Alamy keywords

TCR4x4

TCR4x4

Wishes he had a couple more Inches
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Tom
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Ive submitted and had accepted 7 pictures so far to Alamy, but Im really struggling with the keywords. My little brain cant think of enough relevant but creative words and reading their advice makes me even more confused with all the different ways of tagging certain terms.
Anyone any advice on how to be a bit more creative and come up with words relevant to the pictures but not just basic stuff like flower and yellow.

:bonk:
 
Have a look at other similar pictures on Alamy - by other photographers and see what sort of keywords they are using. Don't copy them exactly though - Alamy don't like that.
 
Im alright with the essential keywords, its the other two categories Im struggling with and you cant see those on other photos can you?
 
Well, a yellow flower will have a common name and a latin name, it will have small or large petals, flower in the sun or shade, day or night. It will be large or small - or medium of course and may have leaves, many petals, a few petals etc etc.

I often have to reduce the number of keywords because I produce too many :) Why not post an image here and ask for keyword suggestions to get you started?
 
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That is true - some pictures don't need huge amounts of keywords though - if the picture keeps coming up in searches where the pic is inappropriate - that's not going to do you any good either. Think firstly of descriptive words, then moods, atmospheres etc - takes time and practice like everything else. Also have a look at Image Keyworder - http://www.imagekeyworder.com/ - although it doesn't work directly with Alamy (well it does in a round about way) - it does suggest keywords and makes the whole process quicker. I use it for submitting to other libraries - but useful to have anyway. Image Keyworder includes a theasarus.
 
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Kerioak said:
Well, a yellow flower will have a common name and a latin name, it will have small or large petals, flower in the sun or shade, day or night. It will be large or small - or medium of course and may have leaves, many petals, a few petals etc etc.

I often have to reduce the number of keywords because I produce too many :) Why not post an image here and ask for keyword suggestions to get you started?
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There you go,thats what I mean.Although I got large/small and for some of them I know the latin name, I didnt think of day/night, sun/shade etc
Great help, thanks

awp said:
That is true - some pictures don't need huge amounts of keywords though - if the picture keeps coming up in searches where the pic is inappropriate - that's not going to do you any good either. Think firstly of descriptive words, then moods, atmospheres etc - takes time and practice like everything else. Also have a look at Image Keyworder - http://www.imagekeyworder.com/ - although it doesn't work directly with Alamy (well it does in a round about way) - it does suggest keywords and makes the whole process quicker. I use it for submitting to other libraries - but useful to have anyway. Image Keyworder includes a theasarus.
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Im half way there, Ive done moods and descriptive (as much as my brain comes up with anyway). Thanks for the link, Ill give it a go.

swag72 said:
Have you used a theasarus? Great for finding loads of words.
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No, but I shall give it a go :thumbs:

This is one thats been accpeted. Ive got my essentials but Ive only got 136 main and 232 comprehensive.

I can already get some more with the advice so far, but any others you may think will push me in the right mind direction will help. I think the info is in there, just needs a bit of persuasion to come out!


_DSC9551 by TCR4x4, on Flickr
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how about: grass, green, water, drops, dew, reflection, shallow depth of field, stem, stems, low, early, morning, sunny, blade, blades, reflected, fresh, freshness, clean, growth, plant, shiny, spring, summer, wet, dew-drop, freshness, delicate, close-up, botanical, detail, natural, outdoor, outdoors, outside, seasonal, sunlight,
 
Maybe Im not doing so bad. Ive got 90% of those. A few good ones in there though I didnt think of though, cheers!
 
And don't separate them with commas -wastes characters!

Sent from my iPhone using TP Forums
 
Yep, got that!

That keywording program is very useful, and now has a full Alamy mode, so you can just export the images direct with all the info. Nice.
 
It's not that easy buy give it a go. I don't find the Alamy mode works that well.

Sent from my iPhone using TP Forums
 
Ah ok. Well I'll see, just doing one now so Ill see what happens.
 
Is there anywhere else recommended to upload to? I always got the impression alamy wS one of the best, but maybe its a case of being too big? Im not expecting anything, but im sat at home all day bored rigid and thought I might as well try. Even if one image sold, which is unlikely it would be worth it, as it hasn't cost me anything.
 
Get yourself the freelance photographers Mrket Handbook - loads of picture agencies and other outlets listed there. My images are on seven libraries at present - as well as my own stock site. http://awp.co.uk/
 
I upload exclusively to one microstock site as RF and earn 2-4 times more there a month than I have earned in 30 months at Alamy. Much to my surprise I have just had my 3rd best month ever (not bad for a January and a month with 5 weekends and bank holiday) in spite of them dropping most of my prices by 75% and the rest by 25% last November/December. Some of the prices between the two sites have been comparable as well as Alamy pay only a fraction of what you expect from their guide
 
awp said:
Get yourself the freelance photographers Mrket Handbook - loads of picture agencies and other outlets listed there. My images are on seven libraries at present - as well as my own stock site. http://awp.co.uk/
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If that is the book by Douglas Freer he is in the process of updating it to produce a new one as some of the sites have gone out of business since he wrote it and many more have dropped their submitters royalties :'(
 
That is true - don't know why - but you rarely seem to get the fees in the guide! Just had my best single month on Alamy in January too.
 
I used to be good at thinking of keywords. Mind goes blank these days.

If microstock pays more then it might be a better strategy. Not that I have actually put much on alamy...

Which microstock sites are the most fruitful?
 
It isn't just a case of signing up, you've got to put some time into preparing your images first, and then submitting them to their QC. If they pass (not guaranteed), you can then start to upload more, and these are also subject to QC for a certain period. QC are rather fussy as well.

Is it worth the effort? Depends on what your expectations are and if you're shooting with the intention of submitting for stock. I submit stuff every now and again but I don't shoot for stock per se. Probably why I haven't sold much......:D
 
I was surprised all my images passed QC first time, except the initial one where I uploaded 7 instead of the required 4 because I didn't read it properly. I resubmitted 4 and they passed.
I now have 6 and another 2 awaiting QC.

Once Im out and about I might start shooting some stock. I have some ideas for around the home too. Not like I have anything else to do for 6 months :/
 
srichards said:
Which microstock sites are the most fruitful?
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It is different for everyone I think, some do better on one site and others on different ones. At most you start off with VERY low returns which increase as you sell more images and all have their pecularities as to what they will accept and some are more critical than Alamy, some are
Fotolia, Dreamstime, Istock, Bigstock/Shutterstock, RF123, Canstock,
 
Ta for the list. I will investigate further. Shooting once and selling multiple times is appealing :-)
 
srichards said:
Ta for the list. I will investigate further. Shooting once and selling multiple times is appealing :-)
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It is - just don't expect instant returns - also volume is important - the more pictures you have with the libraries .. .. ..
 
Also it obviously makes no sense to put the same pictures on Alamy and on a micro site - people doing a proper image search are going to find both and which do you think they will go for?
 
Finding which kind of images appeal to which libraries seems to be a black art. Are any of the books any good on this subject? The micro stock ones seem to be more generic style images and seem to be a lot of white background.

Also is there an issue with taking images of branded goods eg a coffee jar or cd cover or other generic things?
 
AndyB said:
Also it obviously makes no sense to put the same pictures on Alamy and on a micro site - people doing a proper image search are going to find both and which do you think they will go for?
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Correct, I believe this can also get you kicked off Alamy?

Also is there an issue with taking images of branded goods eg a coffee jar or cd cover or other generic things?
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Yes, make sure there are no IP issues with logos (check things like buttons, sides of shoes/vehicle tyres) etc etc

If you are going to submit to the micro sites read their terms and everything you can find on the sites very carefully, saves a lot of wasted time :)
 
I'm not sure Alamy can stop you duplicating images but if you set the licence to exclusive RM you obviously can't have th eimages on a rival site.
 
I have images on Alamy and one of the reasons I went there is because they are non exclusive (or were when I joined).
Got a hundred or so images (which admitedly is nothing) on it so far and never seen any return yet so have let the uploading slip lately.
 
You have to keep at it - I have 2,760 images on Alamy - and lots on other libraries too - and make regular sales. Not enough to retire on but nice just the same.
 
Need to pull my finger out! Only got 7 images on there so far.

To the guys with loads. Do you purposely shoot stock to go on there or just shoot whatever and upload what you think they will accept?
 
On quiet days I go out and shoot for stock. I also upload loads of shots from press jobs.
 
2700 images is more than my entire image library on my computer! Hmm. I probably need to get out more :)
 
I think I have around 8,000 out there altogether. Some libraries only take UK subjects. Some only Scottish etc.
 
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TCR4x4 said:
Need to pull my finger out! Only got 7 images on there so far.

To the guys with loads. Do you purposely shoot stock to go on there or just shoot whatever and upload what you think they will accept?
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The latter.
Think places like Istock that cater to the conceptual market require more deliberate shooting for stock but Alamy seem quite general.
 
It's more a case of guessing what people are going to be looking for, make sure your key words are comprehensive and logical and making your work, in your opinion, is more original and of higher quality than that already on there. And get thousands on there.

Try to think like a designer or editor and take pictures accordingly
 
Have a look at Alamy Measures and it will show you what people are looking for - in fact almost everything you could think of! You can check only your own pictures - or the whole of Alamy - very enlightening.
 
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It is actually quite interesting to see those searches. Some very random stuff appears sometimes.

What would be useful though - and I dont think they do it - is to see all the searches that have been done where there was no image found that matched. Now that would be very handy
 
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