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Hi, I am new to stock photography, basically because I like to learn a lot about photography, experiment, etc. and I thought why not start something that eventually throws out a few bucks. I am not sure if this is still possible from 2019 or if agencies took over and an individual amateur photographer has no chance at all to gain visibility. However, as a start I am asking myself the following question: Should I focus on quantity (shoot/upload as many good photos as possible) or on trend by shooting only specific required photos? Usually stock platforms even give hints on what kind of photos and motives are requested. What is your suggestion on that? Markus

We have nearly completed another year of Alamy sales and it is time to reflect, review and learn lessons. This chart I am very happy with : This chart I am not so happy with : Sales increasing nicely year on year, efforts being rewarded, careful keywording resulting in customers finding my images. But all that work, all the hours invested, to end up with a declining revenue stream feels like pedaling backwards on my bike or kayaking up a waterfall. Too many photographers I guess, too many images for customers to choose from, too easy to just use Google Images and grab any image you see without even thinking of consequences, it all drives the price per image in one direction only. But high value sales do still turn up once in a while. I had one $650 sale this year, two sales of £225 and 5 others over $100. When they happen, I am reminded that Alamy is still the right place to be. I had a look at distribution of prices across all my sales this year, here are the results : So about 60% of my sales are in the $20-80 gross price band. I also had a look at the price trend over the last 5 years. As expected, this shows a declining average price, but a RECOVERY in the gross price THIS YEAR. Unfortunately, in my case, the net price has continued its decline this year, probably due to the proportion of distributor sales increasing. See chart below : So since 2012, my average net price has declined by more than 50%, ouch ...... what happened to inflation?? Aren't our prices meant to go up with inflation? Every other business seems to manage it, but not us ;-) I hope this is enlightening, or at least informative, for forum members. If you feel so inclined, please share your own data, but I understand many people won't want to. Who knows what 2017 will bring, the new search algorithm and contributor tools have made all that even harder to predict. I was at the top of page 2 on BHZ, then dropped to page 13, now on page 9. It is too early to say whether views/zooms are adversely affected ... Happy New Year! Marc