Alexandre Rotenberg's Brutally Honest Guide to Stock Photography & Footage

A cheap Coimbra stock trip, an eclipse, encouraging sales at Amazing Aerial, Shutterstock delivering my worst August since 2013 and a drone announcement

After nearly quitting stock photography, I realised the bigger problem wasn’t just falling royalties but my own habit of shooting oversupplied, random subjects with little commercial strategy.

A few weeks ago, following my Dutch Sunday Roast with Hugo Kurk, I came away with several things to think about, one of them being his suggestion that I should apply to BlackBox as a stock footage contributor.

Welcome to my July 2026 Brutally Honest Earnings Report, where the long-term goal remains unchanged: trying to cover all my gear and travel costs entirely through stock income.

Alamy is raising the threshold for its 40% Gold commission from $250 to $3,000, pushing many active contributors into the new 20% Silver tier.

Hugo Kurk gave my stock photography portfolio the Dutch Sunday Roast treatment: direct, practical, and occasionally painful.

Well, that was short-lived.

Welcome to my June 2026 Brutally Honest Earnings Report, where the long-term goal remains unchanged: trying to cover my gear and travel costs entirely through stock income.

Microstock is not dead, but the old model is broken.

May 2026 brought another sluggish month in stock earnings, with a total of $519 excluding pending Amazing Aerial results.