Is pet photography profitable for microstock?

Hi Dreamstimers,

here I am again. With great surprise I found that one of my pictures has sold 3 times in the last two weeks:

And here it is... so I asked myself... the world of stock photography has a really huge collection of images depicting pets and animals in general, so what is the reason it sells so well and this market seems not to have a decline?

I answered myself: pets are today the most interesting market in the whole world. A great number of good photographers dedicate their experience in shooting for breeders and in finding the right way to satisfy customers with their work.

For example: I may be paid for a photosession in a kennel, and if I have some notions of Photoshop or other graphic software, I may produce a great service packet for breeders. I may use my best stud picture to publicize its pedigree or a litter sired by him... that's what I did with the following Dobermann picture:

Or, to make another example, I built a whole website with my dogs pictures and discovered, this way, my visitors spend more time in visiting my kennel website.

I myself spend a lot of my time to take my litters' shots and choose the best pictures for microstock to help other people build their websites too...

I love illustrated websites, where visitors' attention is captured by dogs of the breed they love and if they're searching for a puppy of that breed, it's easier they choose to buy a puppy from a kennel that uses, in sponsorships, huge pictures. It's publicity!

The following image I took is from a breeder that wanted to show his fawn Pinscher bitch in all her beauty, because he had a litter from her and wanted a decent shoot to sponsorize the puppies for more chances to sell.

I just put her on a chair and sat in front of her with my camera and a squeezing toy. That was the result. The breeder has sold all the puppies.

Another reason stock photography with pets as subject sells is didactical:

With this picture, you can sponsorize a training camp or a trainer, or you may simply want to educate people on different breeds or dogs activities.

There are really a lot of uses for pets stock photography... so turn your cameras on and take your chance.