Like many young, inexperienced and downright naive photographers, I dreamed of making a living from selling photos to stock agencies.
A few years ago, my dream took a step forward, with the “invitation” to submit photo to Getty Images. Had i made it big ?. Somehow, a photo editor at Getty Images had discovered my photos, and selected 25 to be submitted to the Getty Stock pool.
“Whoo Hoo – making money”. I said.
A couple of weeks later, another invitation arrived for 30 images, and a few months later, even more requests.
So, now two years later, and approximately 120 images submitted to Getty Images, Yes -I am making money selling stock images.
Check out my April 2014 Statement.
Three images sold !!! …for a whopping $63.61
No, that big money isn’t for my pocket, as 80% goes to the stock agency. My take-home pay is $12.66 which works out to enough money to buy breakfast, one breakfast for the month of April !.
20% to the photographer – Really ?? .
Now – Time to wake up !. To make a living; food, housing, etc….that works out to a whole lot of photos that need to be sold to survive.
A colleague mentioned to me, what if the stock agency actually sold more of your images though didn’t tell you. Oh – now the plot thickens.
Ever heard of a stock agency that sells photos on your behalf, and doesn’t tell you ?. Does this Really happen ?