Welcome to my October 2026 Brutally Honest Earnings Report, where the long-term goal remains unchanged: trying to cover all my gear and travel costs entirely through stock income. Sounds crazy, right? Yeah, probably but it still doesn’t stop me from traveling as much as I can. Let’s get started!
Monthly Highlights – European Rules eBook is (Almost) Finished!
I don’t want to come across as boasting but I’m super pleased with the final results of my European Street Photograph Rules eBook. It’s 15,000 words and exactly 100 pages.
Here’s the Table of Contents:
Also, for the select persons that I’ve showed I’ve received some glowing reviews.
Photographing Different Cultures
Chapter 11 is quite interesting and felt a culture-shock first-hand while shooting today in Casablanca, Morocco and some dudes were upset at my attempt at street photography. For instance, the man on the right of the frame as soon as women were visible, as if they’re some sort of champions of Human Rights.
But it’s their country and their rules, what happens when they start importing their way of life into Europe and dictating terms, generally? That’s something I discuss in my upcoming book.
When is the launch day?
I’m busy putting the final design touches on them while pitching to various publications and planning the launch, which should be in a few weeks. Let me just get back safely to land with a stable internet connection.
Grandfather Turned 100
I’ve spent most of the month in Brazil mainly to celebrate my grandfather’s 100 birthday party where I was in charge of putting together a presentation for over 100 guests.
The presentation was a success in large part thanks to Dmitry for creating some super cool movements from old photos. I wrote about his process this month.
Election time in Brazil
The birthday party coincided with the most contentious of elections for a generation.
I took advantage, of course, and managed to get myself some really cool high perspectives to capture one of the rallies by the incumbent PT Worker’s party at Avenida da Atlantica in Copacabana.
Turns out the crowds were enough to sway the voters and despite being way ahead in the first-round election, Lula managed to turn it around on the second-round, much to everybody’s surprise.
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Let’s now discuss my earnings.
Monthly Earnings Breakdown
📸Image Earnings (USD)
| Agency | Number of images (new images Oct) | Net Revenue Oct | Avg Return Per Download |
| Amazing Aerial – exclusive (Sept) | 1,904 (172) | TBD | TBD |
| Alamy | 17,500 (0) | 29 | 1.93 |
| Arcangel (RM-exclusive) | 6,794 (58) | 300 | 150 |
| Adobe Stock | 4,927 (0) | 91 | 0.85 |
| DepositPhotos | 8,884 (0) | 18 | 0.29 |
| Dreamstime | 9,876 (0) | 4 | 0.57 |
| Freekpik (now Magnific wtf) | 1,217 (0) | 13 | 0.06 |
| iStock (Sept) | 9,366 (1) | 85 | 0.33 |
| MotionArray | 480 (0) | 9 | 0.31 |
| Robert Harding (Q2 2026 monthly average) – RF exclusive | 741 (0) | 22 | 2 |
| Shutterstock | 12,850 (1) | 63 | 0.74 |
| Total | 634 |
🎥Clip Earnings (USD)
| Agency | Number of clips (new clips Oct) | Net Revenue for Oct | Avg Return per Download |
| Amazing Aerial – Exclusive (Sept) | 1,519 (165) | TBD | TBD |
| Adobe Stock | 1,612 (0) | 84 | 10.50 |
| Pond5 | 3,419 (0) | 0 | 0 |
| iStock (Sept) | 1,251 (0) | 16 | 1.33 |
| Shutterstock | 2,787 (0) | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 100 |
Grand Total: $734
Thoughts on the month
Pretty poor overall mainly with the usual suspects.
Nevertheless, Amazing Aerial is yet to report so there’s hope there that I’ll earn at least $150, bringing the month close to $900.
A book cover sale at Arcangel was nice to see finally, as well as a renewal of an older license from two years ago (relatively small royalties for me).
📈Other Best-Sellers
Plans for November – Heading west!
In November I’m off to the US (Florida) and then Canada (Vancouver) where I’ll spend a few weeks visiting some friends and shooting. Spent an enjoyable day exploring Cadiz, Spain.
✈️Upcoming Travel Plans
| Month | Location |
| November | USA then Canada (arrive via cruise in Florida) |
| December | Back in early/mid December. Then maybe Milan or Greece around Christmas or a road trip through Spain, still deciding |
| 2027 | Rio Carnival? East Asia, India (Dmitry?) Poland…Israel (Oct)? Caminho de Santiago via Portugal |
I leave you with this beautiful sunset I just captured in Casablanca, Morocco of the Hasan II Mosque. Next stop, Ponta Delgada, Azores.
About Alex
I’m Alex, eccentric, based in Lisbon, and on a mission to explore every corner of the globe while capturing stock images and footage along the way.
For the past 12 years, I’ve been grinding as a travel photographer/videographer and freelance writer. Along the way I’ve also written The Brutally Honest Guide to Microstock Photography, a book packed with war stories and practical tips for anyone crazy enough to enter this business and more recently, The Brutally Honest Guide to Drone Laws in Europe.
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