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We have nearly completed another year of Alamy sales and it is time to reflect, review and learn lessons. This chart I am very happy with : This chart I am not so happy with : Sales increasing nicely year on year, efforts being rewarded, careful keywording resulting in customers finding my images. But all that work, all the hours invested, to end up with a declining revenue stream feels like pedaling backwards on my bike or kayaking up a waterfall. Too many photographers I guess, too many images for customers to choose from, too easy to just use Google Images and grab any image you see without even thinking of consequences, it all drives the price per image in one direction only. But high value sales do still turn up once in a while. I had one $650 sale this year, two sales of £225 and 5 others over $100. When they happen, I am reminded that Alamy is still the right place to be. I had a look at distribution of prices across all my sales this year, here are the results : So about 60% of my sales are in the $20-80 gross price band. I also had a look at the price trend over the last 5 years. As expected, this shows a declining average price, but a RECOVERY in the gross price THIS YEAR. Unfortunately, in my case, the net price has continued its decline this year, probably due to the proportion of distributor sales increasing. See chart below : So since 2012, my average net price has declined by more than 50%, ouch ...... what happened to inflation?? Aren't our prices meant to go up with inflation? Every other business seems to manage it, but not us ;-) I hope this is enlightening, or at least informative, for forum members. If you feel so inclined, please share your own data, but I understand many people won't want to. Who knows what 2017 will bring, the new search algorithm and contributor tools have made all that even harder to predict. I was at the top of page 2 on BHZ, then dropped to page 13, now on page 9. It is too early to say whether views/zooms are adversely affected ... Happy New Year! Marc

Purpose: series of 6-9 images (please use thumbnails ) which tell a story or cover a specific destination / happening. Little tip: think a few months ahead to allow magazine editors plenty of time to prepare articles with - hopefully - your pictures. Previous picture series: Februari March April May July August September October November December Bora Bora (French Polynesia) 1. Aerial view of the lagoon, the motus and the main island with the distinctive silhouette of Otemanu mountain. 2. Lunch table and sun umbrella directly in the lagoon, giving incredible view towards Bora Bora main island while having lunch. 3. Half-and-half air/water photo of Bora Bora Pearl Beach water bungalows. 4. Frangipani flowers and a clear blue sky. 5. Shuttle connecting the moths and the main island. 6. View from Bora Bora airport. 7. Palm trees, turquoise lagoon and water bungalows… 8. Paul Emile Victor's island (motu). 9. Aerial view of the lagoon. Click on pictures for a larger view, reference numbers and details. To see more available pictures, click here. Thanks, Olivier

I'm sure many of you write blogs of your work and as it seems a common for photographers to write a roundup of their year on that blog I thought I would start a thread where we could post our blog articles on 2016 ... Here is mine, I look forward to seeing yours (if you know what I mean). http://www.julieedwardsphotography.co.uk/blog/2017/1/review-of-2016

10 sales, $97.47 net. So far I have about 1/3 of last year's cash, so holding steady, but 50% of last year's sales, so dollars per sale well down again. Zooms best of year; 20+ infringements reported in early Jan still to be processed.

Yes, it’s that time again. We’re already nearly one month down with a whole new year ahead of us so it’s time to start thinking about what we should be taking photos of. Find out what you should be taking photos of in 2016… Cheers, Alamy