Hi from London - and a question

[Johnclare369]

Hi fellow togs! I'm new to Alamy but not entirely new to shooting for stock.  I'm based in London, UK. I've done a bit over the years with other agencies but now due to a change of lifestyle I'm keen to give it a proper go. I must say that the contributors on here are amazingly helpful with their advice. Once I have some expertise worth sharing, I will certainly do so!

 

For now I have a question: How important is the shooting date in searches? eg if I have some great shots of a walrus community from the Arctic Circle  shot two years ago, and upload them, do they then get put into the library alongside other material from two years ago, or do they appear as current? As a supplementary  question, how far down the list of search results do clients go? Obviously it varies, but is there any point having images from eg two years ago because no client would look that far back? or does none of that matter?

[NYCat]

If you do a search for your subject you'll see that you have the choice of "New" "Creative" or "Relevant". The ones you see under "New" are the most recently UPLOADED. When images are taken does not matter in search order. Generally, the ones most recently uploaded do appear first. In my opinion, the best way to get your images seen on the first pages of a search is to only upload excellent images and be diligent and thorough in your keywording. Beware of too many similars. You will have no control over which will appear first. Most of my images are wildlife and I think the date taken is not important for most buyers. It would be different for subjects where the skyline might have changed or fashions are out of date. 

 

Paulette

[Robert M Estall]

Buyers of stock photography for editorial purposes are surprising insensitive to dates unless seriously old or fashion is relevant.  Unless using the "New" filter in Alamy, date taken is not very important. If your shots are from a digital camera, the date taken will transfer from your data automatically. Of course, it is highly relevant for the  News feed. But I don't do news, I'm looking for as much longevity as possible. If you absolutely nail the lighting and viewpoint, a good stock photograph can easily last over 25 years. With luck, even more!