Autumn Sky Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 Last month I spent 3 weeks in Cuba; not in resorts, but traveling the country. Cuba is still quite a bit about revolution, and some of images I have are of this type: This is archive photo taken in Playa Giron museum, depicting scenes from famous Bay of Pigs battle. Micro-stock rejected it even as editorial, but I expected that; this is more Alamy type of image anyways. So my question is: Is there a market for this kind of photo? In other words, should I bother processing & uploading them (then making exclusive to Alamy), or is it basically waste of time as it would never sell? I have quite a few along the similar line, i.e Che Guevara mausoleum, various images of Castro incl. his tomb in Santiago etc. Second question is about licensing: Photography in all these places was obviously allowed, and I'd tick "Sell for editorial only" but can there still be any licensing issues I could get into trouble should image sell? Thanks for your response in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Quist Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 - don't know about other problems, but I'd say it is missing context to be marked exclusive to Alamy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 Sounds like a fascinating trip. I imagine they would be OK for editorial use only, but please don't quote me. Tough question to answer. It would probably have been a good idea to provide more context -- i.e. show more of the surroundings in the frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autumn Sky Posted March 4, 2019 Author Share Posted March 4, 2019 Yes, most of images have context but this is besides the point. I took this one as example for question: Is there a market on Alamy for archival photos of Cuban revolution, mainly taken in various museums across the country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 10 minutes ago, Autumn Sky said: Yes, most of images have context but this is besides the point. I took this one as example for question: Is there a market on Alamy for archival photos of Cuban revolution, mainly taken in various museums across the country. I imagine there is only one way to find out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 I don't see why not- I had search returns on something comparable within days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 You're a contributor to Alamy. You have access to AoA. Now what keywords would you use for these images? And are clients using those keywords in searches? Now if the answer is yes, are your images what the client would expect to see? If the answer is yes, are your images as good or better than the images that are already available on Alamy? There are currently 10,456 images of Che Guevara on Alamy. There have been 240 searches for him in the rolling year. However if your images are about a museum of the Cuban Revolution, there have only been 2 searches, but there are currently 3004 images available with those keywords on Alamy. Could still be yours are way better of course. wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autumn Sky Posted March 5, 2019 Author Share Posted March 5, 2019 21 hours ago, wiskerke said: You're a contributor to Alamy. You have access to AoA. Now what keywords would you use for these images? And are clients using those keywords in searches? Now if the answer is yes, are your images what the client would expect to see? If the answer is yes, are your images as good or better than the images that are already available on Alamy? There are currently 10,456 images of Che Guevara on Alamy. There have been 240 searches for him in the rolling year. However if your images are about a museum of the Cuban Revolution, there have only been 2 searches, but there are currently 3004 images available with those keywords on Alamy. Could still be yours are way better of course. wim That is very good analysis. Thank you. But it also describes wider issue of general market condition and image saturation. It is very hard to photograph something that already doesn't have 100s or 1000s of images online. I.e. I have couple of good shots of Columbus statue taken in Baracoa Cuba, but quick search on Alamy reveals 27 images that all look very similar. One shot I am not able to find is this Mexican aerospace memorial taken in Cozumel, all part of same recent trip (question is still does anyone need it, but it is a nice shot) Re Cuba Museum - I will upload a few that look unique enough. I think photo uniqueness is still good selling point. I.e there are many photos of Cuban guard change next to Castro grave in Santiago, but I got fairly unique shot of row of tourists watching it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 Yes, Cuba has been heavily photographed for good reason. It's a very photogenic place. La Revolucion is old news now. I'd think that images showing how things are changing there might do well -- e.g. people using electronic devices, new businesses, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autumn Sky Posted March 5, 2019 Author Share Posted March 5, 2019 Another good point John. Things there are still very "static", i.e. 50 yrs ago. Re Internet, there are are wi-fi spots (few and far in between), but you need to buy ETECSA cards -- government telecommunication company, 1 CUC (~ 1USD) for 60 mins. So I got shots of of people lined up in front of ETECSA store. Or shots of cuban schools etc. But I was not sure about museum archival, which is why I started this thread. Maybe I should upload a pic of ETECSA internet card :=) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 42 minutes ago, Autumn Sky said: Another good point John. Things there are still very "static", i.e. 50 yrs ago. Re Internet, there are are wi-fi spots (few and far in between), but you need to buy ETECSA cards -- government telecommunication company, 1 CUC (~ 1USD) for 60 mins. So I got shots of of people lined up in front of ETECSA store. Or shots of cuban schools etc. But I was not sure about museum archival, which is why I started this thread. Maybe I should upload a pic of ETECSA internet card :=) Uploading an image of the internet card might actually be a good idea. I see there are a number of ETECSA-themed images on Alamy. Mybe a some are yours. P.S. I'd probably like Cuba since I miss phone booths. They were a wonderful invention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autumn Sky Posted March 5, 2019 Author Share Posted March 5, 2019 Not mine, I just got back from the trip & barely uploaded 1 or 2 pics. This is card photo I had in mind -- someone already did it. Only 1 page on "ETECSA" search though - and some spammed with keywords , as expected (i.e. last few with che murals which should never be returned in ETECSA search) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 1 hour ago, Autumn Sky said: Not mine, I just got back from the trip & barely uploaded 1 or 2 pics. This is card photo I had in mind -- someone already did it. Only 1 page on "ETECSA" search though - and some spammed with keywords , as expected (i.e. last few with che murals which should never be returned in ETECSA search) Maybe do a real cut out one, if you brought the cards. Maybe on an angle and with a slight drop shadow as to avoid making a direct copy. However some travel guide clients will want a direct copy though. RA2YPN doesn't seem to have ETECSA as a keyword? wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Brooks Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 2 hours ago, John Mitchell said: P.S. I'd probably like Cuba since I miss phone booths. They were a wonderful invention. Very useful phone booths, I used to leap into them in a single bound to change identity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 5 hours ago, Bill Brooks said: Very useful phone booths, I used to leap into them in a single bound to change identity. 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autumn Sky Posted March 6, 2019 Author Share Posted March 6, 2019 8 hours ago, wiskerke said: RA2YPN doesn't seem to have ETECSA as a keyword? No. Interesting. Not in title, not in keywords. Just re-did the search and that pic still comes back. Would like to understand how that happened? One interesting detail. On these cards, both user name and password are long strings of random numbers. User Name is visible but password is hidden beneath thin layer you need to scratch off (like in instant lottery games). On top it says "Raspe con Ciudado", which translates from Spanish "Carefully Scrape". When I first got 1 of these cards, I entered "Raspe con Ciudado" for password on my phone, then wondered why it doesn't work until it dawned to me lol (my spanish is bad). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 15 hours ago, Autumn Sky said: No. Interesting. Not in title, not in keywords. Just re-did the search and that pic still comes back. Would like to understand how that happened? One interesting detail. On these cards, both user name and password are long strings of random numbers. User Name is visible but password is hidden beneath thin layer you need to scratch off (like in instant lottery games). On top it says "Raspe con Ciudado", which translates from Spanish "Carefully Scrape". When I first got 1 of these cards, I entered "Raspe con Ciudado" for password on my phone, then wondered why it doesn't work until it dawned to me lol (my spanish is bad). I imagine that Cubans have to "Surf con Cuidado" as well. Internet use must be heavily monitored there. Did you find that some sites have been blocked? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autumn Sky Posted March 6, 2019 Author Share Posted March 6, 2019 1 hour ago, John Mitchell said: I imagine that Cubans have to "Surf con Cuidado" as well. Internet use must be heavily monitored there. Did you find that some sites have been blocked? I did not spend too much time online, but several sites were not accessible. Some outdoor hiking forums and also several micro-stock sites (DT both app and web didn't work, SS and IS only web but not app; AS Web not, Alamy web was ok). This was due to security configuration of Cuban DNS servers I suspect. Lots of Cubans don't even use Internet. It really is country from the past. I traveled from Mexico to Panama overland visiting 8 countries along the way before going to Cuba, and Internet was everywhere pretty much integrated into the fabric of society, just like in the west. Not in Cuba. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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