Welcome to my detailed October 2024 Brutally Honest Earnings and News Report. Let’s get started!
Monthly Highlights
October kept me busy! Between photo sessions in Portugal and several blog posts, here’s what went live:
Travel Update: Chasing Nazare Waves
I spent an unforgettable day in Nazare, hoping to capture drone footage of the iconic massive waves. While the waves were mid-sized, the calm weather allowed for smooth drone flying as you may see in the reel below.
Let’s surf along to discuss my monthly earnings.
Monthly Earnings Breakdown
Total Earnings: $795 – Despite some big payments, the elusive $1k goal remains out of reach. Here’s the breakdown:
Image Earnings (USD)
| Agency | Number of Images in port (new images Oct) | Net Revenue Oct | Avg Return Per Download |
| Alamy | 16,324 (26) | 76 + 95 DACS | 4.47 |
| Arcangel (RM-exclusive) | 4,826 (122) | TBD | TBD |
| Adobe Stock | 4,732 (46) | 94 | 0.68 |
| DepositPhotos | 8,481 (20) | 19 | 0.35 |
| Dreamstime | 9,387 (23) | 12 | 0.45 |
| Etsy | 9 (0) | 0 | 0 |
| Freekpik | 1,164 (22) | 10 | 0.06 |
| iStock (Sept 2024) | 9,126 (36) | 123 | 0.51 |
| MotionArray | 306 (20) | 10 | 0.16 |
| Robert Harding (Q3 2024 monthly average) – RM/RF exclusive | 611 (25) | 10 | N/A |
| Shutterstock | 12,452 (16) | 99 | 0.42 |
| Wirestock | 3,066 (0) | 5 | N/A |
| Total | 553 |
Clip Earnings (USD)
| Agency | Number of clips in port (new clips Oct) | Net Revenue for Oct | Avg Return per Download |
| Adobe Stock | 1,268 (43) | 40 | 4.44 |
| Pond5 | 2,831 (45) | 26 + $144 Dataset Earnings | 13 |
| iStock (Sept 2024) | 1,002 (55) | 19 | 2.1 |
| Shutterstock | 2,226 (58) | 13 | 2.17 |
| Total | 242 |
Grand Total: $795
Reflections on the month
October saw some encouraging yet incomplete progress. Earnings of $795 were well below my $1k target, with a few highs and many lows. On the upside, my South Africa portfolio continues to generate a steady trickle of sales, keeping me on track to reach my quite modest two-year goal of $860 in revenue to recover 1/3 of my costs.
Another bright spot were receiving news on the Pond5 dataset earnings (see details below) which were an unexpected bonus – let’s see if they become more consistent and I’m also patiently waiting for iStock/Getty’s AI payment.
Pond5’s Dataset Payment*
Was pleasantly surprised to see that $144 was added to my account via Pond5 on “Dataset”…but what are they?
“Datasets are a product offering developed to support companies building computer vision and Large Language Models (“LLM’s”). Datasets are sets of content and metadata organized by a specific theme or topic that can include images (including photos, illustrations, and vectors), videos, music, and sound effects. Datasets are comprised of various metadata, including keywords, titles, and descriptions.
Datasets provide a potential new source of revenue by expanding our reach to new customers and industries, including AI researchers, and leading technology developers and manufacturers.
Some of the datasets Pond5 licenses are in collaboration with Shutterstock and include both Pond5 and Shutterstock content. You can find supporting information on Shutterstock datasets, also known as data deals, here.” – source
What’s in store for November?
November is shaping up to be action-packed, with travels to the Algarve for poker tournaments and sun, followed by Luxembourg and Madrid to visit friends and capture new content.
Stay tuned for my year-end wrap-up in December, where I’ll share the highs, lows, and a few laughs from my year in microstock, including on YouTube.
Thanks for reading until the end and until next time!
About Alex
I’m an eccentric guy, currently based in Lisbon, Portugal on a quest to visit all corners of the world and capture stock images & footage. I’ve devoted ten 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 while shaming scammers.
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’ve upgraded to a Mini 3 Pro and the Air3.
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 