Back in the Seventies and Eighties I founded and ran several Fleet Street photo agencies specialising in stock images of celebrities from pop stars to politicians. These were syndicated to the National and International press and Television. These days I am active in the Microstock world and this blog charts my journey as well as, hopefully, providing inspiration and ideas to others. Image buyers should also find this blog useful with links to my portfolios and regular updates on new uploads. Unless otherwise stated all images are my copyright and may not be reproduced or copied. Comments are very welcome but will be reviewed before publication. Enjoy your visit. Regards, David.

Wednesday 12 October 2022

September Sales Updates:

 

John Major - good sale at Shutterstock
A steady month in September with an especially strong showing from Shutterstock.

First place (as suggested above) went to Shutterstock. Two $$ downloads really helped here with a Single download of anti pornography campaigner Mary Whitehouse - a 1989 archive shot and an Enhanced Download (remember those?) of former Prime Minister John Major.

Second place was taken by Istock with 31 downloads and a reasonable RPD overall. The Greek island of Tilos featured well this month with a variety of images sold.

Alamy took third place with 3 modest priced downloads. These were all from my B/W archival images. Though not showing as sales yet the month started well with my 1989 images of Charles Wilson (former newspaper editor) being used in the Telegraph, Guardian, Racing Post and Independent. Should see those coming up in the next few weeks when they do their reporting of usages.

Fourth place went to Redbubble with 2 product sales (a sticker and a greeting card). I am hoping for the

Margaret Thatcher - as seen on Channel 4
usual upturn in sales here as Christmas (sorry to mention it!) gets nearer. Meanwhile, they have a number of new products in their range especially in the pet category such as dog/cat feeding mats, bowls and bandanas. All ideal for the pet lover in your life.

Adobe took fifth place with 7 downloads. Again my electric vehicle charging point sign featured.

Sixth place was taken by Pond 5 with a single download of Margaret Thatcher. My archive images seem to have gone down well here though certainly not with the frequency as elsewhere.

Dreamstime managed seventh place with 7 downloads (virtually all editorial images).

Finally, in eighth place were Bigstock with just 2 downloads. 

Sunday Sport launch issue - new upload

The month saw me scanning and uploading some more archive images including the old Ministry of Agriculture building in London and the masthead of the very first issue of tabloid newspaper Sunday Sport (which launched in 1986). I've actually got a few first/last issues of various newspapers so I will give some more a try.

There was a nice surprise when watching the new Channel 4 (UK) series Make Me Prime Minister where members of the public compete to come out on top and be the next (fictional) PM. The set for this is a mock up of 10 Downing Street complete with portraits in the corridor of (real) previous PMs. There's my images of Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. These were all sold on a custom license on Pond 5 back in June. They also bought an image of Ted Heath but that hasn't appeared yet!

October can be a good month for sales but has started off slowly so far so it remains to be seen how it goes overall. Regards, David.