Armstrong

I remember helping you when you were new here, privately giving you advice via DM. You weren't so discourteous then.

It's a good thing. When people view your images on the Alamy website do you get paid? Do you get paid for views on your own website? So why should social media be different? It's about getting as much exposure for ourselves and Alamy as possible. That drives traffic to the Alamy website and that is good for all of us. It also builds credibility for Alamy. Can anyone name a successful creative brand that is rejecting social media, not working with the opportunities it provides? Watch a few of Gary Vaynerchuk's videos to see how to lever social media. If you don't think social media can be powerful than just look at how it influences elections. The media buyers of today are the social media generation. If we want some of their money, we have to play in their court.

The standard advice has always been to get as much RAM as you can. These days I think getting a machine with an SSD is equally as important. I'm happily using a late 2009 iMac with the Superdrive replaced by an SSD. It's performance is night and day compared to when it had a spinning hard drive.

Thank you! I think I did the right thing, I'll be glad to check for updates. Tell me, does that affect my rating, or each alias will have its own, independent from each other? I think each pseudonym has an independent ranking and also gets a medium rank when created.

Before you sign up do some research and see if you can get any discounts on CC. I got a 20% limited deal direct of Adobe. Flickr also had a deal for members. One of the advantages I saw going from PSE to full PS was in my Alamy workflow. The ability to run actions has made processing quicker/easier by automating repetitive tasks using actions. For example I have one for dust spotting that creates the layers, inverts the colours and selects the correct brush.

The are no drawbacks to filling it in except a few seconds in your workflow. Usually the location details are in the caption so I just copy and paste them across.

I'm in the UK. Prices are in £'s for me. Are any of the people who are not seeing prices in their home currency using something like a VPN?

I use the same machine as you (not literally) and I edit in a darkened room. The reason is eye strain. If it's bright in the room and I have reflections on the screen that reduces the amount of time I can edit significantly (I have regular eye checks). I bought black out material from Amazon and that reduces the light enough to help.

i respect that point of view but it's not a like for like comparison. Your €126 won't last you forever...because that copy of LR will have stood still whilst CC has improved (I don't think LR6 has de-haze yet). If you get a new camera it might not be supported etc. Buying standalone LR would cost me 18 months of CC and I also get full Photoshop (previously used Elements). I usually upgraded LR every two generations anyway so CC isn't a major difference in price.

I haven't noticed it but it does make sense. Sometimes news images can be very specific and maybe not what's needed for general stock. They can also be of 'bad news' stories so for less of what a client is looking for in general stock.

BBC News Magazine CWR8GT Keith Morris http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35978328

I was happy using Flash. Is it just me ? Like the Exclusive to Alamy tick box thing. Won't be restricting my images to editorial only. I'd have missed out on 2x four figure $ advertising licences had I restricted my images to editorial only. I can understand editorial only when covering events etc., as mentioned in Martin's post earlier in this thread. To comply with accreditation limitations is the only time I would use the editorial only button. For the reasons you suggest. Don't like Flash though but not as vehemently as some. I have it switched off and only switch it on, occasionally, for the BBC and Manage Images! Steve Jobs famously hated flash. It's a massive security risk and something best left in the past, like the early versions of Internet Explorer many still use.

Hi Jacob, My advice is to get more variety in your portfolio. At the moment you have 22 images of daffodils out of 61. A lot of those images are similar too. This effectively reduces the size of your portfolio. You don't need to spend money to make money at this stage. All the information you need to tackle keywording is in the Alamy help pages and especially in the forum where there is lots of discussion about it. Talking of the forum, there is so much good info here. I would set aside a few hours, make a pot of tea and start to search the forum for subjects as Sales, Critique, Images Found, Portfolio Review, and Keywording. Once you've done that and still need advice then ask the questions here. Have a look at how photos are used and think about how you could adapt your style to suit i.e leaving room for text to be inserted. Good luck!

None in my first 4..but one not long after.

I pay monthly for CC. I got it with a 20% discount that Adobe was running. I have always used Lightroom but this also allows me to use the full version of Photoshop too for not much more than the price of an Lightroom upgrade. It's well worth it as the benefits it has give me a faster and better workflow. It's also less than the cost of a couple of takeaway coffees!