Most US-based photographers selling stock photos are not, in fact, full-time stock photographers, but there are US-based full-time professional photographers wh

Most US-based photographers selling stock photos are not, in fact, full-time stock photographers, but there are US-based full-time professional photographers who do some stock photography (either with photos shot for stock's sake, or sometimes with surplus photos from other photo shoots, as permitted by the specifics of the shoot). High-quality cameras are expensive, and the relatively low returns on stock photos aren't usually the best use of that capital. More full-time stock photographers are from places like eastern Europe, where the cost of living is lower.