November Sales Updates:

Margaret Thatcher: Single download on Shutterstock

Another variable month in November with one agency going from hero to zero and another moving right up from the lower ranks.

No surprise in first place were Shutterstock. Downloads were down with not many On Demand sales but a Single sale of Margaret Thatcher (for Enhanced Download type $$) brought them to the top.

Second place went to Adobe Stock with 2 downloads with an Extended license for a speed camera sign in Folkestone pulling them up from the lower ranks.

Istock took third place with 27 downloads. Thomas Cook and Tentertainment music festival images continued to do well here.

In fourth place Dreamstime produced 5 downloads with a reasonable credit sale bumping them up the

Plaza de Toros, Valencia

list. Credit sales on DT are, sadly, infrequent but when they occur can produce decent levels of $. In this case a credit sale of former boxer Frank Bruno from my archives did the business.

Redbubble made fifth place with two product sales of army parachute display team The Tigers going to the same buyer. A sticker and a T shirt were the products in this case.

Bringing up the rear in sixth place were Bigstock with 4 downloads. They seem to have slowed down again after a few months where they looked to be picking up a bit. It's always a bit surprising that Bigstock do not do better given the marketing resources of parent company Shutterstock behind them.

Hero to zero? That was Alamy. Not a single download in November!

Extended License on Adobe: Speed camera sign in Folkestone

New uploads in November were very limited with some of the fortified Rhodes Old Town and the Plaza de Toros in Valencia amongst the few. Limited for two good reasons. Firstly I had a trip to the Spanish island of Majorca. I took a chance of some late Mediterranean sun but ended up with pouring rain and overcast skies for most of my stay. The sun did come out for one day when I went to the medieval town of Alcudia but otherwise I didn't get to shoot many new images.

Secondly, I am about to move home. I'm swapping the seaside location of Hastings for the quaint market town of Tenterden in Kent. Anybody who has experience of moving home will understand the work involved and I write this post surrounded by packing boxes (even after a massive exercise in de-cluttering!). My December updates will be the first from Tenterden so until then....Regards, David.

October Sales Updates:

City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia

A positive month in October overall with a strong showing from one agency and a slightly lacklustre one from another.

Straight into first place were Alamy with 2 downloads. Yet again, these were substantial $$ sales of my archive B/W images (Journalist Eve Pollard and Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott). These sales alone would have put Alamy at the top but a worthwhile DACS payment also came in to push the earnings even higher. I am certainly feeling vindicated for spending a lot of time getting my back catalogue loaded up to Alamy though I am still hoping for more sales from my recent travel images.

Reduced to second place were Shutterstock. Overall, the number of downloads was good but with only two On Demand sales and two small Single downloads the earnings were down. It's those On Demands that normally push up the totals often to 50% of my earnings.

Istock took third place with 36 downloads and a reasonable RPD (pushed up by one image of the

Shoot it then drink it: lager above Valencia

Soundwaves Community Choir which netted me over $9 in commission). Reviews at Istock remain fast for Editorial but Commercial images seem to be running at several days at the moment.

Fourth place went to my favourite print site Redbubble with 4 product sales (T shirt, phone case, sticker and a zipper pouch featuring the University of Barcelona -quite probably for somebody attending there). I'm looking forward to seeing if the Christmas rush I saw here last year repeats itself.

Down at the lower end in fifth place Bigstock saw 6 downloads with Seville and Barcelona images selling.

Church of the Virgin of The Burgh, Rhodes

Dreamstime managed sixth place with just 4 downloads. All subscriptions at that.

Finally in seventh place were Adobe with just a single subscription download.

Recent uploading saw me continuing with Valencia images including more of the stunning City of Arts and Sciences and for something different my glass of lager with the Valencia skyline in the background. My Rhodes and Tilos trip also saw a number of uploads including the medieval Church of the Virgin of The Burgh in Rhodes Old Town. Recent shooting should have seen a whole stack of new images from the Spanish island of Majorca. Sadly, the weather was against me and heavy rain saw me only shooting for one day out of six. That will probably teach me to book so late in the year but I had hoped for some late season sun which, mainly, didn't happen. Too early to judge November yet but there are already a few highlights. More next month. Regards, David.

September Sales Updates:

Science Museum, Valencia

A stable month in September with various signs of life and a flurry of sales created by the national news.

Shutterstock were in first place. A worthwhile Single sale boosted things at the start of the month and the sad news of the Thomas Cook travel company going into administration led to a whole bunch of sales of my signage outside the Hastings branch. The fact that these were taken in 2009 and featured their old logo didn't seem to deter buyers -such is the nature of stock imagery. Pleased to hear in the last few days that the chain of UK stores has been bought by Hays Travel and that many former employees will be offered jobs by the new owners.

Second place went to Istock with 37 downloads. An improved RPD this month brought the earnings up. My Thomas Cook images also featured here.

Alamy took third place with 2 downloads once again from my archive material. Conservative party leader Michael Howard and Mirror newspapers owner Robert Maxwell delivering sales here.

Fourth place went to Redbubble with 3 product sales. This month two T shirts and a laptop sleeve

The Umbracle sculpture gardens, Valencia

(the latter with my image of Barcelona University).

Fifth place went to Dreamstime with an improved 10 downloads. Thomas Cook again plus several of my archive celebrity images.

Adobe perked up with 4 downloads to make sixth place. Just waiting for Illustrative Editorial to be rolled out to bronze level now (and then, hopefully, general editorial).

Eighth place went to Bigstock with just 4 downloads (three of which were -guess what).

Thomas Cook branch -selling well in September

I posted in May how Yaymicro had added on Depositphotos as a new partner and automatically signed me into the deal. I had another surprise recently when I spotted a whole bunch of new partners including the dubious sounding Darius at Yay. I opted out of these right away but decided there was really only one sure way to stop this keep happening so deleted all my K2.4 images. One by one -several clicks per deletion. It took a long time but at least they are now gone. It's a shame because Yay started off with a lot of hope and were getting reasonable sales up until 2013 when it all went downhill.

New uploads continued with my Valencia images -in particular the futuristic buildings of the City of Arts and Sciences. Accepted everywhere except by Shutterstock who say they cannot take any images of these buildings for commercial OR editorial use. Why their policy is different to everyone else I have no idea but it's disappointing to not be able to upload to my top selling agancy. A fairly slow start to October so far but more next month. Regards, David.

August Sales Updates:

Poll Tax Riots -sold on Alamy

Not a bad month in August considering it is the height of the annual Summer Slowdown but as usual the best agencies did the business and the others did what they do as well.

First up we had Shutterstock with a respectable number of downloads pushed up by (as mentioned previously) an Enhanced Download on the first day of the month. This was, yet again, from my local Tentertainment music festival images which continue to sell pretty much every day.

Istock took second place with 45 downloads. A lower RPD (rate per download) dragged the dollars down here but Istock continues to be a worthwhile agency notwithstanding their paltry 15% commission rate and a few very low paying sales each month. Luckily the higher paying sales continue to dominate here.

Alamy made third place with a single sale for a modest $$ figure. Once again this was from my old B/W archive images -in this case the 1991 Poll Tax Riots in London.

Fourth place went to Redbubble with two product sales. I really like the way this site continues to tick away each month.

Fishing boats on Aegina island, Greece

Dreamstime made fifth place with just 2 downloads. Luckily one of those was a higher paying credit sale which pulled them up my rankings.

Sixth place went to Bigstock with 6 downloads. As I have said many times, Bigstock takes no effort
on my part as my Shutterstock images get mirrored automatically (via the now closed Bridge to Bigstock scheme) so I am happy to collect the small amounts they rack up each month.

Seventh place went to FineArtAmerica with the sale of a coffee mug featuring one of my airshow images. Nice to see something from them again.

City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia

Bringing up the rear in eighth place were Adobe with 2 downloads. Given my tiny portfolio there  (just over 300) I'm always quite surprised to get anything much from them. Adobe are now, finally, taking a very limited approach to Editorial with so called Illustrative Editorial being accepted. Still no general editorial (e.g. street scenes, parades, celebrities -anything with unreleased  people in) allowed. Whether that will follow later they haven't said but I have my doubts. Even the Illustrative Editorial is currently limited to high level contributors though I do expect that to be opened up in due course.

Uploading in August included backtracking to my 2017 trips to Aegina island in Greece and the Spanish island of Majorca. I do like to revisit old sets from time to time as, being human, I often move on to my latest images before fully working the older ones.

The end of August saw me making my first ever trip to the Spanish City of Valencia. The photographic highlight of Valencia was the stunning City of Arts and Sciences with a bunch of modern architecture on display. I made two visits during my time there to take advantage of different light and perspectives. More on Valencia next month no doubt. Regards, David.

***Edited on Oct 13 to add in the FineArtAmerica sale***

July Sales Updates:

Puente del Alamillo in Seville

Highs and lows in July as we enter the Summer Slowdown period with four agencies making a good contribution and three others barely making a showing.

Starting at the top Shutterstock continued to hold their first place with a good number of subscription sales, plenty of On Demand sales and three modest Single sales. I had a flurry of sales of Dutch actor Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner) who, sadly, died recently. Jumping ahead,  SS got off to a great start in August with an Enhanced Download on the first day of the month.

Alamy took second place with 2 downloads (both from my B/W political archives). These old images seem to have done especially well on Alamy rather than my much bigger library of travel images which I had expected to get more interest.

Third place went to Redbubble with 3 product sales ( T shirt, greetings card, phone case). Redbubble

Blue Star 2 ferry boat in Rhodes

have a useful and time saving new Copy facility for when you have a number of images of the same subject. Just go to Manage Portfolio and select Copy on the image you want to replicate. Then click on Replace Image to drop in your new image. All the information and settings for the various products are carried over to the new image (this doesn't effect your original upload in any way). Do check that all the products look how you want them and make any adjustments before hitting Save. This is a real time saver for batch uploads.

Rutger Hauer, actor

In fourth place were Istock with 37 downloads. A lower RPD this month pulled them down in earnings and in my ranking. Reviews continue to be fast at Istock with many getting accepted within an hour or two of submission -editorial especially.

Dropping down to the also rans we had Bigstock in fifth place with 6 downloads. Three of these were of Margaret Thatcher - a subject that just keeps on selling in my portfolio.

Sixth place went to Dreamstime with just 3 downloads. Two subscription sales and a small credit sale. This on a portfolio that matches my Shutterstock one. Such a difference in sales.

Finally in seventh place were Adobe with just a single subscription sale.

Recent uploads spanned my trips to Seville and Rhodes/Tilos with a set of the Alamillo suspension bridge in Seville and the Blue Star ferry boat Blue Star 2 moored at Rhodes.The impressive looking bridge was opened in 1992 for the Universal Exposition.

August should really see the Slowdown cutting in so more details next month. Regards, David.

June Sales Updates:

LMS Class 5 steam locomotive passes St. Leonards

A stable month in June which saw limited uploads due to a trip to Greece but plenty of new photographs.

Way out in front in first place were Shutterstock with a strong number of subscription sales but slightly less On Demand sales than normal. A couple of Single sales boosted things up.

Second place went to Redbubble with 4 product sales (T shirts and a phone cover). They seem to be having a problem at present with the social media sharing buttons missing from the various products. A look at their help centre confirmed they are aware of this and looking for a fix.

Third place (and only just beaten by Redbubble) went to Istock with 39 downloads. Travel images

Solar energy array on Tilos island, Greece

seem to do especially well here though my Tentertainment music festival images always have a strong showing as well. It's always interesting to see an event in a small Kent town get downloaded from countries all over the World as a generic outdoors/summer/festival/event image.

Dreamstime made fourth place with 5 downloads. One of these was a higher paying credit sale of Professor Stephen Hawking which pushed them up the rankings.

Fifth place went to Alamy with a single modest sale. This was a 1978 image of Danny Kustow -guitarist in the Tom Robinson Band. Sadly, Danny died earlier this year and this probably prompted the sale. One of the things about having old archive images in your portfolio is that it is inevitable that, in the course of time, these sort of uses will come up.

Danny Kustow of the Tom Robinson Band

Bringing up the rear in sixth place (nothing from Adobe this month) were Bigstock with just 2 downloads. That's the least I have had from them in a long time (not that are ever a big seller for me).

New shooting in June was mainly round a two week return trip to the Greek island of Tilos (went there last year  as well). I especially wanted to get  more images of their innovative energy project which aims to make the island self sufficient in power via a solar farm and a (very large) wind turbine. On the way out I had a couple of days in Rhodes -concentrating on the historic walled Old Town area.


Back home (literally the next day) I had the chance to photograph a steam locomotive excursion (London to Hastings) on its return journey through St.Leonards Warrior Square station. I was pleased to see how many people turned out to watch this go through. If you are interested in this type of photography you can look on the internet for the various steam excursion operators where they provide details and timings of upcoming trips.


Early sales for July are looking encouraging but, of course, we are now heading into the famous Summer Slowdown period so we'll see. Regards, David.

May Sales Updates:

Skywalk on the Metropol Parasol, Seville

A strong month in May for my bigger agencies and the usual low level results from the weaker ones. May also saw me give up on one agency and delete my portfolio and a routine check on another past agent threw up an unpleasant surprise.

Way out in front in first place were Shutterstock with a good crop of On Demand sales and two double digit Single Downloads boosting the income. Pleased to see editorial review times seem to have speeded up here -to within 24hrs of upload.

Second place was taken by Alamy with 2 downloads. The best one ( a television use of one of my archive Poll Tax Riots images) made a great illustration of their cut to 40% commission for non exclusive images. From a $68 sale they got $41 and I got $27. The difference really becomes obvious on larger sales. That said, I have no plans to make my images exclusive at this time as I prefer the spread of sales across different agencies.

In a strong third place were Istock with an impressive 47 downloads and an improved RPD (helped by a sale via Getty Images).

Redbubble took fourth place with 3 product sales ( two prints and a T shirt). I continue to be impressed by Redbubble and their regular sales.

Fifth place saw Bigstock with 6 downloads. I doubt they are ever going to take off as a high selling agency but the few dollars each month gradually add up.

Dreamstime managed sixth place with 7 downloads -pretty much all subscription sales.

Seventh place saw another sale on FineArtAmerica, this time just a greeting card (of the Houses of

Las Setas de Sevilla (Metropol Parasol)

Parliament). Not much but at least some signs of life there after my several years drought.

Eighth place went to Adobe with just a single download. Maybe one day they will start taking editorial, maybe not.

I finally gave up on Canstockphoto and manually deleted my small 350 odd portfolio and closed my account. They get to keep the $16 I earned over many years but I am happy just to forget about them. Low sales are one thing but picky, silly rejections (property release wanted for public landmarks and weird key word rules that didn't allow the keywords Hastings and Pier for an image of -guess what?)just didn't make them worth my time.

Puenta de la Barqueta, Seville

Meanwhile, over at Yay Micro I stopped uploading some years ago and requested them to close my account. They ignored that but, never mind, I opted out of all sales there including their own Yay Images site. So, no problem then? Sadly not - a routine check showed that they have added Deposit Photos as a partner site and automatically opted me in meaning all my (non editorial) images are now on an agency that I have never wished to sell through. I've opted out of that now as well and made another request for Yay to close my account -so far ignored. Anyone with images still at Yay should make a regular check of their partner list to make sure your images aren't being sent somewhere you don't want them. To be fair, they do at least offer an opt out but I was surprised that they had added a new partner and just included me in that.

Recent uploads have concentrated on my April trip to Seville including the impressive Barqueta bridge (Puente de la Barqueta) and the fabulous Metropol Parasol - more commonly known as Las Setas de Sevilla (Mushrooms of Seville). This was one of the highlights of my trip both for the overall view of the structure but especially for the walkway on the roof which offers great views over the City. I am sure I will be making a return trip to Seville in the future but meanwhile have a Greek island trip on the horizon - bring on the Retsina! Regards, David.

April Sales Updates:

The medieval Torre del Oro in Seville

A varied month in April with a range of good and less good results.

Back up in first place were a much improved Shutterstock. Only one tiny Single download this month but a good number of On Demand sales - making up over half of my income. Editorial reviews at SS have slowed of late mostly taking 2-3 days. I remember the days when editorials would get approved within minutes of uploading.

Second place went to Redbubble with 5 product sales. These were varied with a pillow, mug, phone case, sticker and baby clothes being purchased. The upload interface at Redbubble has been updated with caption and keyword information now coming first before the individual product templates. I must say I prefer getting these done first before getting into slightly the tedious process of setting up the products.In a less welcome change there no longer seems to be an easy share (to Twitter etc) button next to some products - in particular framed prints. Maybe I just haven't looked hard enough yet! I'd ask about that on their forum -if they hadn't scrapped that last year (with no sign yet of the promised return in 2019).

Istock took third place with 34 downloads. In contrast to Shutterstock editorial reviews are flying

Kayaking action on the Guadalquivir river in Seville

through here, usually within an hour or two of upload. Of course, it is sales not review times that are important but I do like see them going through promptly.

In fourth place was a low key return for Alamy with a single figure presentation sale of the Poll Tax Riots of 1991. Good to see these archive images proving popular but a bigger paying sale would have been nice. My zoom activity has gone up of late so, hopefully, there are some more sales in the pipeline.

Bigstock came in fifth place with 8 downloads. Good to see two downloads of my University of Barcelona image. I had hoped that somebody would find that useful.

Dreamstime managed sixth place with just 4 subscription downloads so a far from good result from them.

Debenhams department store In Ashford, Kent

Bringing up the rear were Adobe with 2 downloads but, as I always say, my port there is only just over 300 images. Whether or not editorial submissions will ever be allowed for normal contributors I still don't know. There have been hints that is coming but still nothing has been forthcoming. I may be being simplistic but wouldn't this just require two things? First a bit of code allowing us to mark uploads as Editorial Use Only and, secondly, telling their reviewers not to reject those images for unreleased people/trademarks etc. Could be up and running by tonight if they wanted it!

Recent uploads mainly concentrated on my April images from Seville. The tourist attraction of the medieval Torre del Oro and some "bonus" images of people kayaking on the Guadalquivir river. It's worth looking out for extra shots such as those in addition to the obvious landmarks in the guide books. My port is lacking in sport and action images so those are useful to have. Closer to home the Debenhams department store chain announced 22 store were to be closed next year. One of those is the Ashford store where I used to live and I got an old image of that onto all my sites (not sure why I never uploaded it before, but it's there now). Still only May 1, so everything to play for this month. Regards, David.

March Sales Updates:

Plaza de Espana -spectacular building in Seville

Far from a stellar month in March as even my usual number one agency failed to hit payout and several others produced no sales at all.

In first place were Shutterstock with a good number of downloads - but few On demand sales and no Single downloads conspired to drag down the earnings to just a few cents short of payout level. It's not often this happens but at least I can look forward to a bumper payout next month.

Istock took second place with 21 downloads but a low RPD (rate per download) dragged down the earnings.

Third place was for Dreamstime with just 4 downloads. All subscription sales but with two of them at the higher $2 sub level. In a normal month DT would have been lucky to get third ranking on those sales.

Fourth place went to Bigstock with 6 downloads.

Fifth and final place went to Redbubble with just a single sale - a sticker of the Greek flag keeping

Fishing at Piraeus port in Athens

them in the rankings.

Notable absentees in March with no sales at all were Alamy, Adobe and FineArtAmerica (my recent revival of sales hitting the buffers there). Alamy was, of course, the especial disappointment.

No disguising this was a poor month but stock is a long game and needs to be viewed over a much longer period than just a few weeks. My portfolios continue to grow and new subjects added so one bad month needn't be of concern.

New uploads in March saw a return to my 2016 trip to Athens with a series of temples at the World famous Acropolis as well images from Piraeus port (the biggest passenger port in Europe and the second biggest in the World so my research turned up - a useful fact for editorial captions).

Historic Acropolis site in Athens

New shooting saw my first ever visit to the Spanish city of Seville at the end of March. Lots to photograph here in this old, traditional City. Highlights of my visit included the Plaza de Espana (built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929). A spectacular semi circular building with huge public space in front. A moat with rowing boats just added to the photographic interest.  More modern, but equally impressive was the Metropol Parasol (Las Setas de Sevilla) - a 2011 wooden construction resembling giant mushrooms. A walkway on the top affords fantastic views over the City. I'm looking forward to working on my Seville images in the coming months so expect to see more in future posts. Hopefully, April results will see some good improvements. Regards, David.

February Sales Updates:

From photo to watercolour art -Cala Carbo in Majorca

A strong month in February with a surprise at the top and a new direction in my images as I started uploading some "illustrations".

Straight to first place (again)were FineArtAmerica with three sales. A large framed canvas print and two separate T shirt sales. It's starting to look that after my long drought there sales are starting to come in again.

Relegated to second place were Shutterstock with a strong performance in subscription sales with one or more buyers buying a large batch of Greek island images. On Demand and Single sales played a smaller part this month.

Redbubble were in third place with four product sales ranging from stickers to a photographic print.

Fourth place saw Istock with just 28 downloads. Far from their best here.

Fifth place went to a slightly perked up Dreamstime with 7 downloads. Far from the glory days but better than some recent months. A credit sale of footballer George Best helped push up the income here.

In sixth place Alamy disappointed with just one sale (another of my archive politician images). A low

Crusader Knights castle on Halki island, Greece

two figure sale which became my first one at the new reduced 40% commission rate bringing my cut to single figures. That said, that was still higher than most microstock sales produce.

Bigstock took seventh place with 13 downloads. These were mainly all sub sales so dropped them down the income rankings.

Bringing up the rear in eighth place were Adobe Stock (formerly listed here as Fotolia) with 2 downloads. With the Fotolia site now closed to new uploads I have had to transition to Adobe. A few issues initially as I got used to it but I think I now have the grasp of it. The main issue was their auto keyword suggestion which I thought I had eliminated but managed to end up with Greek island images tagged as Jordan and Turkey! Thankfully you can edit images after acceptance so I was able to remove those. I now remember to click Remove Keywords to take out the auto suggestions.

Beach launched fishing boats at Dungeness, Kent

As for those illustrations, a post in Steve Heap's excellent blog Backyard Silver put me on to the Jixipix Watercolour Studio software. This worked out at about £28 (UK price) and is an application that allows you to import a photo and render it in the style of a watercolour painting. There are a number of templates to choose from and various sliders for fine tuning the results. I was mainly thinking of art sites as the market for these but have had some success (as in getting accepted) uploading them to micro sites under the illustrations category. Uploading as photographs just got rejections for overfiltered etc. Whether or not any of these will sell I have no idea but for a fairly low investment I thought it worth trying! I will report back on that in the future. One thing to say about the software is it either works with an image or it doesn't. Some attempts just looked awful and were abandoned. The skill (such as there is) seems to be choosing the right images to convert.

Other recent uploads included the fishing boats on Dungeness beach in Kent. Like my home town of Hastings there is no harbour at Dungeness and the boats are launched from the beach. Another set were images of the medieval Crusader Knights castle on the Greek island of Halki. I've photographed this a number of times over the years but can never resist capturing this slice of history.
Now to see what March will bring. Kind regards, David.

January Sales Updates:

Mark Barty-King, Bantam Press publisher

A lively month in January with an unexpected winner in first place and, sadly, a not so unexpected taker for bottom place.

Straight in to first place were FineArtAmerica with a large print sale of Thin Lizzy leader Phil Lynott. This follows on from my couple of sales in November after a void of nearly three years of no sales at all. Not sure why this sudden activity is happening but long may it continue!

Alamy took second place with three sales. Two from my B/W archives and a landscape image from my trip to the Greek island of Tilos last year. Alamy is certainly starting to repay my time in uploading my back catalogue to them -even if commission for non-exlusive images will shortly drop to 40%.

In third place were normal frontrunners Shutterstock. About 40% of my total income this month was from On Demand sales but with no Single downloads at all this time.

Fourth place went to Istock with a slow 28 downloads but a much improved RPD (rate per download) over December.

At the lower end were Bigstock in fifth place with 6 downloads.

Sixth place went to Redbubble with a single product sale (a mug featuring former Prime Minister

Megalo Chorio, Tilos island

Tony Blair).

Just behind in seventh place were Fotolia/Adobe with 3 downloads. Uploading via the Fotolia site will end soon so the time is coming for me to get the hang of the Adobe site.

Sadly, in eighth and final place were Dreamstime with just two $0.35 subscription sales. I suppose I could claim that as a 100% increase on December when I had just the one sale but it's still a pretty dismal picture at DT. Maybe 2019 can see a turn around for this likeable and contributor friendly agency.

Sacred Heart temple, Barcelona

Recent uploading saw some images of the Temple of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the summit of Mount Tibidabo in Barcelona. I also uploaded a new image of a Bougainvillea filled street in Megalo Chorio on Tilos island. Turning my hand back to scanning I uploaded an archive image of book publisher Mark Barty-King. As head of Bantam Press it was he who decided on the UK publication of Professor Stephen Hawking's book A Brief History of Time. This was taken at a press conference marking the success of the book. Success didn't follow through to my image which got rejected (twice) at Shutterstock for "film grain". I suspect that the days of SS accepting these old archive images may be in the past so I'm glad I got all my main images in some years ago! Never mind, it's on Alamy and elsewhere.

Too early to make any predictions for February so we'll see how the month pans out. Regards, David.

December sales Updates:

Dunsfold aerodrome Boeing 747

A mixed month in December with one great result from one site and a deeply disappointing one from another.

First up in lead place were Redbubble with a hefty 11 product sales and my Best Month Ever there. All manner of goods were purchased and, no doubt, the majority intended as personalised gifts for Christmas. I didn't get anything like this last year so it is good to see some progress made. Sadly, this festive spurt didn't carry over to Fine Art America where I received no further sales after my two in November reported last month.

Pushed to second place were Shutterstock with a fairly slow month overall. Obviously, unlike Redbubble, the holiday season took its toll here with many people on holiday during the final couple of weeks.

Third place was taken by Alamy with just a single sale but at well above microstock rates. This was another of my archive B/W images -this time of Professor Stephen Hawking.

Istock were in fourth place with 34 downloads. A reduced rate per download from last month dragged my income down here this month and I just missed crossing the payout threshold.

Fifth place went to Bigstock with 6 downloads. To be honest, if my images didn't go there automatically courtesy of the (now closed) Bridge to Bigstock I probably wouldn't bother with them. That said, it does gradually build up and I like to leave my earnings way beyond the $30 payout level to make it a decent amount when I do (eventually) cash out.

Sixth place went to Fotolia/Adobe with 5 downloads. I noticed that sales emails now come from Adobe with actual £ amounts shown (rather than the credits shown by Fotolia). A reminder that from

Douglas C-41 touching down at Dunsfold

February all uploading will have to be done at the Adobe portal. That's a new one for me to learn then!

Canstock reminded me of their existence with a single sale to make seventh place. I haven't uploaded there for nearly a year so have no great expectations. I will probably just keep my small portfolio there in case it does one day reach a payout. It's become a site that I now just check into now and again to see if there's been any action.

Finally on the subject of action (or lack of it) we have eighth place taken by Dreamstime with just a single $0.35 subscription sale. Probaly my worst month ever there (even my first month there with only a few files on sale produced more). Now, approaching 2.5k images, I get just one sale? It almost feels like I am being punished for my exceptionally good months a while back. I've said it before, I really like Dreamstime and the people there so I hope they can improve things in 2019. To make matters worse that one sale was on December 4 and not a single sale since :(

Having fun on the beach in Barcelona

Recent uploading saw me mopping up some outstanding images from the Dunsfold airshow back in 2014 including a WW2 Douglas C-41 coming into land and a Boeing 747. This is a retired British Airways airliner which is now used for film and television work. Viewers of the BBC motoring show Top Gear will recognise this aircraft as it quite often appears in the background during filming. More timely, were some beach images from my 2018 trip to Barcelona.

January is off to a slow start but, hopefully, will pick up as people are getting back to normality after the holidays. regards, David.