Greetings from Rio where I’m currently escaping the “harsh” Portuguese winter. Welcome to the January 2024 Brutally Honest Report, where as usual I’ll be discussing my earnings and industry news including a new monthly segment on Artificial Intelligence. Let’s get started!
YouTube version of the report below!
PhotoTag.Ai Exclusive Time-limited Promotion here on the Blog!
I’m happy to share with you an exclusive promotion here on the blog that has partnered with PhotoTag.Ai, a software that “Automatically generate image and footage tags, titles, and descriptions using cutting-edge AI”.
Back in November I undertook a comprehensive review of the software using 10 of my own images – see below the link to the report.
Creating better tags for images with one click
Even if I’m not creating so many microstock images these days, when I do, I’m religiously using this great piece of software to speed up my own workflow. As an example, take the first quite “busy” pic on this blog post of the beach which I’ve run through PhotoTag. Below is how accurate it has described the images and provided high-quality keywords.
In the spirit of the post I would rate these keywords as 9/10. Of course there are a few words here and there that I would remove and some I may add manually but with no doubt this will save me much time avoiding to do what I hate the most – tagging!
Now Phototag.Ai tags videos!
Since the review above the developers have laucnhed a version that also tags videos (up to 500MB) which is pretty cool. Naturally, I tested this new feature on one of my clips captured on my latest cruise of the back of my grandfather on the balcony deck looking out into the sea.
Again, a very decent job above with 8/10 rating for me.
40% Off Promo Code until Feb 15!
Now, for the exclusive discount on this blog. You’ll receive 40% off any one-time bundle or subscription plan, act quick since this valid is only until February 15, 2024. If you still have some doubts there’s a free trial consisting of 10 images/clips a month.
—> Simply click on this link and when purchasing a plan use the promo code “BRUTALLYHONEST” <—
Monthly highlights on the blog
More shooting than writing this month which is great as I’m making the most of my time in Brazil. Nevertheless, three articles published, with the first I elaborated on what happened on that fateful NYE night after getting the verdict from DJI’s flyaway customer service team.
Secondly, I published a rant after yet again one of my images being featured in a major publication where I’m fully expecting to be royally fked over with sub-$5.
Last but not least, as part of a new series on Artificial Intelligence news, I’ve published an update on the new European Union AI Act.
Drone News
Sticking the with topic of drones, I’ve had a good think about what I will do next and happy to share with you (also great to have your input if you would to share).
Someone read my story and got in touch and I’ve had the opportunity to purchase a barely-used DJI Mini 3 Pro for almost half the retail price. I’m going ahead with this no-brainer investment. Now, I’m not a huge fan of the minis because they really struggle with windy days and the image quality is worse than the Air 2s BUT and it’s a huge BUT:
- It’s a great little drone for travel as everything is very compact compared with the Air 2s and especially the Air 3; and
- It’s less risky from a regulatory perspective and I’d be able to generally fly in more places including urban areas. For instance, in the European Union I would be able to fly under the A1 Open Category instead of the current A2 which makes a big difference. Outside of the EU, overall there are less stringent rules for a sub-249 gram drone since the risk is less if it does crash.
What about the DJI Air3?
So, for the moment my plan is to have two drones. The Mini 3 Pro will be purely for travel and shooting in more tricky places (under the A1 Open Category) and soon-after, probably in May/June I’ll invest in the Air3 for more local stuff and client shoots (under the A2 Open Category). As mentioned previously, I’m keen to use the 70mm lens particularly for capturing book covers.
Now let’s move onto industry news.
Industry News
Adobe Stock’s AI responsibility
After many complaints, Adobe Stock in a blog post, has announced that it is changing its policy on AI images depicting real events. Turns out that the technology is progressing so fast that some people are having difficulty deafferenting between what is “real” and what is AI-generated, which should be the theme for the remainder of the 21st century and probably 22nd century too.
Here’s an extract from their blog post:
“…Adobe Stock content is not real-world journalistic content and should never be used in journalistic mediums to depict newsworthy events.
While all digital content can be altered to deceive people, generative AI has the potential to make it easier for bad actors to create images that mislead. That’s what prompted us to thoughtfully consider our approach to allowing generative AI content on Adobe Stock, including requiring that contributors label any generative AI content they submit as such so customers can view and filter out generative AI content. It’s also why Adobe has taken proactive steps to help restore trust in digital content through the Adobe-led Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI), which allows creators to attach important information to an image like where it came from and how it was created, so people can make a more informed decision about whether to trust it.
Whether generative AI or not, we know the same stock image that can be used appropriately, such as on the cover of a book or in a video game, can also be misused to mislead people. When taken out of context, digital content has the potential to be used for harm; this is an unfortunate reality we are seeing play out in ongoing conflicts around the world…”
I’ve just done a quick search on the Adobe Stock search engine for AI images related to “Israel Palestine, Children” and there are still quite a few that they have not taken down. Some of which, in my opinion, are borderline propaganda – what do you think?
Let’s now move onto my detailed earnings report, keeping in mind that traditionally January is one of the worst months in the calendar when it comes to sales, along with August…so my expectations are/were extremely low. Maybe one agency or another will surprise…
Detailed Monthly Earnings Breakdown
Image Earnings (US$)
| Agency | Number of Images in port (images added Jan) | Net Revenue for Jan | Avg Return Per Download |
| Alamy | 15,924 (61) | 38 | 4 |
| Arcangel (RM-exclusive) | 3,775 (151) | 750* | 250* |
| Adobe Stock | 4,531 (22) | 84 | 0.83 |
| DepositPhotos | 8,185 (51) | 13 | 0.33 |
| Dreamstime | 9,066 (41) | 8 | 0.35 |
| Freekpik | 1,010 (17) | 18 | 0.07 |
| Fine Art America | 373 (0) | 0 | 0 |
| iStock (Dec 2023) | 8,808 (141) | 68 | 0.43 |
| MotionArray | 128 (36) | 3 | N/A |
| Robert Harding (Q3 2023 monthly average) – RM/RF exclusive | 495 (20) | 4 | 0.40 |
| Shutterstock Editorial | 962 (0) | 0 | 0 |
| Shutterstock | 12,177 (50) | 75 | 0.26 |
| Photo4Me | 398 (5) | 0 | 0 |
| Wirestock | 3,066 (0) | 4 | N/A |
| Total | 1,047 |
*Due to the sensitivity of reporting exact sales within the Rights-Managed book cover publishing world, I’m instead reporting on my historical average of $250/net per book cover.
Clip Earnings (US$)
| Agency | Number of clips in port (added Jan) | Net Revenue for Jan | Avg Return Per Download |
| Adobe Stock | 1,052 (12) | 31 | 10 |
| Pond5 | 2,605 (15) | 72 | 24 |
| iStock (Dec 2023) | 822 (25) | 6 | 1 |
| Shutterstock | 1,956 (12) | 35 | 6 |
| Total | 144 |
Grand Total: $1,191
Thoughts on the month
Arcangel sales can be sporadic and highly profitable so taking my month without them I earned $436 which is pretty good on what is traditionally the worst month (Jan 2023 was a disaster at just $277). I’m especially encouraged at the strong clip part of the month where Pond5 has decided to show up.
Let’s now discuss detailed earnings from the major agencies.
Shutterstock
January is reset month at Shutterstock and since they’ve implemented this “exciting news” it’s been easily the worst month of the year. This year it didn’t disappoint as I barely made the lowly $100 payout that I’ve set myself.
I’ve looked at past Januaries and it’s been pretty much the same stories, very very very low average return per downloads, but this year has been something special and not in a positive way at just 26cents per download, which is almost half that of already pathetic iStock’s 46cent average.
As you can see from the above in January 2024 I’m earning roughly 3x less than 2017-2019 period. Ouch! So, no matter how strong volumes (and it was a strong-month volume wise), it’s an impossible task to earn more when average prices keep dropping.
Alamy
Slow start to the year with only net $38 on 11 sales. Fun to see a recent pic from the cruise sell at Alamy as I’m on my way to recovering my costs from that trip.
Adobe Stock
Decent start to the year breaking the $100 mark with decent sales both on photos and videos.
Pond5
Three decent sales this month, starting with the regular holy grail night sky (2x) which has earned me a tidy sum over the years. This time around I earned a total of $43.92.
The second clip was a brand new sale for a simple clip I shot back in 2018 and was accepted commercially earning me $27.87.
iStock
A hugely disappointing month with only $74 of which $6 came from clips. Nothing more to say and no highlights.
Arcangel
Long time waiting, finally my AC port is picking up some momentum and I’m super happy to report THREE sales reported in January for $750 net (taking my historical average of $250/net).
One of the book covers was a license extension from a sale in 2020 for the Italian book below. One of the benefits of the traditional Rights-Managed licensing model is that repeat sales such as these are common and not the first time I’ve had them. I have many Arcangel licenses up for renewal soon so hope I have more of these even if the average price is lower than the original sale.
Mamma mia, Italy featured heavily on my sales as the second book cover was for an Italian university textbook of which I’ve not been able to locate…for this image I shot in the wintertime in Portugal last year.
Now for the cherry on the top, a nice sale to the US market for this image (much higher than the average). I’ve included the before and after for comparison below. I must say that it was a great job by the designer to include the child as it looks very natural. If I had tried to do the same I would have probably butchered the task!
The lesson here and always is to leave plenty of space for the designer to work their magic.
Here’s the synopsis of the story if you’re into these type of mystery / thriller novels:
“Sometimes, the most perfect families are hiding the most terrible secrets. How well do you know the people next door?
Source: Amazon
Everybody wants to live on Hogarth Street, the pretty, tree-lined avenue with its white houses. The new family, The Wests, are a perfect fit. Katherine and Josh seem so in love and their gorgeous five-year-old twins race screeching around their beautiful emerald-green lawn.
But soon people start to notice: why don’t they join backyard barbecues? Why do they brush away offers to babysit? Why, when you knock at the door, do they shut you out, rather than inviting you in?
Every family has secrets, and on the hottest day of the year, the truth is about to come out. As a tragedy unfolds behind closed doors, the dawn chorus is split by the wail of sirens. And one by one the families who tried so hard to welcome the Wests begin to realise: Hogarth Street will never be the same again.”
Keep going, AC, more sales please! :))
20 book cover higlights for the month
As for the number of accepted in the month, it was a quite impressive 151 but I am missing my drone dearly as visiting some cool places. Here are my top-20 of the month in no particular order.
Until next time!
So, what plans do I have for the coming weeks? My Brazilian adventures after finally coming to an end and after three months away it’s about time! I’ll be spending a little over a week in Sao Paulo before heading back to Portugal towards the end of the month…then I’m off to South Africa at the end of March.
About Alex
I’m an eccentric guy, currently based in Lisbon, Portugal and currently spending “the winter months” in Brazil, on a quest to visit all corners of the world and capture stock images & footage. I’ve devoted eight years to making it as a travel photographer / videographer and freelance writer. I hope to inspire others by showing an unique insight into a fascinating business model.
I’ve gone all in on submitting book cover images to Arcangel Images. Oh and was also flying a DJI Mavic 2s drone regularly (although it crashed into Botafogo Bay on NYE – here is the story), which I’m likely upgrading to an Air3 in 2024.
I’m proud to have written a book about my adventures which includes tips on making it as a stock travel photographer – Brutally Honest Guide to Microstock Photography
Alexandre Rotenberg's Brutally Honest Guide to Stock Photography & Footage 
Shutterstock is more and more becoming a joke.
When i started stock photography it was the best selling site with the highest overall earnings. Today i make 3-4x more money on Adobe Stock despite having nearly the same portfolio in both sides.
When they introduced that 10 cent reset bs i saw that some of the good (first page) stuff in my niche (Cityscape) vanished from the site, so some contributors completly left the platform.
Nowdays i dont upload to SS anymore.
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