Farewell to PictureNation:

A sad day here as I have just received my final payment from PictureNation and my account is now closed. I did search for a few of my images but my over 2000 image port has gone.

I said it all when I first posted about them closing down, so I won't repeat it all again.

All the best for the future to Jane-Louise, her team and all the contributors. Regards, David.

New Greek Islands blog launched:

Delighted to report that I today launched my Greek Islands blog with my first posting about the island of Alonissos.

My Small Greek Islands will present a personal (and biased) view of the small Greek islands I have visited and photographed.

As well as providing information and ideas on the islands I hope it will also act as a showcase for my stock images.

It is a long time since I set this blog up and I struggled to get the new one looking how I wanted. One problem proved to be the "About Me" section. I found you cannot vary this across different blogs so I had to make it more generic to fit both. More detailed information about my photographic background has moved to a box under the ShootingStock header.

Now I just have to write about the other islands...... Regards, David.

Here's the link: http://mysmallgreekislands.blogspot.co.uk

July sales updates:

Again, not the big summer slump I might have expected in July.
Out front, as ever was Shutterstock with 133 downloads ($95.68). An Enhanced Download of Margaret Thatcher ($28) on July 31 pushing me over the payout limit once again - that was a nice last minute surprise.

Dreamstime did well again with 13 downloads ($18.36).


Istock produced 15 downloads ($11.87) plus 14 PP sales (for May and June) netting $3.92. The recent changes to pricing took a toll here with a number of my former Photo+ images selling for much lower rates in the Main collection. It might well have been a BME here but for that. Hopefully, some of my better selling images will eventually move up into the higher priced Signature collection.

123rf saw 10 downloads ($5.83). Their low pricing and reduced commission showing in the $ earnings.

Bigstock saw some activity with 8 downloads ($3.04). These were all $0.38 subs payments. That's a bit concerning as the six month period for receiving that amount (for Bridge to Bigstock contributors) is coming to an end soon. Looks like I'll be down to low 123rf type commissions soon.

Fotolia saw 6 downloads (2.45 credits).

Yaymicro continued to dissapoint with another month of zero sales. I had usually seen some monthly activity there either from direct sales or their myriad of partners but things stopped dead on April 28. It may well be that there have been partner sales not yet reported but three zero months is rather concerning. On the subject of Yay, I am still waiting to see my (non editorial) images appear on Alamy. I had high hopes for this partner deal but so far none of my images appear to have arrived there. I did query this and was told they were going over in batches and that it was a complex business (avoiding duplicates etc). I thought they were just going to flick an API switch and mirror the Yay library there -but it seems not.

A reminder about Picturenation - only sixteen days until they close the site. If you have any images there do check for any sales and request payout via the contact link on the site (any amount).

Uploading in July saw a set of images of a Lancaster bomber at the 2012 Eastbourne airshow (Airbourne) as well as a young Herring Gull chick -which has been spending time on my window ledge here in Hastings.
Regards, David.

June sales updates:

Not too much sign of a Summer Slowdown in June as might have been expected.

As always Shutterstock led the way with 153 downloads ($82.88). Greek island images (in particular Halki) proved especially good sellers this month.

Another good month from Dreamstime saw 16 downloads ($28.74). A varied mix of images selling there.


Istock produced 10 downloads (£12.98) but due to technical issues the May partner program sales were not posted during June. In another major move Istock simplified their various collections and price points during June. Short term, the main effect for me was the scrapping of the Photo+ level (a limited percentage of my portfolio which I self-selected to sell at a higher price point). These images are now, for the time being, back in the lower priced "main" collection. Istock say the process is not yet complete and my hope is that these files will move up to the new Signature collection, though there appears to be no certainty of that happening. A wait and see situation.

Bigstock perked up with 11 downloads ($6.28) with a noted increase in subscription sales.

123rf only managed 6 downloads ($1.72) leaving me to start questioning again if they are worth uploading to.

Fotolia produced two downloads (0.50 credits).

Amazingly, Veer suddenly produced a subscription sale ($0.25) - my first sale there since 2011. Payout there still looks as far away as ever but at least there is some sign of life. Their web uploader still remains broken after some 7-8 months and a further email to them produced the response that they were looking to the forthcoming updating of the site to resolve the problem.

Uploads in June saw some new archive images of Mohamed Al Fayed (former owner of Harrods department store) being accepted.
However, uploading was limited due to spending two weeks holiday on the charming Greek island of Alonissos where I encountered some mules (pictured). I was also able to spend a day photographing on the nearby island of Skopelos (location of the film Mamma Mia). I'm looking forward to editing and uploading these images in due course. Regards, David.

May sales updates:

May was never going to match the special circumstances of April, however it still proved a strong month.

Inevitably, out in front was Shutterstock with 151 downloads ($97.16). A single sale of the Old Town area of Hastings netted $18.75 helping to push up the income total.

Istock produced 10 downloads ($20.14) with four PP sales adding another $1.40. In a surprise move they recently scrapped their restrictive upload limits and contributors can now submit up to 999 images per week. A welcome move I had always hoped for.  

Dreamstime saw 16 downloads ($17.73). A number of subscription sales helped keep the amount earned down.

Picturenation saw an archive image of Labour MP Chris Smith selling in high resolution which earned a worthwhile £6 in commission. Sadly, not long now till their close down in August but, hopefully, I may pick up a few more sales before then.

123rf continued to get sales with 16 downloads ($7.15). 

Bigstock achieved 9 downloads ($5.02). All of these were editorial images.

Mostphotos pleased with two downloads making Euro 4.09.

Fotolia netted three downloads earning 0.70 in credits.

As previously posted, my first FineArtAmerica sale netted $25.35. A very welcome start.

No sales at Cutcaster but one of my referred contributors had their first sale there netting me $0.06 in commission. It's a start!

Uploads in May saw some archive images of Bruce Kent, Vice President of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and some portrait shots of a Common Barn Owl. 

We are now heading into the famous Summer Slowdown period so it remains to be seen how sales will go in June. Regards, David.