From the best month to the worst

So sales on Shutterstock completely tanked this month.  Compared to January of this year, sales in February are abismal.  Didn’t even make payout this month.  The only thing that saved me this month were two sales on Fine Art America.  You can click visit the site here.  I sell a lot of prints and other products that you can display wherever you wish.

In other news my contract with my employer is finished today.  I have tomorrow off but I’m supposed to start a new contract with the same employer on Monday.  We shall see what happens.  Tomorrow I want to buy an air mattress, two sleeping bags and two pillows for the summer for the 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe.  This summer I want to do a lot of camping on the weekends in the vehicle.  We will just need to buy a cooler for the food and drinks.  Otherwise we really don’t need a tent.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately that I want to quit the I.T. field and just focus on the photography.  Starting a YouTube channel maybe.  Definitely do a podcast.  I have the equipment and the software to do it so I don’t see a reason I can’t.  I have to increase my photography sales.  I want to write on my blog as well.  Get the blog more focused on the photography and the business side of photography.  Thankfully I have tomorrow off so I can do some more work and actually concentrate on the photography aspect of my life.

Passive income from photography

I primarily sell on 3 microstock agencies that are actually worth the time.  They include:

• Shutterstock
• Pond5
• Storyblocks

Granted, I sell more photos than I do footage but when I sell footage, it makes me a lot more money. If you asked me 4 or 5 years ago if I would ever do footage, I'd tell you you're crazy.  I remember being at my favorite location to photograph animals.  I had taken the day off from work.  The light was just amazing.  At that time I was using a Canon EOS 6D and a Sigma f5-6.3 150-500MM lens.  I shot the video just to see if I could and see if it would actually sell.

I got home.  Dumped all my files onto my computer.  Edited and uploaded everything to Shutterstock and luckily it got accepted.  I believe it was a few weeks later that it actually sold.  And it has been my best selling video since.  You can view it here.

So now I only upload to the above mentioned sites and it's been great ever since.  You too can sell photos and videos as well.  Shutterstock is by far my best website where I sell my photos and videos.  You can sign up here and start today.