Two thirds (175) of the respondents to the Selling Stock income survey earned some of their freelance photographic revenue from sources other than stock licensing. Close to half (44%, or $16,052,733) of the gross income reported came other photography and related services.
| SOURCES OF FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHY INCOME |
| Service |
Number of respondents |
Gross income |
Net income |
Net stock income |
Gross average |
Stock average |
| Stock licensing |
216 |
31,497,092 |
19,714,829 |
20,284,081 |
145,820 |
93,908 |
| Corporate |
77 |
9,114,885 |
5,339,586 |
2,443,647 |
118,375 |
31,736 |
| Advertising and brochures |
80 |
12,804,908 |
7,073,482 |
3,704,130 |
160,061 |
46,302 |
| Magazine editorial |
81 |
9,626,692 |
5,468,091 |
3,478,922 |
118,848 |
42,950 |
| Newspaper editorial |
15 |
709,000 |
465,500 |
264,940 |
47,267 |
17,663 |
| Architectural |
24 |
3,373,400 |
1,756,862 |
451,376 |
140,558 |
18,807 |
| Event |
27 |
1,837,400 |
945,750 |
328,281 |
68,052 |
12,159 |
| Wedding and portrait |
24 |
2,333,700 |
1,502,100 |
298,035 |
97,238 |
12,418 |
| Footage |
9 |
2,197,870 |
1,497,365 |
1,656,158 |
244,208 |
184,018 |
| Other |
65 |
6,841,425 |
3,619,071 |
3,427,244 |
105,253 |
52,727 |
Stock shooters who also did corporate, ad or brochure assignment work earned about as much from these activities as they did from stock (net income minus net stock). However, their average income from stock was much lower than the overall average for stock shooters (net stock divided by number in the group).
Those who did newspaper editorial, event or wedding and portrait work in addition stock averaged very low returns from the stock side of their business and lower overall from their businesses in general.
The average stock earnings of those doing architectural work were low, but their gross income average was very good.
While there were only nine respondents who produced footage, their average gross income was double that of still shooters. In most cases, footage was not their sole source of photography income, but it certainly helped when coupled with income from other sources.