Free
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No paid tiers found in sources
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Should I Use Alexandre Rotenberg's Brutally Honest Guide to Stock Photography & Footage?
Brutally honest tips to turn your stock photos & clips into cash
Depends
DependsWorth following free if you're entering stock photography and want numbers-backed income reports from a working contributor.
Free blog with real stock-photography earnings data — great reading for aspiring contributors, but it's not a product you buy.
Confidence: Medium
2017
Active since
Earliest reviewed posts June 2017
Monthly
Cadence
Earnings reports from 2020 through 2026
Shutterstock, Alamy, Adobe Stock
Agencies covered
Plus smaller players like Addictive Stock
Value for money
5
Free, numbers-backed content
Ease of use
4
Plain blog, dated archive
Pros
- Publishes real monthly earnings numbers, not income hype²
- Tracks agency turbulence: Shutterstock drops, Alamy commission cuts, Getty merger talk10
- Hands-on AI tests: ChatGPT agent on stock workflow, first AI image sale³
- Beginner guide since 2017; 'not a get rich quick scheme'⁹
- Free — no paywall found on any reviewed source¹
Cons
Gotchas
- mediumEarnings reflect one contributor's niche and back catalogue; your results will differ.²
- mediumMicrostock income reportedly declining industry-wide; community threads discuss Shutterstock sales drops.11
- lowFree blog: no support, refunds, or update guarantees. Nothing to 'buy' anyway.¹
- lowSite has no security page; it's a static blog, not a service.⁶
Best for
- Aspiring microstock contributors
- Hobbyists weighing agency payouts
- Readers wanting unfiltered income numbers
- Stock shooters tracking AI-era shifts
Not for
- Anyone wanting a course, software, or templates — these are just posts
- Beginners expecting guaranteed income; even the guide says 'not a get rich quick scheme'
- Buyers researching a paid product — there is nothing to purchase here
- Photographers expecting the author's architectural/London results to transfer to their niche
Pricing
Blog access
Free
- All posts and monthly earnings reports
- Agency reviews and how-to articles
- No paid tiers found in sources
Security
No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.
What users say
No independent user reviews found; the Reddit stock-photography community engages regularly with the author's earnings reports and agency commentary.
“This is not a 'get rich quick scheme', so he's included”
“Hi Reddit community, I would like to share with you my ...”
Alternatives
Compare Alexandre Rotenberg's Brutally Honest Guide to Stock Photography & Footage with each alternative.
r/stockphotography subreddit
Free community comparison of agency payouts and strategy
Microstock Groups forum
Veteran contributor forum with pooled earnings statistics
Alexandre Rotenberg's Brutally Honest Guide to Stock Photography & Footage vs Microstock Groups forumBackyard Silver (Steve Heap)
Another long-running contributor blog with real earnings data
Full analysis
Based on ~40 public sources, mostly the author's own blog and Reddit posts. No ratings, pricing, or security data exists.
Sources
- Alexandre Rotenberg's Brutally Honest Guide — homepagebrutallyhonestmicrostock.comofficial
- July 2024 Brutally Honest Earnings Reportbrutallyhonestmicrostock.comofficial
- Testing ChatGPT's New AI Agent on my Stock Photo/Video Workflowbrutallyhonestmicrostock.comofficial
- Addictive Stock – Brutally Honest Reviewbrutallyhonestmicrostock.comofficial
- New Guide for Beginners (2017)brutallyhonestmicrostock.comofficial
- Security page checkbrutallyhonestmicrostock.comsecurity
- u/BrutallyHonestMicros on Redditreddit.comreview
- 2024 Year-End Review threadreddit.comreview
- Joas Souza interview tag pagejoasphotographer.comreview
- Alamy commission cut threadreddit.comnews
- Shutterstock sales drop threadreddit.comnews
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