Has Alamy changed?

[Jose Decio Molaro]

13 minutes ago, John Mitchell said:

 

Se você não se importa que eu diga, não acho que seja necessário zombar dos povos indígenas do Brasil em um fórum público. Eles estão lá há muito mais tempo do que os europeus. Além disso, eles sofreram insultos suficientes sob o governo de Bolsonaro. Quanto à sua pergunta, estou com Alamy desde 2007, e o QC definitivamente evoluiu ao longo dos anos. Eles são muito mais qualificados do que costumavam ser. Além disso, eles tiveram que ajustar seus padrões para acompanhar todas as melhorias na tecnologia digital. Eu diria que o CQ geral é muito mais justo do que costumava ser. Se suas imagens estão sendo rejeitadas, cabe a você descobrir o porquê e aprender como fazer as alterações necessárias. Todos nós já estivemos lá. Boa sorte em 2021.

 

PS Você está correto sobre muitas pessoas nos EUA e Canadá presumindo que os brasileiros falam espanhol. Infelizmente, somos ignorantes sobre a América Latina em geral.

I think the feeling of Patria of the American people is very cool, maybe that's why they don't know much about Latin America, but we are very close ... but the forum is about photography but I think it's good to talk about other cultures, your type of photo is very good , Brazil is a very young country..the city I live in is 80 years old ... our architecture is very bland

[geogphotos]

6 minutes ago, Normspics said:

Because I was denied an eleven plus exam because of his changes, I sat the eleven plus at 9 years old....how many nine year olds got into grammer school....my two year older brother did..seems like my future was denied me by political interference.

 

 

I have sympathy with your personal gripes about the administration of the 11 plus exam in the 1960s but not sure how they relate to this discussion.

 

 

Edited January 6, 2021 by geogphotos

[Jose Decio Molaro]

4 minutes ago, Normspics said:

Não se desculpe pelo seu inglês, é muito melhor do que o meu português, tenho vídeos do YouTube de Portugal onde uso o Google Translate para aprender as pronúncias ... não sabia na época, as traduções do Google para o português são baseadas no português brasileiro ri muito

Not even Brazilians know how to speak our language ... we have a very rich language in several states, it has practically its girias ... Brazilian Portuguese and very difficult to speak ... even for us

[Cee Dee Dickinson]

Hi Jose

There is RAW processing software available for Gimp called UFRaw, there is also a stand alone program called RawTherapee, both are free to download and   tutorials are available on Youtube. You will also find many photography videos on Youtube to help you, just search Photography for beginneers.

Edited January 6, 2021 by Cee Dee Dickinson

[meanderingemu]

4 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

I am so continuously impressed with this forum in how you all spend your time helping people.
Five stars for all of you from me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

but i want ⭐⭐⭐⭐, as it's more exclusive on Alamy....  (have we ever found one?)  😀

[meanderingemu]

4 hours ago, John Morrison said:

 

Touché! 😀

your French seems good.  

[John Morrison]

1 minute ago, meanderingemu said:

your French seems good.  

 

Si...

[Betty LaRue]

4 minutes ago, meanderingemu said:

but i want ⭐⭐⭐⭐, as it's more exclusive on Alamy....  (have we ever found one?)  😀

Four stars?  unreal, like unicorns.

[meanderingemu]

1 minute ago, John Morrison said:

 

Si...

 

arigato gozaimasu

[NYCat]

I think the number 4 is unlucky in China. The word sounds like "death".

 

Paulette

[Normspics]

6 hours ago, geogphotos said:

Some people sadly think that  the 'University of Life' is enough.

You ask what my comments have to do with this conversation well............Your above statement led to my comment, fortunately education isn't reliant on teachers. 

[geogphotos]

5 hours ago, Normspics said:

You ask what my comments have to do with this conversation well............Your above statement led to my comment, fortunately education isn't reliant on teachers. 

 

Those who gain a formal education also enrol in the University of Life.

 

My photography education has been confined to the Univ of Life. I'll never be able to match those who were taught by inspirational teachers in a proper educational setting and have gained recognised qualifications. I will never call myself a professional photographer. I can go along quite happily but do not have all the gears

 

These days the mantra seems to be that we don't need experts, and those that know the least should have the biggest say. Just buy a camera and you become a pro.

Edited January 7, 2021 by geogphotos

[AlexH]

12 hours ago, Normspics said:

If you are photographing something that has a lot of white like a white background studio shot, your camera meter is going to mislead you, you should add 2/3 to 1 full stop of exposure, your camera meter wants to make everything mid grey, that would help with some of your under exposed images and the same is true for black images such as studio table top set ups, your camera meter wants to make the black medium grey so under expose by 2/3 to 1 full stop, that way the black will be blacker. Lastly if your camera has a grid pattern for the viewfinder and LCD turn it on and try and get the point of interest in the frame on the left or right of the grid pattern where the lines cross. 

 

I really wish you well with your photography here at Alamy.

 

This is sound advice in my opinion, and echoes what John (I think it was) said earlier in the thread about learning and getting to grips with the basics of photography skills and understanding. I think once you've done that it is perfectly possible to work with a JPEG workflow. I'm not disputing the advantages of shooting RAW, just recognising the disadvantage in terms of workflow time. The reality of a lot of what alamy sells is competent imagery that suits a purpose, it doesn't need to be a work of art. This is achievable with those key skills and care straght of camera as a JPEG. Some people enjoy the post processing element of image production, but personally I'd rather not spend that extra time in front of a computer screen, so despite shooting RAW for years I'm starting to experiment with the SOOC JPEG workflow. The diminishing net returns in the last couple of years have made it hard to think of continuing to contribute a viable endeavour, speeding up the process at least may stop it feeling like a waste of time.

[spacecadet]

1 hour ago, AlexH said:

extra time in front of a computer screen

I don't know what software you use, but I don't find Lightroom any slower with RAWs than jpegs, for editing at least, and you can be doing something else during import and export.

[Ed Rooney]

Touché? Does that have anything to do with dentistry? 🤔

[Cal]

4 hours ago, geogphotos said:

 

Those who gain a formal education also enrol in the University of Life.

 

My photography education has been confined to the Univ of Life. I'll never be able to match those who were taught by inspirational teachers in a proper educational setting and have gained recognised qualifications. I will never call myself a professional photographer. I can go along quite happily but do not have all the gears

 

These days the mantra seems to be that we don't need experts, and those that know the least should have the biggest say. Just buy a camera and you become a pro.

 

I'm not convinced on your last point that anyone sane in the real world actually thinks like that. What I do think is more likely (and I base this on actual experience) is that "pros" who are viciously protective of what they see as "their field" THINK that when ordinary people buy an SLR that those people then think they're now professionals, when in fact they don't at all.

 

Your middle paragraph seems to just be selling yourself short. I wonder if all of the world's best painters had formal training or were at least some of them just naturally good artists. I don't actually know the answer, but I have my suspicions.

[Normspics]

2 hours ago, AlexH said:

 

This is sound advice in my opinion, and echoes what John (I think it was) said earlier in the thread about learning and getting to grips with the basics of photography skills and understanding. I think once you've done that it is perfectly possible to work with a JPEG workflow. I'm not disputing the advantages of shooting RAW, just recognising the disadvantage in terms of workflow time. The reality of a lot of what alamy sells is competent imagery that suits a purpose, it doesn't need to be a work of art. This is achievable with those key skills and care straght of camera as a JPEG. Some people enjoy the post processing element of image production, but personally I'd rather not spend that extra time in front of a computer screen, so despite shooting RAW for years I'm starting to experiment with the SOOC JPEG workflow. The diminishing net returns in the last couple of years have made it hard to think of continuing to contribute a viable endeavour, speeding up the process at least may stop it feeling like a waste of time.

 

I think you are right, auto white balance gets a good image most of the time, unless you are in low or mixed light. I have known a few stock photographers over the years that shoot jpeg get the image right in camera by being aware of adding or subtracting light and upload directly with no post processing, doesn't live news require this?

 

Didn't Jeff Greenberg shoot jpeg for sometime while building a successful large portfolio.

 

I just like to encourage the OP to stick with and learn as you go like we all have.

[geogphotos]

48 minutes ago, Cal said:

 

I'm not convinced on your last point that anyone sane in the real world actually thinks like that. What I do think is more likely (and I base this on actual experience) is that "pros" who are viciously protective of what they see as "their field" THINK that when ordinary people buy an SLR that those people then think they're now professionals, when in fact they don't at all.

 

Your middle paragraph seems to just be selling yourself short. I wonder if all of the world's best painters had formal training or were at least some of them just naturally good artists. I don't actually know the answer, but I have my suspicions.

 

I think if you did the research you would find that the majority of successful artists have been to Art School, many will have studied Fine Art or a specific area of Art such as painting, illustration, ceramics, drawing etc. The creative industries are a huge area of success in the UK economy. And that is not down to the  cumulative work of amateurs who happen to be quite good. 

 

Anyway they are just opinions.

 

I don't have clue about using lighting, portraiture, theory, most of the technical aspects, and so many areas of the subject that I now spend my time on - photography. The sort of stuff that would be taught and be part of the knowledge base of a 'proper' professional.

 

My area of expertise and training is not photography and that is fine for stock. I point my camera at things. 

Edited January 7, 2021 by geogphotos

[Stokie]

1 hour ago, spacecadet said:

I don't know what software you use, but I don't find Lightroom any slower with RAWs than jpegs, for editing at least, and you can be doing something else during import and export.

Not exactly sure what Alex meant, but I think he meant by cutting out the raw stage of processing he would have to spend less time in front of his computer.

 

John.

[Cal]

1 hour ago, Normspics said:

 

I think you are right, auto white balance gets a good image most of the time, unless you are in low or mixed light. I have known a few stock photographers over the years that shoot jpeg get the image right in camera by being aware of adding or subtracting light and upload directly with no post processing, doesn't live news require this?

 

 

LN requires the image content to not be altered, as in don't replace a grey sky with a cloudy one etc. Removing dust spots or noise reduction is as far as I can tell not forbidden as you are not altering the content of the image in a way that misleads or presents a false impression. That said, when working with JPEG you may not have time to do anything at all to it because getting it out is more important than faffing with the technical aspects.

 

EDIT: from the LN policies PDF.

Your pictures should be an accurate and fair representation of the scene photographed. They should be in colour. Nothing should be added, removed or altered. Post production processes that alter the scene or manipulate the photo are not allowed.

Edited January 7, 2021 by Cal
added info

[MDM]

1 hour ago, Cal said:

 

I'm not convinced on your last point that anyone sane in the real world actually thinks like that. What I do think is more likely (and I base this on actual experience) is that "pros" who are viciously protective of what they see as "their field" THINK that when ordinary people buy an SLR that those people then think they're now professionals, when in fact they don't at all.

 

 

I think the objections from professional photographers arise when beginners offer services such as wedding photography when they do not have the skills or expertise to provide a professional service. That reflects badly on everyone. I have known more than a few people over the years who buy a reasonably good camera and think that makes them a photographer so they proceed to offer photographic services. There are countless examples of so-called photographers who have ruined couples’ weddings by offering services they did not have the skills to provide.  Imagine someone with no experience buying some quality plumbing tools and offering their services as a plumber. I think the qualified plumbers might be a bit concerned and the clients might not be too happy either. 

 

Fortunately It is not a requirement to have a degree or other qualifications in photography to offer professional photographic services and I agree with that. I am totally self-taught as a photographer but I did not learn from the so-called university of life. I learned by reading and practice, initially from books and magazines many years ago, and I have continued to learn up to this day. There is nothing technical in photography that a person of reasonable intelligence could not self-teach from books or online material but everyone learns in different ways. I would not dream of offering a service that I was short of knowledge in though. 

[Cal]

1 minute ago, MDM said:

I think the objections from professional photographers arise when beginners offer services such as wedding photography when they do not have the skills or expertise to provide a professional service. That reflects badly on everyone. I have known more than a few people over the years who buy a reasonably good camera and think that makes them a photographer so they proceed to offer photographic services. There are countless examples of so-called photographers who have ruined couples’ weddings by offering services they did not have the skills to provide.  Imagine someone with no experience buying some quality plumbing tools and offering their services as a plumber. I think the qualified plumbers might be a bit concerned and the clients might not be too happy either. 

 

Fortunately It is not a requirement to have a degree or other qualifications in photography to offer professional photographic services and I agree with that. I am totally self-taught as a photographer but I did not learn from the so-called university of life. I learned by reading and practice, initially from books and magazines many years ago, and I have continued to learn up to this day. There is nothing technical in photography that a person of reasonable intelligence could not self-teach from books or online material but everyone learns in different ways. I would not dream of offering a service that I was short of knowledge in though. 

 

Indeed, I agree with you there (is that a first?  )

 

With regards to your top paragraph, and to carry on slightly from what geog says, I don't think it's necessarily from the fact that someone buys a decent camera that they then think they're a pro - I think it's down to their character purely. I know at least one person I can think of straight away who shot a wedding on a compact camera and was convinced he'd get award winning photos. I just hope the couple didn't have high expectations. When I say compact camera I don't mean a Sony RX100, I mean an ancient powershot/IXUS type of deal that grandma might have used in 2005.

[AlexH]

1 hour ago, Stokie said:

Not exactly sure what Alex meant, but I think he meant by cutting out the raw stage of processing he would have to spend less time in front of his computer.

 

John.

Yes that's what I was getting at; any time in Lightroom (Darktable for me now I've gone Linux) is more than none at all. I'm shifting back to where I started when shooting film on OM slrs, trying to get it right in camera as much as possible. I've picked up an old fuji xt1 which is more like the old OM shooting experience and has jpeg film simulations. I'm enjoying it. I haven't completely stopped RAW shooting but I'm tempted by the thought of selling up my Nikon gear and then I possibly would! 

[geogphotos]

5 minutes ago, AlexH said:

Yes that's what I was getting at; any time in Lightroom (Darktable for me now I've gone Linux) is more than none at all. I'm shifting back to where I started when shooting film on OM slrs, trying to get it right in camera as much as possible. I've picked up an old fuji xt1 which is more like the old OM shooting experience and has jpeg film simulations. I'm enjoying it. I haven't completely stopped RAW shooting but I'm tempted by the thought of selling up my Nikon gear and then I possibly would! 

 

 

Don't you come across the need to correct CA, lens distortion and so on?

 

For me these are routine adjustments on every single image along with checks on exposure, white balance, saturation, whatever else the images needs. But if I didn't correct CA I would be getting QC fails - maybe its camera related. I use Canon 5D mk3 with 24-105 L lens

[Jose Decio Molaro]

6 hours ago, geogphotos said:

 

Those who gain a formal education also enrol in the University of Life.

 

My photography education has been confined to the Univ of Life. I'll never be able to match those who were taught by inspirational teachers in a proper educational setting and have gained recognised qualifications. I will never call myself a professional photographer. I can go along quite happily but do not have all the gears

 

These days the mantra seems to be that we don't need experts, and those that know the least should have the biggest say. Just buy a camera and you become a pro.

Photography is not easy as they say, if you go deeper into the subject, I am and always will be an amateur photographer, I agree with you, today anyone thinks he is a photographer, but in fact it is not.
I'm not new to photography, I come from the days of analog photography ... I started shooting in the 80's and I haven't learned it yet!
Living and learning!