Frankly speaking this is a tough question. So no one has ventured to answer this.
In the days when we were shooting in slides, the number of photographers were less. Stock agencies were few and they were rigid in checking the quality of submissions and only accepting slides that used to meet their criteria. In case, a client wanted a particular image, and the stock agency used to submit a bunch of images for approval of the client and somehow your image was one of those that the client liked, then it used to get licensed. The stock agency normally keeps 50% and give the rest 50% to you.
With the advent of digital, the number of people clicking images have increased. Sharing it becomes easier. No need to duplicate your slides etc etc. So there is more competition to license your images. Professionals need to make money to make a living. Amateurs don't need to. Most of the people are happy to see their image appear in a newspaper, magazine, coffee table books etc so they are happy to give it for free. When you give it for free, it is natural that they won't like to pay to other professionals. This trend has continued and has become worse. So making money from stock has become difficult.
There are micro stock agencies, who give you a dollar or so for each image licensed. A dollar means about 50 rupees. Less than the cost of a coffee that you drink in a cafe coffee day or a Barista or some other place. So this is not going to give any significant revenue.
The best is if you can get your images accepted for calendars etc. You can make some money. Else, the amount of fuel you will spend in driving down to your nearest bank will be more than the amount written in the cheque (assuming you too drive a fuel guzzling SUV like me).
So it is a hard life if the primary source of revenue is from wildlife photography. That is the reason why you see there is a mad rush by photographers to organise tours, and workshops etc. That is why you find the so called reputed wildlife photographers trying to do cloning without mentioning it and getting caught.
I do get requests for images. I try to see if any member has an image matching the requirement. However, since many members here clone their images I can't put my reputation in the line of fire by referring them. That is the only reason for me not to offer a facility to members to have dedicated image galleries.
Good luck for your monetizing attempts.
Sabyasachi
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Crisp,Nice and makes a lot of sense.A must read for all aspiring to make a Living out of Wildlife photography.
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