Wish Me Luck!

[Joseph Clemson]

4 hours ago, Timestopper said:

.... Do commercial images sell better?  I have releases on older images and wonder if, moving forward, I should carry around model release forms. ...

 

Commercial images can sell better, not least because they are available for either commercial or editorial use, so there are more opportunities for sale. They ought to command higher prices, though I don't know to what extent this is the case in actuality as I only occasionally sell model-released images.

 

If you are thinking of shooting strangers the street and asking them to sign a release form, be careful. Make sure your model knows what they are signing up to. Commercial usage sometimes ends up with the subject of the photo taking umbrage at  the use a photo has been put to (something over which you have no direct control). You can end up on the wrong side of an  argument or even legal action if someone feels they were encouraged to sign a legal document without being made fully aware of the implications of doing so. I never ask a stranger to sign a release, nearly all my portfolio being editorial. I only ever use myself and (occasionally) my immediate family as models and they are well aware of what stock photography is and what they sign away when putting their name to a model release.

[Betty LaRue]

The image of two men in the sailboat:

additional keywords and phrases

man,men,person,persons,people,male,males,Cuban fishermen,Cuban fisherman,man standing in sailboat,men standing in sailboat,Cuban sailboat,sailboats,sailboat underway,sea,ocean,(name of sea) 

The men may be GOING to fish, but they aren’t actually fishing. They are sailing. So remove tags of “fishing” 

Remember to only use the tags that apply to what is actually happening in the image, not what you think is going to happen, or already did happen. In the discription under Optional, you can specify: Middle-aged (or whatever) Cuban men standing in sailboat on their way to fish off the (east west north south) shore of Cuba in the .....(name of) ocean.

 

The above tags won’t hurt your CTR because they do apply to the image. Some people are tagging minimalists, some like me, cover the bases a bit more. And ages of people are good. Estimate them. 40-50 years old, 65-75 years old, senior, seniors, ethnicity if you know it like Caucasian, Spanish, Mexican, African American, East Indian, American Indian, etc.  I have had many searches specifying diversity, or ethnicity. If you have an image of people or kids in a group of several ethnicities, like Caucasian, Mexican, African American, that is a good thing. That’s popular these days. A group of those kids might also need keywords of teen,teens,teenager,teenagers,juvenile,juveniles,13-16 years old, etc.

Younger kids: child children,female,females,male,males,girl,girls,boy,boys,5 year old girl,7 year old boy,2 years old,toddler,toddlers,infant,infants,blond hair,brown hair,jeans,denims,tee shirt,tee shirts,

And yes, I’ve had searches referring to clothing, although not often. I use tags like bald,balding, beard,bearded,mustache,mustaches also. Many images are simple, and require few tags. Others, especially where people are prominent, can use many more. Don’t bother with distinctions of people that just happen to be in the image incidentally. I still will tag people,person,persons,males,females though.

Tags for mood like: lonely, anguish, joy, thrilled, happy, sad, togetherness, angry, mad, frustrated, satisfaction, what people are doing: working, working together, building, gardening, cooking, etc. are good.

Betty

edited to add. 

Your artist...I would caption

The hand and arm of a Cuban male street artist using a brush to paint a Havana, Cuba scene in watercolor.

 

Remember captions are searchable, so try to get important tags in the caption and again in the tags.