I have been an exclusive contributor at DT since 2010 and there have been many ups and downs, after the first difficulties and the unavoidable learning process my acceptance ratio increased to over 80% and it seemed that slowly but steadily, as the sales and also the revenue were increasing, a little extra income could be achieved in future.
I have been always dedicated to nature and specially wildlife which is not exactly the best selling sector but my bird pics were not doing so bad.
In 2012 there was the first crisis, many contributors complained and it seemed that the problem was rather based in some internal changes at DT. Things improved shortly after and sales began to increase again till the crack-down in 2013 which was probably the first warning that there were too many of us contributors and, even worse too many amateur photographers giving their images away for free just for a mention of their author hood and the consequent increase of their ego..
Recovery, although not as fierce as the precedent, occurred again but the business went down again in 2015 and I am still to see if there will be a recovery this time.
Just a few weeks ago I was on the brink to cancel exclusivity (I actually applied for it) but I finally decided to go on with DT as my only racing horse, to relax and not to worry about sales.
I am now going back to my lifelong passion which are the reptile world, this is an even worse marketable subject than birds! But I am enjoying a lot and have forgotten about achieving a little salary through my photographic work.
I have been 4 months in Kenya and I would like to present to you some of my pics I made during that time, back to Europe now I will have to go for some landscapes and city views as our reptiles are now enjoying a well deserved winter rest.
I am just remaining to wish you all the best for the next year 2017!
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Physi28
Thank you very much osmar01, it is encouraging to hear that other stocks also have their up and downs..
Osmar01
I don't work exclusively for Dt. Your article is still very interesting and the sales oscillation also include other microstock agencies. Congratulations for your work and your photographs are very beautiful. Congratulations! Ciao
Photostock2015
nice pictures and article :)
Photomall
I am deeply encouraged by you.Thanks for sharing!Just hold on consistently and persistently .
Babar760
As you mentioned Joan, photography is very competitive, like sports and music. It's what people love to do and therefore the base of the pyramid is very,very wide. I try to photograph things that other people might not photograph so that there is less competition. When I see 600 pages of photos on one topic, I stay away!
Consider yourself lucky if your royalties pay for your photo equipment!
Hstovring
Very nice and interesting pictures!
Ctmphotog
Enjoyed your article and images, Joan! Thanks for sharing!
Physi28
Thanks Penstock for your encouraging words! I also thought that it will be interesting to see how this reduced niche works, all the best!
Perstock
All the best Joan! Yes, it's up and down with sales, but your figures arent really that bad... I am a bit curious about the competition when it comes to such a specialized topic as reptiles. Have you done comparable searches? The best contributor in a specialized topic may be a winner in the long run :-) Lets hope for success! And anyway, its important to enjoy, also... :-)