Images sold in December 2020

[losdemas]

6 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

Michael and wim...too exciting for my blood. And I’m allergic to flea bites. I’m sure those were sand fleas, which are way more vicious than your typical dog flea. Sand fleas love me. Their beady little eyes light up when they see me like mine do when I see strawberry shortcake.

 

Go by various names in various places - and they are probably various insects (midges in Scotland are one well known example in these islands), but the worst experience I ever had was 'sand fleas' on the island of Utila in Honduras. They came out every evening at dusk and tore into you just as you were trying to have a peaceful beer by the waterfront. No repellent was in the least effective, they would drink anything! The solution which DID work was any kind of viscous body oil - they just couldn't penetrate or stuck to it! You didn't look very pretty after an hour, but you had no bites!

[Michael Ventura]

33 minutes ago, losdemas said:

 

Go by various names in various places - and they are probably various insects (midges in Scotland are one well known example in these islands), but the worst experience I ever had was 'sand fleas' on the island of Utila in Honduras. They came out every evening at dusk and tore into you just as you were trying to have a peaceful beer by the waterfront. No repellent was in the least effective, they would drink anything! The solution which DID work was any kind of viscous body oil - they just couldn't penetrate or stuck to it! You didn't look very pretty after an hour, but you had no bites!

 

Maybe it was the time of year (January) that I went to Egypt but I did not see or feel any biting insects while there.  

[NYCat]

Editorial website....$

 

 

Grizzly Bear in Lake Clark National Park

 

Paulette

[wiskerke]

4 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

 

Maybe it was the time of year (January) that I went to Egypt but I did not see or feel any biting insects while there.  

 

Same here: Christmas-mid January.

People Men behaving like sand flies however: many, especially of the selling kind.

 

wim

[Michael Ventura]

32 minutes ago, wiskerke said:

 

Same here: Christmas-mid January.

People Men behaving like sand flies however: many, especially of the selling kind.

 

wim

 

Yes, that I saw.  You do get swarmed by people selling all kinds of things or simply wanting baksheesh (a tip or a handout).

[MizBrown]

40 minutes ago, Michael Ventura said:

 

Yes, that I saw.  You do get swarmed by people selling all kinds of things or simply wanting baksheesh (a tip or a handout).

 

The parts of Nicaragua that were the most dependent on tourism have had an uptick in robberies, some more violent than the usual sneaky grabbing of stuff.   The vendors who come by my house seem more desperate. 

 

Tourism is a relatively cheap industry to develop and uses a lot of people who are only semi-skilled, but when the tourists stop coming, people either return to farms if they can (and not everyone can) or are desperate to scrape together something somehow. 

 

Jinotega depends on coffee and cattle and services to people who have coffee fincas and cattle operations, so we got a new very nice grocery store and a specialty meat store since the Pandemic came here.   Was in the new grocery store this morning and it has better prices than the Walmart subsidiary Maxi Pali.   The usual (for these days) temperature checks and hand sanitizer on entry, and marks for social distancing at the cash register lines, manditory mask to get in the door, reinforced by guy with a police baton should anyone try to argue. 

 

Tourism looks easy if you have the ruins and the antiquities or the beaches, since you don't have to  invest as much in education.  Cuba had a period where nobody was coming, so had some specializing in medical research and training that's paid off for them (they rent out medical teams to other countries that can afford it and send them at lower or no cost to countries that are poor).   The Russians built Nicaragua a vaccine production facility, so nice for here.  Nicaragua is already formulating pharmaceuticals.

 

A friend went to Mexico near the US border after their tourism collapsed, and it was the same for him -- only gringo for miles and everyone wanted him to buy from them. 

 

In 2018, which was another not good year, the electronics section clerk in a local store steered me from a $500 machine to the somewhat over a thousand Dell.  Same reason -- I was buying.   Almost nobody else was.

 

I have enough with paying my part-time helper, and also recommended him to a friend who also has him walking her dogs and shopping for her.  He had to be out for a while and was terrified that we would let him go.

 

The beggars are annoying and heartbreaking.  

[Betty LaRue]

8 hours ago, losdemas said:

 

Go by various names in various places - and they are probably various insects (midges in Scotland are one well known example in these islands), but the worst experience I ever had was 'sand fleas' on the island of Utila in Honduras. They came out every evening at dusk and tore into you just as you were trying to have a peaceful beer by the waterfront. No repellent was in the least effective, they would drink anything! The solution which DID work was any kind of viscous body oil - they just couldn't penetrate or stuck to it! You didn't look very pretty after an hour, but you had no bites!

I ran into those on the island of St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. I had brought a handful of dryer sheets to use for laundry. Brand name “Bounce”. I dampened those and rubbed one over my legs from the knee down, which is where they attack.  Especially the bigger blood vessels around your feet and ankles.  Stopped them dead. I’ve also used the sheets for mosquitoes. You do need to reapply every hour or two. And yes, when the shadows got long is when they came out.

Edited December 19, 2020 by Betty LaRue

[John Mitchell]

1 hour ago, MizBrown said:

 

The parts of Nicaragua that were the most dependent on tourism have had an uptick in robberies, some more violent than the usual sneaky grabbing of stuff.   The vendors who come by my house seem more desperate. 

 

Tourism is a relatively cheap industry to develop and uses a lot of people who are only semi-skilled, but when the tourists stop coming, people either return to farms if they can (and not everyone can) or are desperate to scrape together something somehow. 

 

Jinotega depends on coffee and cattle and services to people who have coffee fincas and cattle operations, so we got a new very nice grocery store and a specialty meat store since the Pandemic came here.   Was in the new grocery store this morning and it has better prices than the Walmart subsidiary Maxi Pali.   The usual (for these days) temperature checks and hand sanitizer on entry, and marks for social distancing at the cash register lines, manditory mask to get in the door, reinforced by guy with a police baton should anyone try to argue. 

 

Tourism looks easy if you have the ruins and the antiquities or the beaches, since you don't have to  invest as much in education.  Cuba had a period where nobody was coming, so had some specializing in medical research and training that's paid off for them (they rent out medical teams to other countries that can afford it and send them at lower or no cost to countries that are poor).   The Russians built Nicaragua a vaccine production facility, so nice for here.  Nicaragua is already formulating pharmaceuticals.

 

A friend went to Mexico near the US border after their tourism collapsed, and it was the same for him -- only gringo for miles and everyone wanted him to buy from them. 

 

In 2018, which was another not good year, the electronics section clerk in a local store steered me from a $500 machine to the somewhat over a thousand Dell.  Same reason -- I was buying.   Almost nobody else was.

 

I have enough with paying my part-time helper, and also recommended him to a friend who also has him walking her dogs and shopping for her.  He had to be out for a while and was terrified that we would let him go.

 

The beggars are annoying and heartbreaking.  

 

Interesting to hear that Russia built a vaccine production facility in Nicaragua. Canada used to be a world leader in the production of vaccines. However, the facilities were privatized by a silly Conservative government (led by Brian Mulroney) back in the 80's and then snapped up by overseas companies that closed them down, leaving us out in the cold. When privatization sets in, the vultures always start to circle. I agree, the beggars in Nicaragua -- especially in Managua -- can be heartbreaking. However, Honduras has the worst poverty that I've seen in CA. Things must be unbearable now for the poor.

[MizBrown]

4 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

 

Interesting to hear that Russia built a vaccine production facility in Nicaragua. Canada used to be a world leader in the production of vaccines. However, the facilities were privatized by a silly Conservative government (led by Brian Mulroney) back in the 80's and then snapped up by overseas companies that closed them down, leaving us out in the cold. When privatization sets in, the vultures always start to circle. I agree, the beggars in Nicaragua -- especially in Managua -- can be heartbreaking. However, Honduras has the worst poverty that I've seen in CA. Things must be unbearable now for the poor.

 

Honduras was ahead of Nicaragua economically according to the CIA World Fact Book when I first moved here in 2010, but I suspect that Honduras had richer rich and poorer poor and after the coup, ended up head to head with Nicaragua by 2018.   Hondurans are sneaking into Nicaragua since things there are crazier than here, apparently. 

 

 

[Richard Baker]

Presentation

 

[Alan Beastall]

Two images from this months sales basket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[meanderingemu]

17 minutes ago, Sally R said:

 

Thanks Jean-François. Yes hopefully February.

 

I just saw your owl photos. They are beautiful! I've had three small fledgling owls called a Boobook Owls visiting recently (Australia's smallest and most common owl). They chat to one another from the roof, telegraph wires and trees. One morning I even woke at dawn to the sound of an adult talking to one of the babies right outside my window. They are lovely to have around.

 

 

thanks...

 

that sound awesome, just looked at pics of a Boobook, nice looking....  this is the first active owl i've had the pleasure to observe, such a lovely bird- as for as flying birds go....I was funny yesterday, the Barred owl was around again, someone noticed a few of us with cameras, and ask "is it rare?" , once we told him not really, just really pretty, the person just walked away.  

 

 

adding. bird photo is hard.  so much respect for those who do it all the time, but it has been a nice way to get away from the current world....  i am getting my shutter button kicked however....  learning every time i go out,

Edited December 21, 2020 by meanderingemu

[meanderingemu]

6 minutes ago, Sally R said:

 

Yes, it's funny how some things, including birds and animals, seem to be only of interest to some people if considered rare. The Barred Owl is lovely. Certainly a fair bit bigger than the little Boobook.

 

 

even the bird photographers that show up at the garden get "mad" at me when they ask "Any thing around?", and i point out to some lovely ever present chickadees....  they have so much expression.  

 

actually that's one thing i have learn to appreciate from Stock photography, to also focus on the common and banal.  

[Alan Beastall]

 

Thanks Sally, My fisheye images do sell and are best suited for internal or landscape work. I purchased this lens 2nd hand for a cheap price. Its a fun lens to use and small but take care with the lens distortion.

   39 minutes ago,  Alan Beastall said: 

Two images from this months sales basket.

 

 

 

 

 

Expand  

 

I especially love this colourful photo Alan that looks like it was taken with a fisheye lens. I've wondered about getting a fisheye lens and how useful or not it would be for stock photography. I can see here how it really works well and gives a great perspective of the scene.

[VbFolly]

A very welcome low $$$ dropped in this morning for large marketing package use. A view over the deer park to Windsor Castle taken last month.

 

 

[spacecadet]

OH again. Nice to have a report this late in the month. Won't stop it being my worst year since 2014 I don't imagine. Mid $$

Worldwide
Usage: Magazines and books, Package: Editorial Magazine,Rights: Print and online, any placement (cover or inside) up to 70,000, Worldwide
Start: 21 December 2020
End: 21 December 2025

 

Mmm duck à l'orange- we're having pheasant on Friday (only 2 of us, we're in prison again in London), a timely reminder of some nice game.

 

Edited December 22, 2020 by spacecadet

[Avpics]

Country: Worldwide ; Usage: Editorial ;  Media: Editorial website ;  Industry Sector: Media, design & publishing ;  Start: 08-November-2020 ; End: 08-November-2025 ; Additional Details: One use in a single editorial article used within the print and digital versions of a single publication. Digital usage includes archive rights for the lifetime of the article. Any placement in paper and online A welcome $$$ from a busy Remembrance Sunday morning. I'm assuming this was the Guardian pics of the day licence, but it found a few uses at the time.

[NYCat]

A better price this time... mid $$ for magazines and books.

 

Polar Bear in the Svalbard Archipelago

 

Paulette

Edited December 22, 2020 by NYCat

[Michael Ventura]

22 minutes ago, NYCat said:

A better price this time... mid $$ for magazines and books.

 

Polar Bear in the Svalbard Archipelago

 

Paulette

 

The gift that keeps on giving! Glad to see you got more $ this time!!

[Phil Robinson]

In the Times Online today - I was just on my way home and only took my camera out of my rucksack to make room for shopping. Got a couple of shots of the empty town centre and it proved worth the effort. 
If anyone gets the papery version of the Times I'd be interested to know it it made it into print.

[meanderingemu]

1 hour ago, Avpics said:

Country: Worldwide ; Usage: Editorial ;  Media: Editorial website ;  Industry Sector: Media, design & publishing ;  Start: 08-November-2020 ; End: 08-November-2025 ; Additional Details: One use in a single editorial article used within the print and digital versions of a single publication. Digital usage includes archive rights for the lifetime of the article. Any placement in paper and online A welcome $$$ from a busy Remembrance Sunday morning. I'm assuming this was the Guardian pics of the day licence, but it found a few uses at the time.

 

 

nice shot, i did get an online Guardian use reported this morning, so it seems they are in.

[Martyn]

A newsletter / presentation use, totally mundane image but noteworthy as one of the very few images that I have uploaded a monochrome version along with the colour version ... the first mono license of an image that didn't originate from a film negative ...

 

[Betty LaRue]

On 19/12/2020 at 05:29, Michael Ventura said:

 

Maybe it was the time of year (January) that I went to Egypt but I did not see or feel any biting insects while there.  

Michael, it may have been the bugs just didn’t like you. My sister tells people the best mosquito repellent she ever came across was to stand near me. They all swarmed me and left her alone. My blood must be high octane. 

I went through life being bitten.

Mosquitoes didn’t like my husband. He was seldom ever bitten. We went night fishing from the bank once. I had on jeans, heavy socks, shirt and a jacket. I was eaten alive through my jeans and socks. Bob kept saying, “You’re crazy, it’s your imagination, there’s no mosquitos!”
The next morning, I counted 86 bites on one leg, 100 plus on the other. The swellings often touched each other, and the itching lasted days. My imagination made me pay.

Betty

Edited December 22, 2020 by Betty LaRue

[Rico]

Mahjong game

Canada, museum display, single use until 2030

[Michael Ventura]

5 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

Michael, it may have been the bugs just didn’t like you. My sister tells people the best mosquito repellent she ever came across was to stand near me. They all swarmed me and left her alone. My blood must be high octane. 

I went through life being bitten.

Mosquitoes didn’t like my husband. He was seldom ever bitten. We went night fishing from the bank once. I had on jeans, heavy socks, shirt and a jacket. I was eaten alive through my jeans and socks. Bob kept saying, “You’re crazy, it’s your imagination, there’s no mosquitos!”
The next morning, I counted 86 bites on one leg, 100 plus on the other. The swellings often touched each other, and the itching lasted days. My imagination made me pay.

Betty

Hi Betty, I too am a buffet for mosquitoes, always have been...hate em!  I think Wim was speaking metaphorically about the fleas, that the locals are on you like fleas when they see a tourist coming.  If there are mosquitoes there, they were not an issue for me.  It rarely rains there and so not much stagnant water.