Event photography pricing calculator
Work out what to charge for an event from your own time and costs, then see what selling the photos to the guests could add. Change any number: it all adds up as you type.
Your numbers
Quote at least
$590
11 hours at $50 an hour, plus $40 of costs. That is $148 for each hour at the event.
Guest sales could add
$750
30 buyers: 15 take all their photos, 15 take 2 photos each.
Fee and guest sales together
$1,340
Selling to guests alone, 24 buyers cover your fee.
30 orders fit in the Starter plan's 250 checkouts a year, with no commission on any of them. See plans
Turn the fee into a quote for your clientHow to price an event shoot.
Three steps. The numbers stay in the tab you have open.
- 01
Count every hour
Not just the hours at the event: add culling, editing, uploading and the trip there and back. That is the time the client is paying for.
- 02
Set your hourly rate
What you want to earn for each of those hours, before costs. Then add what the job costs you: an assistant, travel, prints, rentals.
- 03
Add guest sales
Selling to guests? Put in how many people come and your prices. The calculator shows how many buyers would cover your fee.
Ready to send it? The quotation maker turns your fee into a PDF quote, and the invoice maker bills it after the event.
The formula, worked through
Fee = (hours at the event + editing hours + travel hours) × hourly rate + costs. 11 hours (4 at the event, 6 editing, 1 travel) at $50 an hour is $550, plus $40 of costs: quote at least $590.
Guest sales = buyers × average order. 300 guests with 10% buying is 30 buyers: 15 take all their photos at $40 and 15 take 2 photos at $5, which comes to $750.
These are the calculator's opening numbers in US dollars: examples to show the arithmetic, not going rates. Put in your own.
Event photography pricing questions
How much should I charge for event photography?
Start from your time, not from someone else's rate. Add up every hour the job takes (at the event, editing, uploading and travel), multiply by what you want to earn an hour, then add what the job costs you. That total is the least you should quote.
What is the formula?
Fee = (hours at the event + editing hours + travel hours) × your hourly rate + costs. For example, 11 hours (4 at the event, 6 editing, 1 travel) at $50 an hour is $550, plus $40 of costs: quote at least $590.
Should I charge by the hour or per event?
Clients understand an hourly rate, but the hours at the event are only part of the work. If you quote by the hour, divide the full fee by the event hours: the calculator shows that number as your rate per hour at the event.
How do I price photos I sell to the guests?
Usually with two prices: one photo, and an "all my photos" bundle for everything a guest is in. Try your own prices here and watch the total. The calculator also shows how many buyers it takes to cover your fee, so you can tell whether guest sales could replace part of it.
What share of guests buy their photos?
It depends on the event, how many photos each guest is in, your prices and how easy it is to find them. The 10% the calculator opens with is an example, not a benchmark: replace it with your own after your first event.
Is anything I type sent anywhere?
No. The calculator runs in your browser, nothing you type leaves your device, and there is no account.
Sell the photos to every guest, and keep every sale.
On sellphotos.online, guests scan one QR code, find their photos with a selfie and pay you directly. No commission, no identity checks, yearly plans from $99.