April Sales Updates:

Poll Tax Riots sold on FineArtAmerica

A surprisingly strong month overall given the Coronavirus pandemic with an unexpected number two in the rankings.

Just retaining their first place were Shutterstock with a decent but lower amount of downloads causing me to miss payout by just a few cents. Never mind, it will be a bumper payment next month with May already off to a good start. On Demand sales made up some 40% of my downloads as is so often the case.

A surprise second place (only just behind SS) were Redbubble with 10 product sales. I wrote last month that maybe people weren't buying art products in the current climate but April proved me wrong with T shirts, prints and sticker sales coming in every few days.

Istock took third place with a reduced download tally of 22 but a decent RPD and a bunch of Connect commissions pushing up the total.

In fourth place it was welcome back to FineArtAmerica with 4 coffee mug sales. These featured my

Coronavirus letter sold on Bigstock

images of the 1977 Rock and Roll Radio campaign march and the 1991 Poll Tax Riots. Firstly an order for two small mugs and then for the same images on two large mugs!

Alamy made fifth place with 2 modest paying downloads. Both from my B/W archives - tennis player Annabel Croft and Robert Sheldon MP (the latter I spotted in the obituary page of one of the Daily newspapers).

Adobe took sixth place with 2 downloads (one of which was a decent paying Custom use).

In seventh place were Dreamstime with just 3 downloads.

Finally we had Bigstock with 5 downloads (all sub sales as they tend to be on BS but, on the plus side, I had my first two sales of my coronavirus letter image. This is the information communication sent out by the UK Government to every household which I photographed laying on a door mat. Not especially original as I found out later - just about every stock photographer seems to have photographed that letter - so I was pleased to get some interest in mine).

Stormy seas at Cala San Vicente in Majorca

I haven't mentioned Picfair for a long time for the very good reason that I haven't had any further sales there (not since 2017). However, I did think it time to have another play with my pricing using their excellent bulk pricing change feature. I've previously tried the premium pricing of £49 per image (with no takers). Went down to £31 (the same as Alamy's Stockimo images on the site). Nothing. So I am now back to £10 (my cut) which is the price point I had my previous sales at. Worth mentioning that Picfair are currently waiving their commission which normally adds 20% to your own price. This continues until July 9 so helps make the images even better value. We'll see if anything happens. Essentially, I see Picfair as like having your own photo selling site. You upload what you want, price how you want and you can group images into albums to promote on social media. And it is free (unless you want to upgrade to a customisable store front there). Uploading is easy enough so I'll just keep going with it for now.

New uploads recently included my previously mentioned Coronavirus letter. I also returned to my 2018 trip to Majorca for some more images of a stormy sea at Cala San Vicente. Travel? You remember that? Maybe next year. Regards, David.

March Sales Updates:

Church of Santos Juanes in Valencia

A mixed month for March with my three top agencies continuing to hold up despite the horrors of the Coronavirus pandemic which is bringing so much tragedy and hardship to so many lives around the World. It goes without saying, I hope, that sales of stock photos are irrelevant in importance compared to everything else that is happening. That said, my results went like this.

First place was held by Shutterstock with a strong number of downloads. Nearly half of my monthly income came from an uplift in On Demand sales aided by a couple of modest Single sales.

Alamy took second place with 3 downloads. A substantial $$ sales of the late media tycoon Robert Maxwell and 2 very small sales of two Members of Parliament. All three were from my B/W archive collection which seems to have scored a hit at Alamy.

Istock came in third place with 37 downloads and a respectable RPD. As usual my music festival

Colonnades in the Turia river park, Valencia

images came tops here with Greek and Spanish travel images also doing well.

In the runners up section Adobe took fourth place with a single download at well above usual

subscription rate payment. I assume this is their equivalent of the On Demand sales that Shutterstock have.

Fifth place went to Bigstock with 4 downloads.

Redbubble disappointed with just a single sticker sale to give them sixth place. With everything else to worry about I guess people are not ordering art products.

In bottom eighth place were Dreamstime with just 2 subscription downloads. There is nothing more I can say about Dreamstime that I haven't already said before and I just hope they can find their way back again.

Turia river park in the heart of Valencia

Shooting in March was to have centred on a six day trip to Barcelona. I haven't been for a couple of years and had a lot planned including a day trip out by train to the mountain top monastery at Montserrat. Sadly, the night before I was due to go I took the decision to stay at home as the situation was clearly escalating. My early morning Easyjet flight did still go but by mid morning Jet 2 had cancelled all flights to Spain (even turning flights back mid air) and soon after the Government advised against all travel to the country. It was the best decision I could have made as Spain shortly went onto lockdown and my return flight was cancelled. Again, my lost trip (and money) is nothing to the losses Spain is suffering. I look forward to the time in the future when this is over and normal life can resume.

With time on my hands I turned to editing and uploading more of my Valencia images from 2019. A series of images of the Turia river park (the 9km long park was created after the River Turia was diverted away from the City following severe flooding in the fifties). I also uploaded some images of the 13th century church of Santos Juanes in central Valencia.

In the coming weeks please follow all official advice and do not put yourself or others in danger in order to take photographs. Stay safe. Regards, David.

February Sales Updates:

Sold at Alamy: 1978 animal rights demonstration

A steady (and short) month in February with a mix of highs and lows.

Still up in the usual first place were Shutterstock. No Single sales this month but a worthwhile increase in On Demand sales pushing the income up.

In a surprise second place were FineArtAmerica with first a high value print sale of Margaret Thatcher and then four separate postcard sales of the Greek island of Paxos. I have had Paxos images bought as postcards before and I am guessing these are to the same buyer.

Alamy took third place with a single good price $$ of a 1978 anti seal hunting demonstration in Trafalgar Square, London. This archive image gets used on quite a regular basis across the various sites that have it. Not bad for a fourty two year old image.

In fourth place were a disappointing Istock with just 16 downloads -less than half of what I normally

T shirt sale at Redbubble: Monarch jet landing at Skiathos

get. A low RPD didn't help matters here either. Can only hope for an improvement in March.

Also disappointing in fifth place were Redbubble with just a single product sale. In this case a T shirt of a Monarch jet coming in to land on the Greek island of Skiathos. Taken in 2012 it is a reminder that Monarch, sadly, no longer exist.

Sixth place went to Bigstock with 6 downloads. Nothing to get excited about but an improvement on recent results.

Seventh place was taken by Adobe with 2 downloads. I had some fun recently by going into my portfolio here and forming two galleries (Majorca and Halki islands). These get featured on your profile at Adobe as well as being published on an Adobe Portfolio page. Whether it helps sales in any way at all I couldn't say but the customisable Portfolio pages look good at least!

Halki island chapel, Greece

Finally, down in eighth place we had Dreamstime with just 2 downloads. 35c subscription sales at that :( With around 2.6k images on Dreamstime that really is a sorrowful result. I've said many times before that I really like DT and can only hope for a turnaround there.

Personal circumstances meant not much time for uploading recently but I did revisit my 2017 trip to the Greek island of Halki including an image of a small chapel on the seafront at Emborio. I've uploaded images of this chapel before but like this more distant view framing the chapel with trees.


Too early to judge how March will go but past experience suggests things should take an upturn from here. More next month. Regards, David.

January Sales Updates:

British power pop band The Boyfriends in London, 1978

An interesting month in January when it looked like the usual front runner was doomed to relegation until a last minute sale turned things around.

In first place were Shutterstock. Though there were a good number of downloads an almost complete lack of On Demand sales (just one) made it look like I would be struggling to even make the minimum payout. Right on cue a substantial $$ Single sale came in on the last day of the month when a buyer in Russia downloaded my 1978 image of British power pop band The Boyfriends. I saw the band play many times and knew them quite well so was able to get these exclusive posed shots.

Beaten into second place were Alamy who had led the way for most of the month with 4 downloads (the most I have had in one month so far). A good variety as well - a Shell petrol station, the Department of Health in Whitehall, an archive b/w image of Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore and, finally, a travel image of the harbour on the Greek island of Skiathos (location for one of the scenes in the film Mamma Mia). Good to see a travel image sell here.

A worthy third place went to Redbubble with 5 product sales (T shirts through to phone cases).

Alcudia marina on the Spanish island of Majorca

Istock managed fourth place with 36 downloads and a reasonable RPD this month. The Greek island of Tilos featured heavily here in my downloads probably down to the islands ongoing project to become self sufficient in power by use of solar and wind technology.

Moving down to the (much) lower levels I had Dreamstime in fifth place with just 4 downloads - all subscription sales at that.

Adobe managed sixth place with 2 downloads. Still waiting on them giving the green light to general editorial images (if they ever do).

The Palau de les Arts in Valencia

Bringing up the rear were Bigstock with 2 downloads. Never a big seller for me but a real decline for me over the last few months.


Recent uploading saw me continuing to work through my Valencia images, this time concentrating on the visually stunning Palau de les Arts at the City of Arts and Sciences. Other uploads came from my November trip to Majorca including the iconic Alcudia sign in front of the marina.


February is painfully slow so far (with one surprise exception) but, hopefully, will pick up towards the end of the month. We will see. Regards, David.

December Sales Updates:

Tony Blair - Christmas mug sales on Redbubble

A mixed month to end the year with strong performances from a couple of agents and some pretty poor ones from others.

Shutterstock took a decisive lead despite only producing one On Demand sale all month. A substantial Single Download of former Prime Minister John Major turned it around here financially.

Second place went to Redbubble with 12 product sales in the run up to Christmas. The December General Election here obviously influenced some choices with no less than three mugs featuring another former Prime Minister -Tony Blair and other products with Margaret Thatcher.

Istock took third place with 28 downloads but a really low RPD dragged down the earnings substantially. I cannot remember the last time I earned so little at Istock.

A surprise at fourth place as Mostphotos delivered a worthwhile single sale of the late media tycoon Robert Maxwell. Sales on Most are rare for me but as I am opted out of subscription sales those I do get pay at a better rate.

Fifth place went to Dreamstime with 9 downloads.

Sa Calobra road, Majorca - mug sale on FineArtAmerica

FineArtAmerica came in sixth place with 2 mug sales of actor Alan Alda and the Sa Calobra hairpin
bend road on Majorca. The latter is a famous destination challenge for cyclists so I would guess that is one cyclists Christmas present sorted.

Seventh place saw Alamy back from zero last month to just a small personal use download with single figure commission to me after they deducted their 60% commission. Still, good to at least see some action there again.

Adobe made eighth place with just 1 download. Still waiting for Illustrative Editorial to be opened up to all with, hopefully, regular editorial to follow. Who knows what 2020 will bring there?

John Major - large single sale on Shutterstock

Finally in ninth place we had Bigstock with just a single subscription sale. Again, I cannot remember such a low result from them before.


Uploading in December went on hold as I prepared to move home from my seaside Hastings where I have been for eleven happy years to the charming Kent country town of Tenterden. Finally getting everything ready and moved just a few days before Christmas. It's gradually all coming together and I'm getting everything up and running in my new home.

Wishing everyone a very happy and successful 2020! Regards, David.