CM photo

Thanks, Kevin. The reason I asked was that I have placed PU restrictions on some of my images but I am still getting the odd distributor sale (I am only signed up for a handful of territories). I think I need to go through my distributor sales to see if any of them involve images for which I have restrictions, but it's unlikely to be conclusive. And, as you point out, the word "may" will cloud the issue still more.

While we're on this subject, did anyone come to a firm conclusion over the link between personal use and distribution? There were rumours that preventing personal use would also prevent distribution. Is this correct? And, if so, does this apply to just those images that have personal use prevented or is it "one out, all out"? I don't remember seeing any conclusive statements from Alamy on this - perhaps I've missed something?

John Obviously, I don't know if the direct sales come as a result of opting out. However, I do get sales from parts of the world where I would normally expect them through a distributor (based on the time when I was opted in). I understand that buyers might prefer to go through local distributors, and I'm sure I lose some sales because of this. My point is that the enhanced fees obtained from forcing them to buy direct, might compensate - at least to some extent - for those lost. It depends what you shoot, obviously, but if you have images they need then there should be at least some occasions when they will use Alamy directly. whether they like it or not. As I said, I have no way of knowing. I do actually allow distribution in territories where there could be a language problem (Japan being one example but there are obviously others). I do not get reduced commission from derisory sales in other parts of the world though, which is good for my blood pressure. Chris

That, of course, is assuming that foreign buyers don't go straight to Alamy if they can't buy through a distributor. After all, that's the whole point of the "world wide" web, isn't it? I have had direct sales from overseas that have avoided the distributor system because I have been opted out. Obviously, there's no way of knowing how many distributor sales I've missed out on but at least I do get a reasonable share on the odd(?) ones that get sold. Does the higher fee make up for the ones I miss? I don't know. My strategy is to allow distribution for certain countries where I have had good sales in the past, especially where English is not widely spoken. Chris

I've gone over to Energizer rechargables, which got the highest rating in a recent Which? survey. But as Bryan pointed out, it's hard to know if you've made the right decision until they've been in use for a while. So far so good though. I've been concerned for a long time about disposing of spent batteries, especially in countries where there is less awareness of the hazards involved.

Humorous in places and depressingly accurate. Worth watching - thanks.

Apparently not. I still get a few distributor sales (I'm only signed up for a handful of countries) even though a proportion of my images are opted out of personal use.

Paulette - for your information, it's not actually a Sociable Weaver bird. They're the one that build huge thatched constructions with many nest holes in them, sometimes attached to telegraph posts. They are brown sparrow-like birds, with no yellow on them. Yours is possibly a female Masked Weaver.

"Boletus Erythropus" Strictly speaking, Boletes erythropus, the specific name always having a lower case initial letter. Biological convention (often not followed!). Chris

Correct

And that's because "England" and "English" are in the keywords (as are "Derbyshire" and "Buxton")?????

The 38.5% figure is due to the 3% that goes to Rakuten, which is taken from the Alamy/photographer's slice of the pie. Alamy and the photographer get 38.5% each.

This is my approach, too. I look on the keywording as research, which adds to the enjoyment of taking the photos; time spent reading around the subject is never wasted, in my opinion. Looking at the appalling keyword lists that accompany some photos, especially those from certain agencies, I can see why people who keyword sparingly but accurately probably get better returns. Chris

Yes, I agree. I'm a big fan of LR and having been using it since version 1 - I just thought Bridge might bring something new to my workflow. Putting together a nested series of keywords in LR when you already have thousands of individual keywords listed is not a viable option; dragging, say "wolf" up the list to "animals" takes forever - and then you have to do it all again with "zebra"! Life's too short. Chris

I'm not seeing this, perhaps my preferences are not set up for it. But in any case, it seems to be more hassle than it's worth - I think I'll stick to keywording in Lightroom, where keywords can be nested, as in Bridge, although I have to admit it could be a lot more intuitive than it is! Thanks for your help, though - I may come back to this at a later date when I have more time. Chris