Optimizing images

[Libby w]

Has anyone found that optimizing their images actually help?  I have been trying to improve on the discoverability & hope that the green line progresses, sometimes yes sometimes no.  I do have a lot in the "amber" zone so is it worth trying to help them or do they get found & sold without the extra work involved with images already posted previously? A fellow photographer did tell me recently that she sold a picture of a really weird sign that was only in "amber"!! However there were not many with that particular caption, so that may have helped her. Any imput you have on my questions would be really appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Pearl]

There is already a lot about this on the forum.  Search discoverability.  The general consensus seems to be that it's a waste of time so no point worrying about it.

 

pearl

[Betty LaRue]

I've had quite a few zooms of images still in the orange that have not been worked on to give the 10 supertags. So yes, they still seem to be found easily enough.

I don't bother with ever trying to get mine in the green. But as I slowly work on legacy images, I'm deleting bad tags, adding some I didn't think of at the time, sometimes adding a phrase or two. Sometimes this gets one in the green, but that isn't my purpose.

 

I wasn't that good at keywording (or captions) in early times.

Betty

[John Mitchell]

As an experiment, I optimized two images in my collection. Coming up with 50 tags to describe cherry blossoms was mentally exhausting (worse than doing Sudoku puzzles), but somehow I made it.

 

Nada to show for my efforts so far...

 

The remaining 6296 images in my port all have "poor discoverability" and will likely stay that way.

[John Mitchell]

Alamy themselves has said it makes no difference, as I must have said a dozen times now. 

 

Geoff.

 

OK then, I'll stick with Sudoku.

[John Mitchell]

 

 

Alamy themselves has said it makes no difference, as I must have said a dozen times now.

 

Geoff.

OK then, I'll stick with Sudoku.

I wasn't directing anything at you John. Sorry if it came across that way.

 

Geoff.

Never crossed my mind. It was a bad attempt at humour on my part.

 

Actually, trying to dream up 50 tags for the same image was quite instructive. It's amazing what you can think of. Still don't feel it's worth the effort for most images, though.

 

Here's what I came up with for the aforementioned cherry blossoms.

 

P.S. Images like this one tend not sell (IME) on Alamy, so I thought there was nothing to lose.

[Niels Quist]

I have neutralized two red arrows for two of you who wrote honest remarks about not searching the forum before asking questions. I don't understand why they were given in the first place.

[John Mitchell]

 

 

Never crossed my mind. It was a bad attempt at humour on my part.

 

Actually, trying to dream up 50 tags for the same image was quite instructive. It's amazing what you can think of. Still don't feel it's worth the effort for most images, though.

 

Here's what I came up with for the aforementioned cherry blossoms.

 

P.S. Images like this one tend not sell (IME) on Alamy, so I thought there was nothing to lose.

 

 

Someone else didn't seem happy with my comment earlier about what Alamy have said, despite it being factual, and rewarded me with a red arrow. Maybe they were having a bad day! Thanks to the decent contributor who cancelled that out. 

 

I agree John that if you really want to come up with 50 tags, it is possible and does make you stretch your mind. Lately I've come up with all sorts of phrases for images that I haven't thought of before, mainly concepts, and I even uploaded 2 versions of the same image so I could fill them all out, and I still wanted more!     Usually though there is no need or reason to come up with so many.

 

Geoff.

 

 

I think it depends on the type of image. Ones that could be used to illustrate a range of different concepts might benefit from optimization. However, documentary images of subjects that don't lend themselves to concepts are probably best left with fewer keywords. For instance, adding a lot of concept tags to say a picture of a well-known historical building would probably just result in the image coming up in too many irrelevant search results.

[Betty LaRue]

 

 

Never crossed my mind. It was a bad attempt at humour on my part.

Actually, trying to dream up 50 tags for the same image was quite instructive. It's amazing what you can think of. Still don't feel it's worth the effort for most images, though.

Here's what I came up with for the aforementioned cherry blossoms.

P.S. Images like this one tend not sell (IME) on Alamy, so I thought there was nothing to lose.

 

 

Someone else didn't seem happy with my comment earlier about what Alamy have said, despite it being factual, and rewarded me with a red arrow. Maybe they were having a bad day! Thanks to the decent contributor who cancelled that out. 

 

I agree John that if you really want to come up with 50 tags, it is possible and does make you stretch your mind. Lately I've come up with all sorts of phrases for images that I haven't thought of before, mainly concepts, and I even uploaded 2 versions of the same image so I could fill them all out, and I still wanted more!     Usually though there is no need or reason to come up with so many.

 

Geoff.

 

I think it depends on the type of image. Ones that could be used to illustrate a range of different concepts might benefit from optimization. However, documentary images of subjects that don't lend themselves to concepts are probably best left with fewer keywords. For instance, adding a lot of concept tags to say a picture of a well-known historical building would probably just result in the image coming up in too many irrelevant search results.

Speaking of concepts. How do you tag the image? Concepts,concept,conceptual,concept romance,romance concept,love concept,concept love, etc,etc

I've been somewhat confused as to the best way.

Betty

[KevinS]

Betty,

 

I hadn't thought to put the word "concept" into the tag, but rather just the concept I think the image might convey. Like "peaceful" for reflections in a lake or "power" for a breaking wave. I don't do this often so not sure beyond that. Checking "All of Alamy" would be helpful to see how buyers search when they want to illustrate something abstract, and whether or not they use words like "concept" or "abstract".  

[MariaJ]

 

 

 

Alamy themselves has said it makes no difference, as I must have said a dozen times now.

 

Geoff.

OK then, I'll stick with Sudoku.

I wasn't directing anything at you John. Sorry if it came across that way.

 

Geoff.

Never crossed my mind. It was a bad attempt at humour on my part.

 

Actually, trying to dream up 50 tags for the same image was quite instructive. It's amazing what you can think of. Still don't feel it's worth the effort for most images, though.

 

Here's what I came up with for the aforementioned cherry blossoms.

 

P.S. Images like this one tend not sell (IME) on Alamy, so I thought there was nothing to lose.

 

 

Very impressive list of keywords for cherry blossoms John!  I've also been doing some some of the same for my recent images of Vancouver cherry blossoms.  Btw, I'm not sure if the ones in your image are Kanzan, as they are usually a darker pink in colour.

 

Maria

[John Mitchell]

 

 

 

 

Alamy themselves has said it makes no difference, as I must have said a dozen times now.

 

Geoff.

OK then, I'll stick with Sudoku.

I wasn't directing anything at you John. Sorry if it came across that way.

 

Geoff.

Never crossed my mind. It was a bad attempt at humour on my part.

 

Actually, trying to dream up 50 tags for the same image was quite instructive. It's amazing what you can think of. Still don't feel it's worth the effort for most images, though.

 

Here's what I came up with for the aforementioned cherry blossoms.

 

P.S. Images like this one tend not sell (IME) on Alamy, so I thought there was nothing to lose.

 

 

Very impressive list of keywords for cherry blossoms John!  I've also been doing some some of the same for my recent images of Vancouver cherry blossoms.  Btw, I'm not sure if the ones in your image are Kanzan, as they are usually a darker pink in colour.

 

Maria

 

 

Thanks for pointing that out. You may be right. I'll have to do some more research. The Kanzan might be the really dark pink blossoms. I'm not exactly an expert...

 

BTW, have you ever licensed a Vancouver cherry blossom image? I haven't, but they are fun to take.

 

Regarding using the word "concept" (or variation thereof) in keywords, I don't usually put it  in. Perhaps I should start doing that.

[MariaJ]

 

 

 

 

 

Alamy themselves has said it makes no difference, as I must have said a dozen times now.

 

Geoff.

OK then, I'll stick with Sudoku.

I wasn't directing anything at you John. Sorry if it came across that way.

 

Geoff.

Never crossed my mind. It was a bad attempt at humour on my part.

 

Actually, trying to dream up 50 tags for the same image was quite instructive. It's amazing what you can think of. Still don't feel it's worth the effort for most images, though.

 

Here's what I came up with for the aforementioned cherry blossoms.

 

P.S. Images like this one tend not sell (IME) on Alamy, so I thought there was nothing to lose.

 

 

Very impressive list of keywords for cherry blossoms John!  I've also been doing some some of the same for my recent images of Vancouver cherry blossoms.  Btw, I'm not sure if the ones in your image are Kanzan, as they are usually a darker pink in colour.

 

Maria

 

 

Thanks for pointing that out. You may be right. I'll have to do some more research. The Kanzan might be the really dark pink blossoms. I'm not exactly an expert...

 

BTW, have you ever licensed a Vancouver cherry blossom image? I haven't, but they are fun to take.

 

Regarding using the word "concept" (or variation thereof) in keywords, I don't usually put it  in. Perhaps I should start doing that.

 

 

I'm not an expert on cherry blossoms but I've been studying them lately because I've recently submitted a few images of them (and I love this time of year with all the blossoms).  Turns out some nice ones I thought were cherry blossoms are actually plum blossoms.  They bloom at the same time.

 

I have licensed one cherry blossom image, and it was for personal use.

 

Maria

[John Mitchell]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alamy themselves has said it makes no difference, as I must have said a dozen times now.

 

Geoff.

OK then, I'll stick with Sudoku.

I wasn't directing anything at you John. Sorry if it came across that way.

 

Geoff.

Never crossed my mind. It was a bad attempt at humour on my part.

 

Actually, trying to dream up 50 tags for the same image was quite instructive. It's amazing what you can think of. Still don't feel it's worth the effort for most images, though.

 

Here's what I came up with for the aforementioned cherry blossoms.

 

P.S. Images like this one tend not sell (IME) on Alamy, so I thought there was nothing to lose.

 

 

Very impressive list of keywords for cherry blossoms John!  I've also been doing some some of the same for my recent images of Vancouver cherry blossoms.  Btw, I'm not sure if the ones in your image are Kanzan, as they are usually a darker pink in colour.

 

Maria

 

 

Thanks for pointing that out. You may be right. I'll have to do some more research. The Kanzan might be the really dark pink blossoms. I'm not exactly an expert...

 

BTW, have you ever licensed a Vancouver cherry blossom image? I haven't, but they are fun to take.

 

Regarding using the word "concept" (or variation thereof) in keywords, I don't usually put it  in. Perhaps I should start doing that.

 

 

I'm not an expert on cherry blossoms but I've been studying them lately because I've recently submitted a few images of them (and I love this time of year with all the blossoms).  Turns out some nice ones I thought were cherry blossoms are actually plum blossoms.  They bloom at the same time.

 

I have licensed one cherry blossom image, and it was for personal use.

 

Maria

 

 

Yes, we're lucky to have so many Japanese ornamental cheery and plum trees in Vancouver. Glad to hear that you had some luck, even if it was the controversial PU.

 

I found this website useful:

 

http://www.vcbf.ca/cherry-versus-plum-blossoms-whats-the-difference

 

P.S. I'm going to remove "Kanzan" for the time being.

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.vcbf.ca/cherry-versus-plum-blossoms-whats-the-difference

[MariaJ]

Thanks for the suggestion John. I have used the vcbf quite a bit, both to find the blossoms in the city, and help identify them.  It's a great resource.

 

Maria