Profit margin. A buffer above your pay for slow months, new gear and growth. Price equals your true cost divided by one minus your margin.
Why photographers underprice
The usual mistake is pricing against the salary you want but forgetting the expenses, or counting every session as pure profit. Gear depreciates, software renews monthly, insurance and marketing never stop, and you owe 15.3% self-employment tax on 92.35% of your net profit because you are a 1099 contractor. A price that ignores those is not a price, it is a slow loss.
Track it for the whole year, not one session
This calculator sets one session price. The 1099 Sheets Photographer spreadsheet tracks every booking, your real expenses, mileage, gear and taxes, so your pricing stays grounded in what the business actually costs. One payment of $29.