This has been the hardest year I've had since 2008. It seems like people just aren't buying freelance photography anymore. Product photography has been cornered by image shops like ProductPhoto and PencilOne. Real estate photography is getting cornered by companies like OpenDoor and Door.com that are borkering massive amounts of houses now and pushing out independent Realtors that hire freelance photogs, and those services hire their own subcontractors that work for practically nothing. Wedding photography is being completely ruined by sites like The Knot that are basically just whoever pays the most to get noticed, and they rip you off massively on fees; Virtually 1/4th of a shoot's gross just goes right into their pocket when you factor in their fees to get featured/promoted and scheduled. It's getting really hard to find clients outside of that type of centralized site, since they handle so many other wedding planning things. People also seem to just be buying fewer prints in general too.

I've been noticing the pinch the last few years but this year was especially bad. If it keeps up like this I'm going to have to figure something else out. Anyone else having trouble in the market? What are you doing to stay afloat?