How many billable hours should I assume in a year?
For a full-time photographer, 700–900 is realistic once enquiries, admin and marketing are excluded.
Shoot Quote Builder
Build a client-ready quote and find out, before you send it, whether the shoot is worth doing. Editing hours and travel are counted as real time, because they are. Free, no account, nothing leaves your browser.
What an hour of your time costs
Set this once. Every quote below is judged against it.
Billable hours are shoot plus edit plus travel — not your whole working year. Enquiries, admin, marketing, scouting and the hours you spend fixing your website are unpaid, but they still have to be covered by the hours that are paid. A full-time photographer rarely bills more than 900.
This shoot
What is included
The two shaded columns are yours alone — your hours per unit and hard cost per unit (lab, album, prints, second shooter's fee). Neither appears on the client's quote.
| Item | Qty | Unit price | Line total | Your hrs / unit | Hard cost / unit |
|---|
Is this shoot worth doing
Effective hourly is what is left after hard costs, divided by every hour the job takes you — shooting, editing and driving. It is the only number that compares a small portrait session with a full wedding fairly.
The quote your client sees
It updates as you type — the preview sits directly underneath this card, and printing gives you that page only.
Saving as HTML gives you one self-contained file to attach to an email — it opens in any browser with no internet and no app, and it shows the client exactly what the printed quote shows. Your cost and profit workings never appear in it.
Saved quotes
Your data
Saved in this browser only. Export before clearing browser data or switching device.
One quote is an afternoon; a season of them is a business. If you want bookings, clients, invoices and expenses in one offline file, that isFreelanceNest — one payment, no subscription.
Shooting rather than freelancing in general? ShootNest is the photography-specific version — the same hourly arithmetic, plus a shoot pipeline, a gear list for insurance, and reports that rank your work by what it actually pays per hour. One payment, no subscription.
These are your own numbers put through arithmetic, not financial advice. VAT rules, card fees and local taxes vary — check them with your accountant before you send anything binding.
Frequently asked questions
Does the client see my costs?
No. The hours and hard-cost columns stay on your screen and never appear on the printed quote.