Welcome to my February 2026 Brutally Honest Earnings Report where I try to separate what looks good on Instagram from what actually pays the bills and covers my travel costs. Let’s get started!

Exploring Bratislava: Old vs New

Two months into 2026 and I’ve already explored two countries. January was Malta; February took me to Bratislava, Slovakia.

Three things immediately stood out about the city:

1. How compact the historic centre is;
2. How affordable everything is, I would say it’s roughly similar to Lisbon prices; and
3. How surprisingly quiet it feels especially for a capital city.

After living some 15 years in London followed by Milan and Madrid, there’s something refreshing about a smaller, calmer city. Bratislava feels almost introvert-friendly and I mean that in the best possible way. Perhaps it’s the Slavic former-soviet block leftover.

Even walking around with a massive 150–600mm Sigma lens (covered in my latest blog post, amazing quality by the way) and flying a drone, people mostly look with quiet curiosity and then carry on with their day. No drama, no confrontations, no constant background stress. For photographers just looking to get the shots and move on, that’s great.

Shooting What’s Pretty vs What Actually Sells

Bratislava is undeniably photogenic: castle views, cobblestone streets, pastel façades, the classic European postcard formula. Great for book covers but for microstock I needed to dig deeper since pretty probably won’t sell much.

This trip, I made a conscious decision to prioritise commercial viability over aesthetic temptation.

Instead of only chasing charming old-town scenes, I focused on:

• Infrastructure
• Modern architecture
• Urban development
• Frames combining old and new in a single composition

I didn’t come across any data centres during this trip, unlike Hugo, who has been famously focusing on them and already seeing strong results at Amazing Aerial. In the video below, he explains his journey and early performance there just one month in:

Well deserved, Hugo. As you may remember, he’s hyper-focused on his ambitious goal of earning $100K in 2026. Whether he ultimately reaches that number is almost beside the point, monetary targets in microstock can be misleading since agency policies change constantly and market forces remain unpredictable. What truly stands out is his consistency and work ethic. That alone makes him an inspiration to watch.

Anyway, back to my original point about shooting content that actually sells.

Modern Europe

Buyers increasingly want visual storytelling that reflects modern Europe, not just timeless tourism clichés of historic locations, imagery that is often already covered extensively (and frequently better) by local photographers who can wait for the best conditions.

What performs better commercially today is the obviously the new but I tried something a bit different to frame both the one and new in the same shots as you’ll see below with some examples from the trip:

Recap on my trip expenses

This was a relatively inexpensive trip, and based on the content captured, covering the costs should not be an issue over time. I estimate the total investment at around $700 for four days including flight, hotel, transfers from Vienna airport.

I wasn’t particularly in the mood for poker this time and only managed one short session at Banco Casino, sometimes the creative focus simply wins over the grind. I was super keen to test my 150-600mm lens to be honest.

As always, I’ll periodically track how long it takes for the produced content to fully cover the travel expenses, one of the most honest ways to evaluate whether a trip was commercially successful. This one might surprise.

Now, let’s move swiftly onto this month’s earnings report.

Monthly Earnings Breakdown

📸Image Earnings (USD)

Agency	Number of images (new images Feb)	Net Revenue Feb	Avg Return Per Download
Amazing Aerial (photos and videos)	220 (70)	11	–
Alamy	17,245 (72)	108	8.30
Arcangel (RM-exclusive)	6,154 (55)	TBD	TBD
Adobe Stock	4,911 (Negative 9)	93	0.69
DepositPhotos	8,847 (5)	15	0.50
Dreamstime	9,836 (3)	7	0.45
Freekpik	1,217 (2)	9	0.06
iStock (Jan 2026)	9,333 (15)	56	0.49
MotionArray	476 (0)	16	0.31
Robert Harding (Q3 2025 monthly average) – RM/RF exclusive	711 (0)	52	3
Shutterstock	12,830 (6)	50	0.30
Wirestock	3,066 (0)	14	N/A
Total		421

🎥Clip Earnings (USD)

Agency	Number of clips (new clips Feb)	Net Revenue for Feb	Avg Return per Download
Adobe Stock	1,599 (23)	54	7.71
Pond5	3,403 (35)	Useless	Useless
iStock (Jan 2026)	1,214 (0)	26	3.71
Shutterstock	2,756 (55)	90	45
Total		170

Grand Total: $601

Not a record-breaking month, but not catastrophic either especially since February is a short month. Also fingers crossed about Arcangel come the first of the month.

In other news, what the fuck is going on with Pond5, or should I say is not going on in terms of sales??? So far I’ve only earned $4 from them this year. Here’s my all-time earnings and it has dropped considerably…maybe due to the merger with Shutterstock.

📈Best-Sellers

A weird month all-round with some big sales on Robert Harding (of all places that I barely upload anymore), as well as some juicy clip sales at Adobe Stock and Shutterstock.

Even Alamy performed well after a few quite slow months.

Now the cherry on top would be if Arcangel gave me some book covers, guess I’ll find out on Monday.

✈️Upcoming Travel Plans

2026 is rapidly becoming my “new country every month” year which is both creatively exciting and strategically useful for portfolio diversification. Also personally rewarding. I’ve updated my travel plans as I’m considering heading to Poland in April.

Month	Location
March	Bucharest
April	Poland (?)
May	Brazil
June	Brazil (perhaps Peru as well)
July	No plans yet
August	No plans yet
September	No plans yet
October	Brazil
November	USA and Canada (cruise)
December	USA and Canada
2027	Asia

I’m a big believer in planning travel early, cheaper flights, better accommodation choices, and honestly, something motivating to look forward to between editing sessions.

Until next time!

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About Alex

I’m Alex, eccentric, based in Lisbon, and on a mission to explore every corner of the globe while capturing stock images and footage along the way.

For the past 12 years, I’ve been grinding as a travel photographer/videographer and freelance writer. Along the way I’ve also written The Brutally Honest Guide to Microstock Photography, a book packed with war stories and practical tips for anyone crazy enough to enter this business and more recently, The Brutally Honest Guide to Drone Laws in Europe.