Jools Elliott

I've just had a moment to check mine. It is down by over 50% of what it normally is. Every year I have claimed it has been consistent so I am shocked beyond belief that it has declined in such a drastic way.

Colin. Thanks! Apology accepted and no offense has been taken. I think it is sad that you kind enough to give the reply you did and you get your own red arrow just for being courteous. Right now I am in Vietnam doing something similar to Keith. I am staying in Hoi An for two weeks (long story why), learning Vietnamese and photographing local people’s portraits. My geographical area is extremely limited but what I have done is made many connections by making new friends. I am trading English lessons for help in learning Vietnamese. The language is helping me get images most others wouldn’t.

Just to reiterate. I absolutely respect what Keith did as a photographer. To have done what he did in such a small geographical area is nothing of phenomenal in this day and age. i guess my original post didn’t convey that. And again, the last thing I really want to be seeing is someone we all know losing their life. It is extremely tragic and beyond sadness when someone is taken before their time.

I only learned of Keith’s passing last night. It is very tragic what has happened and whenever one of our own is taken then we can only grieve. with regards to his comments to me. We are very different photographers. We each have our own styles and ways of working. It really is not the moment to name people in this way and to start making comparisons between our respective ways of working.

I hope not as I'll be in Moscow for 1 month at the end of the year. i'd like to use my downtime to sort out the keywording on my images.

Thanks everyone! In fact, one useful thing it has done is that it's made me go through what I have and see what needs tightening up in terms of keywording etc. I did find some images that didn't even have a caption so at least one good thing has come of this curiosity. As for green bars, I've been waiting for the usual suspects to come along who I know are well placed to offer insight on this. Very appreciated that as usual a feature has been added but no details offered up by Alamy as to how much difference it makes and that contributors are giving the best feedback.

Thanks Betty! I need to properly look at what I have and what I think should be optimized or not. Of course, you never do what someone is likely to be searching for.

Afternoon all For once I have some free time between relentless traveling around the place and so I'm taking a closer look at my Alamy imagery. Have any of you noticed a difference in the overall visibility and sales of your work by pushing that green bar all the way up to optimized? I ask as I have about 5500 images that are classed as being poor discoverability. I'm wondering how much use of my time it is going through these and seeing what I can do to push the bar until the end. Thanks

Copyright in your work is automatic. The only way it is different is that if you have produced the images for someone else. It is highly recommended to register your work at the US Copyright Office. Average wait time to receive the documentation is 9 months but lately things have been done in 3 weeks. Always very useful to add metadata behind the scenes. Watermark: honestly, you can add it but if someone is going to steal your work they will either crop it off; clone it or just keep it in there believing that it gives them the right to use the image.

I went from a 5D Mark II to a Mark IV. Seriously, get it! Got to Hdew Cameras and they have them for £1799 new.

From what I remember of Britain's places where you need to go such as town halls; doctors etc there are a number of leaflets etc in different languages to help people. The UK is very well equipped to deal with ex-pats from other countries. Again, France is pretty diverse with a number of people from a number of countries but you rarely see leaflets etc in any other language apart from at tourist attractions.

Curiosity, have you been an ex-pat? I can absolutely feel the pain that Ed does as living here in France their bureaucracy is a nightmare! The French know it but will do nothing about it. A few years ago I was told by a French worker to read Asterix in Rome. It takes the mickey out of the French administration in the 50s. And it has not changed!!! I'm very sure that the pain and frustration that Ed talks of in Spain is pretty the same as it is here in France. You are often faced with the "it's not my department" line as well as taking a form to an office and it needing about 3 different people to actually get it all signed off. And no, I am not kidding. A couple of years ago I was given a car to use. Great! You go the office in the centre of town to sort out the change of ownership. But it takes one person to make sure you have filled out the form correctly then you are told to wait in another queue to pay the fee. The one good thing the French have is that if you need something like a copy of your birth certificate then it's free unlike the UK.

Maybe some ideas for you Ed: https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/index/europe Or you could just become a digital nomad. There are a number of YouTubers who do this. Go somewhere for three months. Get an AirBnB so you don't have to worry about local taxes; setting up internet etc.

Reading your tales sounds like it is here in France. Bureaucracy. Endless paperwork. They know it but won't do anything about it! Don't you have access to an Irish passport? Wouldn't it be easier to go to there? I know that's probably easier said than done but it's a thought. Outside of that, how about Italy. In my many travels to the country I have found a good number of people speak English and not just in cafés and restaurants but you also find it in some of the bigger cities town halls.

Careful. Hyperzoom has been trade marked: http://www.geofftompkinson.com/hyperzoom/