Those Homepage Alamy Abstracts?

[Ed Rooney]

We see so many abstract images on the Alamy homepage these days.

 

I would like to do more of that kind of shooting, but I'm confused about the tagging. What would be the way to put abstract images in the path of searching buyers? 

 

Here's one of mine, but it's recognizable as skyscrapers. How does one tag pure abstractions, backgrounds for example? 

 

 

Edited September 11, 2019 by Ed Rooney

[Phil Crean]

Tricky issue and one that I also struggle with...

I use tags like; texture, abstract, background, light, shade, pattern, (describe colours), shape, form, line, concept, focus, blur, contrast,...and any others that I can think of; (obviously when I think they are suitable). However not sold any pure abstract images...yet🤔

Phil

[Ed Rooney]

Yeah, it is a puzzlement. And why Alamy is pushing them is another mystery. 

 

I hope the fires have not been bad to you, Phil.

 

Edo

[Phil Crean]

13 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

Yeah, it is a puzzlement. And why Alamy is pushing them is another mystery. 

 

I hope the fires have not been bad to you, Phil.

 

Edo

I'll still keep shooting them and hopefully a few will fall into place...

 

Fires this year were mostly on Gran Canaria, so not directly affected. The few that started on Tenerife were dealt with quickly before getting out of hand...

 

Phil

[meanderingemu]

good post.  

the issue is that they are not solely abstract in the case above as that still illustrates an urban downtown area so that needs to be also covered i think.   

 

i would be more tempted to focus on "generic" feel of it.

 

in your skyscraper i would also kw geometric, sloping lines. 

[Phil Crean]

Also I've been trying to think of emotive tags... mood, etc...but that is a tricky area as it's so subjective and what I think may, or, may not be, someone else's view; also others may see things that I don't....🤔

Phil

[Joseph Clemson]

I'm wondering why they are showcasing an image which is widely available at multiple microstock sites at a fraction of the cost of Alamy's offering, and is easily discoverable as such. I can't help but think there  may be many worthy images here which showcase Alamy as a different kind of image library. I don't say all showcase images ought  to be exclusive here, but it would be nice to see that loyalty to Alamy is promoted.

Edited September 11, 2019 by Joseph Clemson
spelling!

[Mr Standfast]

Interesting question.  For pictures which IMO will end up in the background with a lot of PR text in the foreground, I think I'd make sure the predominant colour was in the keywords. I'd like to test this but measures has, err um, popped out of office for a moment.

[BidC]

40 minutes ago, Mr Standfast said:

measures has, err um, popped out of office for a moment

 

Yeah - Measures seem to have 'popped out' a lot recently .... despite that, interesting thread  

[Ed Rooney]

2 hours ago, Joseph Clemson said:

I'm wondering why they are showcasing an image which is widely available at multiple microstock sites at a fraction of the cost of Alamy's offering, and is easily discoverable as such. I can't help but think there  may be many worthy images here which showcase Alamy as a different kind of image library. I don't say all showcase images ought  to be exclusive here, but it would be nice to see that loyalty to Alamy is promoted.

 

Joseph, my guess is that Alamy homepage images are on some auto-select thing. But like so many of the things in my life, that is just a guess. 

 

It's 9/11 today. I bow my head in memory of those we lost in NYC on this day. One was a close friend. And I tip my hat to the brave firefighters who were lost doing their dangerous duty. 

[NYCat]

I've been thinking about you, Ed, on this sad day. There have been, as always, a lot of interviews with people who were affected. The most inspirational are the people who just came to help. They came from everywhere and the hard-hats who knew how to deal with the pile were the ones who put us back together again. Flowers, as usual, are in front of the firehouses and police precincts.

 

Paulette

[Betty LaRue]

On 11/09/2019 at 10:29, NYCat said:

I've been thinking about you, Ed, on this sad day. There have been, as always, a lot of interviews with people who were affected. The most inspirational are the people who just came to help. They came from everywhere and the hard-hats who knew how to deal with the pile were the ones who put us back together again. Flowers, as usual, are in front of the firehouses and police precincts.

 

Paulette

The feeling of wanting to help becomes “needing to help” when tragedy strikes. After the Murray bldg. bombing, I heard on TV there was glass and debris in victim’s eyes, and a call for help. Having recently worked for an Ophthalmologist for 10 years, and knowing sterile procedure and how to administer eye meds and properly put on pressure bandages, I put on my medical whites and took off for downtown. It turned out I wasn’t needed, there were so many helpers there. People poured in from surrounding states even.  I paced the gymnasium floor where we gathered, filled with angst from wanting to help.

With a few exceptions, that is the normal human condition. The strong urge to help be it people or animals.

Betty

[John Mitchell]

On 11/09/2019 at 01:13, Phil Crean said:

Tricky issue and one that I also struggle with...

I use tags like; texture, abstract, background, light, shade, pattern, (describe colours), shape, form, line, concept, focus, blur, contrast,...and any others that I can think of; (obviously when I think they are suitable). However not sold any pure abstract images...yet🤔

Phil

 

I use similar tags to yours. However, I also add math/geometry-related keywords to abstract images such as the one Edo posted as they are sometimes used in math textbooks. I enjoy shooting "pure" abstracts but only a couple have licensed. Unfortunately, microstock seems to have cornered this market. I'm glad that Alamy seems to be pushing abstracts, but it doesn't appear to have helped much so far. Perhaps Alamy puts so many abstracts on its homepage mainly because these types of images usually have a lot of visual impact and they crop well.

[Chuck Nacke]

On ‎11‎/‎09‎/‎2019 at 03:58, Ed Rooney said:

We see so many abstract images on the Alamy homepage these days.

 

I would like to do more of that kind of shooting, but I'm confused about the tagging. What would be the way to put abstract images in the path of searching buyers? 

 

Here's one of mine, but it's recognizable as skyscrapers. How does one tag pure abstractions, backgrounds for example? 

 

 

Edo,

 

I am with you, but....

Gene, Eddie and Nick are my mentors.  They did not do abstract images. but they worked in a different time.

I do not agree with everything they do or  promote, but I Love Alamy and trust their judgment.

 

Chuck Nacke

 

Edited September 15, 2019 by Chuck Nacke
clarity

[John Mitchell]

Here's one that licensed (mid $$). However, it is probably more of an architectural detail image than an abstract. I do have "abstract" and "texture" in the keywords, though, and it was the design quality that attracted me. I didn't include "background" because it isn't "pure" enough for that kind of use.

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2019 by John Mitchell

[Phil Crean]

9 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

 

I use similar tags to yours. However, I also add math/geometry-related keywords to abstract images such as the one Edo posted as they are sometimes used in math textbooks. I enjoy shooting "pure" abstracts but only a couple have licensed. Unfortunately, microstock seems to have cornered this market. I'm glad that Alamy seems to be pushing abstracts, but it doesn't appear to have helped much so far. Perhaps Alamy puts so many abstracts on its homepage mainly because these types of images usually have a lot of visual impact and they crop well.

Geometry is definitely a good ref with strong lines, also using minimalistic, minimal, on some...

Visual impact is should be an important consideration for front page, especially the way it gets cropped on different devices.

Phil

[Ed Rooney]

John, most worthwhile photos contain a strong element of design (light, shape, color, gesture). I'm asking about the "pure" abstractions that Alamy has been featuring on the homepage. ???

 

Here's 5.5 million images under abstract background on Alamy. https://www.alamy.com/search.html?CreativeOn=1&adv=1&ag=0&all=1&creative=&et=0x000000000000000000000&vp=0&loc=0&qt=abstract background&qn=&lic=6&lic=1&imgt=0&archive=1&dtfr=&dtto=&hc=&selectdate=&size=0xFF&aqt=&epqt=&oqt=&nqt=&gtype=0

 

I think the answer to my question about tagging has to be dealt with one image at a time. 

 

I could submit this image again without the gull. Still, it would be tagged clouds. 

 

 

Chuck, I think I mentioned that I once was privileged to watch Gene Smith make a black&white print. My friend Harvey Zucker (A Photographer's Place book store in SoHo) ran a custom-print business and was taking a printing class with Smith. I also played trumpet at one of his jam seasons in his loft a few years earlier. 

 

Nick? Who's Nick?

Edited September 14, 2019 by Ed Rooney

[John Mitchell]

9 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

John, most worthwhile photos contain a strong element of design (light, shape, color, gesture). I'm asking about the "pure" abstractions that Alamy has been featuring on the homepage. ???

 

Here's 5.5 million images under abstract background on Alamy. https://www.alamy.com/search.html?CreativeOn=1&adv=1&ag=0&all=1&creative=&et=0x000000000000000000000&vp=0&loc=0&qt=abstract background&qn=&lic=6&lic=1&imgt=0&archive=1&dtfr=&dtto=&hc=&selectdate=&size=0xFF&aqt=&epqt=&oqt=&nqt=&gtype=0

 

 

 

My guess is that the bulk of those 5.5 million pure abstractions are from microtock contributors. That's where these types of images seem to sell, although ms agencies are now overstuffed with them as well. On Alamy, it seems that one needs some kind of content in "abstract" images to be of interest to buyers (which of course means that they aren't really abstract). So why does Alamy put so many pure abstracts on their homepage? They probably don't know what else to do with them all. 😁

 

I found this micro keywording tool helpful. Set the images to upload to 100 and then click on those similar similar to the one(s) you want to find possible tags for. Finally, click "submit".

Edited September 14, 2019 by John Mitchell

[Bill Brooks]

3 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

So why does Alamy put so many pure abstracts on their homepage? They probably don't know what else to do with them all. 😁

 

 

I think Alamy is showing abstracts so they can expand their client base and retain present clients. Good for Alamy.

 

A photo editor needs totem poles for one project and abstracts for the next project. If they need an abstract should they go somewhere else for their abstract, and maybe never return to Alamy when they need a totem pole?

 

If Alamy meets all of the editor's needs, Alamy becomes a one stop shop for the editor. We all benefit.

[John Mitchell]

1 hour ago, Bill Brooks said:

 

I think Alamy is showing abstracts so they can expand their client base and retain present clients. Good for Alamy.

 

A photo editor needs totem poles for one project and abstracts for the next project. If they need an abstract should they go somewhere else for their abstract, and maybe never return to Alamy when they need a totem pole?

 

If Alamy meets all of the editor's needs, Alamy becomes a one stop shop for the editor. We all benefit.

 

That's a plausible theory, Bill. I recall an instance where one of my images licensed for editorial use and then another one from the same set sold for PU at approximately the same time, which I suppose could be an example one-stop-shopping.

 

BTW, do you have any "pure" abstracts that have licensed on Alamy (if you don't mind my nosiness) ?

Edited September 14, 2019 by John Mitchell

[Bill Brooks]

Not sure of your definition of abstract John. Here is a very small sampling of my past sales that might qualify as abstract. Prices are all over the map.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Chuck Nacke]

15 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

John, most worthwhile photos contain a strong element of design (light, shape, color, gesture). I'm asking about the "pure" abstractions that Alamy has been featuring on the homepage. ???

 

Here's 5.5 million images under abstract background on Alamy. https://www.alamy.com/search.html?CreativeOn=1&adv=1&ag=0&all=1&creative=&et=0x000000000000000000000&vp=0&loc=0&qt=abstract background&qn=&lic=6&lic=1&imgt=0&archive=1&dtfr=&dtto=&hc=&selectdate=&size=0xFF&aqt=&epqt=&oqt=&nqt=&gtype=0

 

I think the answer to my question about tagging has to be dealt with one image at a time. 

 

I could submit this image again without the gull. Still, it would be tagged clouds. 

 

 

Chuck, I think I mentioned that I once was privileged to watch Gene Smith make a black&white print. My friend Harvey Zucker (A Photographer's Place book store in SoHo) ran a custom-print business and was taking a printing class with Smith. I also played trumpet at one of his jam seasons in his loft a few years earlier. 

 

Nick? Who's Nick?

Edo,  I envy you,  to be in a darkroom with Smith is really a privilege.  I often wonder what Gene would do with Photoshop?

 

Nick Ut, the Vietnamese photographer the took the picture of the naked Vietnamese girl running down the road after the U.S. dropped napalm during the viet war.

 

Hope you are well and comfortable.

 

Chuck

[Ed Rooney]

Oh yeah, that young Viet photog who got that friendly-fire shot was named Nick. 

[BidC]

On 13/09/2019 at 21:45, Betty LaRue said:

The feeling of wanting to help becomes “needing to help” when tragedy strikes. After the Murray bldg. bombing, I heard on TV there was glass and debris in victim’s eyes, and a call for help. Having recently worked for an Ophthalmologist for 10 years, and knowing sterile procedure and how to administer eye meds and properly put on pressure bandages, I put on my medical whites and took off for downtown. It turned out I wasn’t needed, there were so many helpers there. People poured in from surrounding states even.  I paced the gymnasium floor where we gathered, filled with angst from wanting to help.

With a few exceptions, that is the normal human condition. The strong urge to help be it people or animals.

Betty

 

Yeah - I used to be a nurse, and there never will be a profession that grabs me so much. Just using one's skills and knowledge, knowing that will help a life, and a family, is beyond words (despite the tensions and abuse that hospital staff are subject to - though to be honest, thats one of the reasons I took 'early' retirement  ..) [A bit late to the party, but will let it stand - you did good Betty]

Edited September 15, 2019 by BidC

[Ed Rooney]

Thank you so much for doing the important work you did, Bridget. I trust senior nurses more than doctors the way I trusted top sergeants in combat rather than lieutenants or captains. 

Edited September 15, 2019 by Ed Rooney

[BidC]

1 hour ago, Ed Rooney said:

Thank you so much for doing the important work you did, Bridget. I trust senior nurses more than doctors the way I trusted top sergeants in combat rather than lieutenants or captains. 

 

Thank you Edo - Thats really kind of you.  I miss it, though I don't miss the way our NHS is going, sadly. But it was quite a life !

 

I remember 9/11 clearly as I was on nights, and arrived at work to be told. Saw all those deeply shocking and heart breaking images later in the night.

 

Most docs are very skilled, dedicated, and caring but as with anything, it takes a team approach to achieve the end goal. Nurses provide that balance (imo).

Edited September 15, 2019 by BidC