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Hi all. I recently purchased Affinity (and am starting to learn how to use it ... I have a long way to go!) I have a trial period for submitting to Alamy Live News, and hope to submit something this weekend. For Live News, they want certain ITPC metadata filled in... However, in Affinity, the categories they mentioned are only partially in ITPC. The other is in 'File'. Affinity users and Live News contributors: which metadata do you fill in where? Thanks. Anna

A strange day today. I was out this lunchtime taking pictures of local people sledging and playing in the snow for the live news feed and didn't have any problems. An hour later my missus pointed out a picture making the rounds on Facebook which looked like me (but with more hair) and holding the camera badly, taken literally around the corner from my house, of a man taking pictures in the snow. This man was probably a paedophile and needed a good kicking said many of the commenters as they happilly shared it over 300 times. I commented and tried to educate them that, wether they like it or not, it's NOT illegal to take pictures of kids in public and even publish them, (unless they are demed indecent) and he may just have been taking them as a record of the weather. I wasn't really getting anywhere and was called a paedo myself when I said I was happy to do it. After a big list of aggressive threats and comments about the man, a local 'Press Photographer' who's relative is the Chief Reporter on our local Newsquest rag piped up and asked for the picture and post to be removed as the person (not him he says) was just doing his job and is a genuine press photographer who shoots for a news agency and he had been asked to do some shots in that area. He went on to say that you DID need permission to shoot kids and no paper would publish them without names and details. I would of course ask, as a matter of courtesy if I was taking pictures close up, but as far as I'm aware I do not, and never have need permission shooting in, or from a public place no matter the age of the person. So... have i got it completely wrong, or has something changed.

The "Live News" section is grayed out for me, on the upload page on Alamy web site; the "Stock" and "Reportage/Archival" sections are working normally. Also, I don't see a "live news" folder when logging in via FTP (to newsupload.alamy.com). I am approved for live news contributions. Anyone know why that is?

hello I would like to upload images from live news but I can't find the folder or deposit my images! see my screenshot In ftp it's the same I don't see a folder live news! a solution ?

I live in Northern California and right now we are experiencing wildfires, evacuations, power shutoffs and general human misery. I'm in the Live News feed and shoot only for Alamy. I know enough not to stick my nose where it doesn't belong or get in the way of emergency responders. On the other hand, I don't want some minor official that's drunk on power restricting my access. How do I identify myself to officials? Should I print up a generic press pass? Any thoughts from you pros?

Has anyone had success using the Transfer and Tagging App for Imaging Edge on an android phone for live news (or stock)? Is there a way to test the metadata transfer and FTP functions of this app on a windows 10 local machine?

I have been having discussions with other photographers about live news captions. I normally take the view that as long as I cover the 5 “W”’s, who, what, when, where and why I am OK and generally shorter is better for busy picture editors. If a newspaper is going to use one of my pictures of a cabinet minister then it is normally attached to some sort of policy/announcement and all they need is a name title, location date Thus “ (date) Julian Smith MP PC Secretary of State for Northern Ireland leaves a Brexit meeting at the Cabinet office Whitehall London” is sufficient. Or “London 20th August 2019 Pro democracy Hong Kong demonstrators outside the Cabinet Office in Whitehall London.” If the photo is not is not so obvious, such as a recent Essex Custom Culture show (excuse the oxymoron) I would put in details thus “(date) 1937 Model T Ford on display at the Essex Custom Culture Show in Brentwood, Essex. The custom Culture Show is an exhibition of British and North American culture from the early thirties to the sixties.” However i note some photographers put much much more detail in their captions. For example Julian Smith MP PC Northern Ireland Secretary leaves the Cabinet office in Whitehall after a Brexit meeting, escorted by a police officer with anti Brexit protesters in the background” i know there is no completely correct answer but what are contributors views?

Hi, i know I have had a portfolio review before but this is a different question. About 95% of my pictures are Live News and of those 90% are from Downing Street and Westminster. I have a reasonable level of news web sales (anything from 10 to 30) and monthly print sales. (Between 1 and 5) This give a reasonable income for the three to four days a week I put in. (I have childcare responsibilities) The Cabinet Minister/Prime Minister shots are best sellers. However, I am not getting the level of print sales of friends covering broadly the same subjects. I am aware that the subject of my photography puts me up against the big agencies such as PA and Reuter’s etc so competition is fierce. (And I am frequently surprised when my pictures are used rather than theirs.). I do keyword my news sales as they often pop up as stock. I try the “less is more” with news pictures as the subject is not really conducive to wide key-wording. I do try to widen the scope with weather photos, local (Essex) events and a tiny bit of stock. My trusty (and expensive) Nikon D5 is on its way to the shop as the LCD screen has stopped working so I am using the time to review my business and shooting plans for the next six months, What can I do with my portfolio to improve sales? Any help appreciated https://www.alamy.com/portfolio/iandavidsonphotography

I would be grateful for comments on my portfolio. About 99% of my pictures are live news, taken in Westminster, edited and filed from pavements and cafes. I know I am not a good technical photographer but I have been told I have an eye for a story and story telling photos. Thank you you in advance for your comments. https://www.alamy.com/portfolio/iandavidsonphotography Ian Davidson

Hello fellows, I don't know if I'm missing something, but when browsing through the Alamy website, there is no indication about "exclusive images" (Only available on Alamy), either in stock or live news images, in general search or individual image description (visitors mode). I think it would be an interesting option, useful to highlight the images from "Exclusive collection of stock and live news" and facilitate whoever (potential customers) either searching or browsing through the Alamy website. Andre

There are still places available at my annual one-day intensive Alamy / AlamyNews stock photography workshop in beautiful Cirencester in two months time..... The day is suitable for all levels of experience, from outright beginners to more experienced contributors who want to improve their working methods contact me (workshops@artx.co.uk) for more details and prices https://www.abbeyphotoschool.co.uk/alamy-sales-seminar Some quotes from previous particpants: “I absolutely loved the day and really came away feeling enthused.” Jim C “Thanks again for the course your energy and enthusiasm and openness made for an excellent day. “ Alex M “I really enjoyed the day. I thought the content and information was great for those up us who were just beginning on the Stock journey. “ Rob C “It was certainly very inspiring and has made me want to step more into the reportage / RM world!” Tom G “I think the day was a great success and I enjoyed it very much, in addition to learning lots of valuable information” Christopher J “Hi Keith, thanks again for an inspirational day in Cirencester.” Chris P “The workshop/seminar was absolutely fantastic. Learnt so much and you presented very openly with the reality that a street reportage photographer experiences daily. It was nice to see how close I was, yet those few little tweaks can make all the difference. “ Cernan E keith morris

In another thread Julie Edwards commented "If you are using Live News, Picture desks will not be happy with files over 5MB.. Most press photographers send files in that are between (just under) 1MB and 2MB.." This is something that I give regular thought to, what is the optimum file size for live news that will also possibly later sell as stock? A friend of mine who unfortunately passed away earlier this year used work shifts for Newsquest shooting sport. I know he used to upload quite small files, far smaller files than I do, and shoot jpeg, while I shoot 14 bit RAW. He had a brief based upon how his photo's would be used, we don't know what a potential clients precise use will be. I used to upload full size jpg's. Other photographers I know, when I check their uploads, they are in the 50 - 60 MB + open files range, and a quick sample of recent live news uploads noted the smallest being 24 MB, others 34 MB - 60MB +. Moments ago I did an interesting comparison of my D750 open file sizes against the actual file sizes as below. RAW SIZE LONGEST SIDE PIXELS OPEN SIZE JPEG QUALITY JPEG FILE SIZE LONGEST SIDE PRINTED 300DPI 32.3 MB 6016 69.1 MB 12 17.5 MB 20" 32.3 MB 4000 30.6 MB 12 7.9 MB 13.3" 32.3 MB 3000 17.2 MB 12 4.7 MB 10" 32.3 MB 2850 15.5 MB 12 4.2 MB 9.5" 32.3 MB 2850 15.5 MB 10 1.6 MB 9.5" I now reduce my uploads to 4000 pixels longest side, and they upload lots faster via my phone hot spot. They also have the ability to be printed a reasonable size at 300 dpi, although overkill for the web and I guess newsprint. I maintain jpeg quality 12 as Alamy asks for “Images of the highest quality possible”. I suspect there is very little visible difference in quality between quality 10 and 12, but 10 certainly reduces the actual file size. What file sizes and jpeg quality do others uploading to live news use? Do full size jpg's have any advantage at all, as it's a common occurrence? Steve

Hi there, I am trying to set up for an efficient workflow for uploading Live News images in the field. I am shooting with Nikon D850 and don't want to carry a laptop around, it should all be possible with my Android smartphone in theory. I've just discovered Nikon's IPTC Preset Manager software doesn't work on D850 (why Nikon, why?) as that works nicely on D5s. I've tried the Press IPTC Android app but it doesn't work properly on HTC U11 (problem with the way directories are set), I've attempted to contact their support but the project appears dead (website gone and emails bounce back). MoPhoto is no longer available in the Play store and also appears to be dead. Snapbridge does not offer the complete set of fields to meet Alamy requirements for Live News upload. I have Lightroom on Android and that seems to allow entering of IPTC but it's fiddly with small text boxes (the photo import option only has the copyright field). Once finished I've used AndFTP to upload to Alamy. Can anyone recommend anything else for my situation? Any help much appreciated. Cheers all.

I've been wondering this for a while, but just checking the Live News photos now, aren't some contributors playing the system a bit by submitting single photos from the same event in independent submissions, knowing that each photo will get its own feature on Live News? This obviously clutters up the feed so other sets of photos perhaps get overlooked.

May I suggest a “Live News” forum. There are some very dedicated “full time” contributors as well as a large number of occasional contributors. (Weather watchers?); The requirements for live news are subtly different to stock photography. It would also be useful to exchange tips on equipment, sources, events and similar shop talk. It would also raise the profile of the Live News service for buyers.

Hi all, I uploaded some photos onto Live News yesterday and everything worked fine and they were up on the Live News website very quickly and they are still there today but when I checked in 'My Submissions' this morning it stated that they were not on sale. I am a little confused, are they on sale or not? I have now keyworded them and all is well but does this mean until you keyword photos in Live News they do not go on sale? Excuse my ignorance. Any info much appreciated.

Out of curiosity what's the quickest anybody has had a live news upload sold from the time it was uploaded.

Hi, I read previous forum topics on Live News: Headline and Caption but can't find answer am looking for.. - Where do 'Headline and Caption' shall be written to? Sorry if my question sound funny, but after I drop my picture for upload via My Dashboard I have only one option to choose from - Title (only). There is no other option I could see. What do I do wrong? Where to write Headline and Captions for LiveNews upload?