My microstock earnings in May were still growing (+10%), but I see a slowdown. Summer time? There are some changes in performance of my top players: Shutterstock and iStockphoto.

I spent less time in May in creating new images for microstock, but I managed to increase my average microstock portfolio from 942 to 1002 files. 86 new pictures in SS, 56 in IS, and 45 in DT.

A little milestone in my microstock photography: the 1000th download from my iStockphoto portfolio. I have 652 pictures online there after 16 months of submitting. My total earnings from iStock are $1,055.52 which makes just about $1 per sale.

I started my microstock adventure over a year ago with submitting pictures to iStockphoto.

You can find many enthusiastic articles on the web “How to make a few extra bucks from microstock photography.” It is not so difficult to sell a few pictures and make a few dollars, but to get paid any money from this business is a different story. You need to reach a certain earnings balance to receive a payment. This minimum varies between $30 and $100 in different agencies

I am celebrating a little milestone in a growth of my iStockPhoto portfolio today.

I just had my 100th picture accepted there. And, also today, I reached $50.39 earnings from iStock portfolio after 3 months on-line. So, I can expect reaching the first payment limit of $100 in a couple of months. I have more than 100 images with other microstock agencies (Fotolia, 123RF, Big Stock Photo and Lucky Oliver), but with much lower earnings. I cannot even predict when I may reach payoff limits there yet.