KellyC 16 Posted Wednesday at 23:27 Share Posted Wednesday at 23:27 Hi All, I know that Alamy is mostly for editorial work, and I'm trying to work on that, but in the meantime I've got bunches of bokeh and texture images that I used for my artsy work in the past (closeups of rock surfaces, wood grain, paint strokes, soft focus bokeh in many colors, etc). Has anyone had any success with these sorts of images that would be appropriate for backgrounds? Is it worth my time to upload these? Would love your thoughts! Link to post Share on other sites
meanderingemu 1,115 Posted Thursday at 00:31 Share Posted Thursday at 00:31 How much time are you talking about? If they are already captioned and KW from other places, I assume you have them because you are selling them elsewhere, upload a few and see. If it's major time involved, i wouldn't bother. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
gvallee 3,233 Posted Thursday at 00:36 Share Posted Thursday at 00:36 I would look at the Images Sold monthly thread. I've never seen any backgrounds there. It's not Alamy's market. Having said that, what do I know? 1 Link to post Share on other sites
meanderingemu 1,115 Posted Thursday at 00:52 Share Posted Thursday at 00:52 14 minutes ago, gvallee said: I would look at the Images Sold monthly thread. I've never seen any backgrounds there. It's not Alamy's market. Having said that, what do I know? this is a danger that we are only listening to our echo chamber. Most Forum users are on the Alamy is Editorial so that most probably don't have a big offering. that said i have a few from when i didn't know what i was doing, and never a zoom nor a sale... 1 Link to post Share on other sites
gvallee 3,233 Posted Thursday at 00:55 Share Posted Thursday at 00:55 (edited) 11 minutes ago, meanderingemu said: this is a danger that we are only listening to our echo chamber. Most Forum users are on the Alamy is Editorial so that most probably don't have a big offering. that said i have a few from when i didn't know what i was doing, and never a zoom nor a sale... True but tons of microstockers refugees have joined Alamy with this kind of content and I've never seen any reported sale. Perhaps it's too soon for them to have sales. But why would anyone buy backgrounds from Alamy when it's well known that they can be bought for pennies on microstock? Edited Thursday at 01:05 by gvallee 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Sally 1,630 Posted Thursday at 01:08 Share Posted Thursday at 01:08 10 minutes ago, gvallee said: True but tons of microstockers refugees have joined Alamy with this kind of content and I've never seen any reported sale. Perhaps it's too soon for them to have sales. But why would anyone buy backgrounds from Alamy when it's well known that they can be bought for pennies on microstock? I have sold one that I uploaded before I knew better. Rocks on an Icelandic beach. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
meanderingemu 1,115 Posted Thursday at 01:08 Share Posted Thursday at 01:08 11 minutes ago, gvallee said: True but tons of microstockers refugees have joined Alamy with this kind of content and I've never seen any reported sale. Perhaps it's too soon for them to have sales. But why would anyone buy backgrounds from Alamy when it's well known that they can be bought for pennies on microstock? pennies on microstock still requires subs, so not effectively only spending pennies. and Alamy does have some cheap packages though distro and schools 1 Link to post Share on other sites
meanderingemu 1,115 Posted Thursday at 01:10 Share Posted Thursday at 01:10 1 minute ago, Sally said: I have sold one that I uploaded before I knew better. Rocks on an Icelandic beach. i do wonder if there are some specialized ones. i have thrown a few recently (mental survival), will report if anything comes out 1 Link to post Share on other sites
KellyC 16 Posted Thursday at 05:12 Author Share Posted Thursday at 05:12 Thanks everyone. I appreciate the feedback. I've got a few up already. Will probably just leave it at that. Link to post Share on other sites
John Mitchell 4,648 Posted Thursday at 06:02 Share Posted Thursday at 06:02 I enjoy taking these types of images and have uploaded quite a few to Alamy. However, not one has ever licensed. 😕 As others have mentioned, the ms agencies are overflowing with abstracts/backgrounds, and the flood is arriving here. 😮 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites
David Pimborough 204 Posted Thursday at 06:39 Share Posted Thursday at 06:39 1 hour ago, KellyC said: Thanks everyone. I appreciate the feedback. I've got a few up already. Will probably just leave it at that. I used to do backgrounds/textures when I first started to be honest the only place they ever sold was on the microstock outfits I never sold a single one on Alamy. There's too much competition for background/textures as everyone does it. To be honest I'd saythat Alamy is not the kind of agency where that kind of thing really sells. Most of my sales here have been a mix of editorial and none editorial around a 50/50 split 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Colblimp 2,078 Posted Thursday at 08:05 Share Posted Thursday at 08:05 I wouldn’t bother, you’re better off working on quality editorial pics. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Webby 230 Posted Thursday at 09:26 Share Posted Thursday at 09:26 Many years ago I uploaded some wacky, psychedelic, computer generated backgrounds. 2 have sold, at $27 and $44. Image C4N2D1 is an example. Put your sunglasses on before looking If they are not there, they definitely won't sell. Webby 1 Link to post Share on other sites
giphotostock 59 Posted yesterday at 08:56 Share Posted yesterday at 08:56 About 20 years too late? PhotoDisk etc... 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Sally R 520 Posted yesterday at 15:11 Share Posted yesterday at 15:11 I have several abstract backgrounds of things like light patterns on water, tree bark textures etc. None have licensed on Alamy (though have only been here since September 2019). Previously I was with a microstock agency and I had a number of sales of those kinds of images there. So I think it is definitely more likely to sell on microstock. I did sell one image on Alamy of lichen on tree bark, probably because someone was specifically looking for lichen, but no sales of just tree bark patterns on their own. In general it seems Alamy buyers are looking for a specific thing rather than an abstract background. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Allan Bell 2,408 Posted yesterday at 16:00 Share Posted yesterday at 16:00 All my images are in the background.😉 Allan 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Reimar 412 Posted yesterday at 17:29 Share Posted yesterday at 17:29 Having just taken some pictures of my Hickory plank flooring a few days ago (COVID isolation will do that to you), I'm hoping they will be useful somewhere (here or other MS sites). I haven't done a lot of totally abstract backgrounds. There is often a subject or object (even if it's just Hickory wood). But of the few I have, I see them sell here. I'm talking about water wave reflections, flaking paint layers, flower close-ups, blurs. As long a I like it, I'll throw it at the wall to see what sticks: here or elsewhere. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Sprocket 1,306 Posted yesterday at 19:02 Share Posted yesterday at 19:02 If you scroll down the Alamy home page, the 'Browse images by category' section includes an option for background images, which suggests that they do sell. https://www.alamy.com/category/backgrounds.html 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites
KellyC 16 Posted 20 hours ago Author Share Posted 20 hours ago Thanks so much for all the feedback! I will put a few up here and there, but since mine are almost all RAW, non-keyworded files I probably won't bother with too many. Hope everyone has had a good weekend 🙂 Link to post Share on other sites
John Mitchell 4,648 Posted 19 hours ago Share Posted 19 hours ago 8 hours ago, Reimar said: Having just taken some pictures of my Hickory plank flooring a few days ago (COVID isolation will do that to you), I'm hoping they will be useful somewhere (here or other MS sites). I haven't done a lot of totally abstract backgrounds. There is often a subject or object (even if it's just Hickory wood). But of the few I have, I see them sell here. I'm talking about water wave reflections, flaking paint layers, flower close-ups, blurs. As long a I like it, I'll throw it at the wall to see what sticks: here or elsewhere. Encouraging to hear that you've had some luck here. I too figure that I might as well keep uploading them to Alamy (as RF usually). They are fun to shoot, and ... hey ... you never know. 😉 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Phil Robinson 1,141 Posted 6 hours ago Share Posted 6 hours ago I am currently working on some weird psychedelic stuff for a print-on-demand site. They are better suited to t-shirts and phone cases (I hope) but as said above, if you've done all the work already, why not upload them here? Fingers crossed. Link to post Share on other sites
John Morrison 3,695 Posted 6 hours ago Share Posted 6 hours ago 13 hours ago, KellyC said: since mine are almost all RAW, non-keyworded files I probably won't bother with too many. This is one problem with abstracts and backgrounds: finding the right keyworks to direct buyers towards your pix. I often try to conjure up keywords as I'm lining up a shot. If distinctive keywords don't come immediately to mind, I may not press the shutter... Link to post Share on other sites
meanderingemu 1,115 Posted 4 hours ago Share Posted 4 hours ago 14 hours ago, John Mitchell said: Encouraging to hear that you've had some luck here. I too figure that I might as well keep uploading them to Alamy (as RF usually). They are fun to shoot, and ... hey ... you never know. 😉 exactly. i had a set of textured woods which were grabs i got on break as i was walking on the Camino.... also i find them easy to KW, have preset done just add colours and special features. as you said you never know. Link to post Share on other sites
geogphotos 2,770 Posted 4 hours ago Share Posted 4 hours ago (edited) I am working through a collection of slides I bought with copyright. The photographer travelled widely and there is a mix of straightforward illustrative shots of places - those are the ones I am copying and captioning - and others which are more abstract and arty. He actually had a very good eye for this sort of abstract composition, ends of timber, reflections, patterns in water, tags and scraps of paper left on a noticeboard, bits of boat isolated and close-up, etc. But who wants this sort of stuff? And because this sort of imagery relies entirely on the visual impact it is really difficult to caption and keyword. It may be an interesting, clever picture but what does it communicate? Personally, I have decided not to spend any time on these even though some I really like and think are very strong images. But equally I can understand that this is more about how my mind works than anything objective. Edited 3 hours ago by geogphotos Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now