Story 2112: Surprising Trends In Photographer Earnings Published: 2/2/2009   There are countless stories about what best-selling stock photographers earn. However, the earnings of photographers a little farther down the food chain are more germane. It is useful to consider the likely earnings of the 50 most successful contributors to Getty Images’ creative collections (rights-managed and royalty-free) and compare these figures with iStockphoto’s 50 most successful photographers, paying particular attention to the probable earnings of the 50th photographer on the list.