Reportage or Archival- what is the benefit and can you add this designation to images after upload?

[Tawna Brown]

Hi all!

 

In preparing a new batch of images, several of them are from a newsworthy past event (there was news media and this got national attention, even some international attention).  I've already uploaded some images from this event in the past but did not check off "reportage or archival" upon upload.  Can I add "archival" designation to my images after the fact (after they've been uploaded?)  

 

However, with my new batch- that I'm preparing to upload, I'd like to know, what happens if I check this box off (for the images that are "archival" (i.e. news event from 3 years ago).?  Do they go to a different place than all of my other images, or will they still all appear with my other images that have the same keywords?  Is there a benefit for me to even check this off?  (There wasn't a ton of news media present due to the remoteness of the event, so I do have some great images by being there myself).

 

I was planning to upload right now, but I realize with this question I have, I didn't want to until I got clarity on the "Reportage/archival" option.

 

Thank you!

 

Tawna

[Chuck Nacke]

1 hour ago, Tawna Brown said:

I definitely will pay attention to the caption, but purpose does it have? Does the client have to use the caption if they were going to include a caption? Or is it just meant more for a guideline? Now you've got me thinking about changing all of my captions for future purposes (instead of it being a mini summary of what the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk highway is (when it opened, how long it is, cost, etc. - i might instead want to be more generic and say that it's an all weather highway built over permafrost in Canada's arctic.... something like that.... I don't know! I don't want to get too fussy, but at the same time, I want to get it right as much as i can from the beginning so that i'm not having to re-do things afterwards.

Tawna,

 

Everything I write in response to you and this thread is just my own opinion and my own workflow.  I've been in the international News Photo Agency business since 1978 and Alamy and one other agency (library) that I also contribute to often licenses images that I shot more than 20 years ago.  The reason I wrote what I wrote on this thread is that I am going back through some of the images that I uploaded (actually back then they were mailed into Alamy on a CD) to Alamy, that in my opinion are relevant again in 2021 from a global news perspective.  Also it is much easier to research information today then it was twenty years ago.  

 

Again in my opinion, the information both captions and keywords is what makes any image valuable.

 

Keep in mind that I was an editorial (magazine and news agency photographer) for decades and had looked forward to seeing my images licensed long after I stopped doing assignments.  Again in my opinion and after my experience with a number of the current agencies or libraries available in 2021, I am happy to be contributing to Alamy.

 

Lastly, I start pretty much every day reading CNN.com, BBC, Deutsche Welle, NPR and China Daily.  That way I have and idea of what the major news organizations are talking about and

what is of interest.

 

P.S. I am a lousy "Stock Photographer."  Tony Stone told me so.....

 

Chuck 

Edited February 11, 2021 by Chuck Nacke
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[spacecadet]

Archival is for older images that might be of historical interest but wouldn't pass QC for technical reasons- some film scans, for example. What you're describing isn't archival, but no, you can't change it- it's allocated when you upload by the archival route, assuming you have archival privileges.

Edited February 10, 2021 by spacecadet

[MizBrown]

There's a requirement that you apply for reportage and archival privileges.   Reportage would be for events that happened recently but the photographers taking the photos don't have news privileges.  Probably no gain over stock for most of us. 

 

[Niels Quist]

If the images meet the conditions I would upload them as normal photos and go through the QC - then you can tag them with all the information about the event. Doing so the images will not be marked in this way: "This image could have imperfections as it’s either historical or reportage."

Edited February 10, 2021 by Niels Quist

[Niels Quist]

- deleted double post

Edited February 10, 2021 by Niels Quist

[meanderingemu]

maybe someone with access can also confirm if it affects the ranking on searches,  same way as it affects former livenews images. ( from some tests everything equal search results  seem to prefer stock over ex-LN) 

[IanDavidson]

28 minutes ago, MizBrown said:

There's a requirement that you apply for reportage and archival privileges.   Reportage would be for events that happened recently but the photographers taking the photos don't have news privileges.  Probably no gain over stock for most of us. 

 

I have reportage privilege as well as having news access.  I had to fight for it, but the main reason for me is that you are limited as to how many news images you can submit; but quite often I have taken other images, equally good and newsworthy so I can submit them via the reportage route. 

[Niels Quist]

39 minutes ago, IanDavidson said:

I have reportage privilege as well as having news access.  I had to fight for it, but the main reason for me is that you are limited as to how many news images you can submit; but quite often I have taken other images, equally good and newsworthy so I can submit them via the reportage route. 

 

If you have a five star QC rank the only advantage I can see is the 600 letter caption - instead of writing the same information in "more information" - which is not always read.

I occasionally use the reportage route for appropiate images I want up quickly - if I am in doubt if it is my turn to be checked 🙃

Edited February 10, 2021 by Niels Quist

[meanderingemu]

19 minutes ago, Niels Quist said:

 

If you have a five star QC rank the only advantage I can see is the 600 letter caption - instead of writing the same information in "more information" - which is not always read.

I occasionally use the reportage route for appropiate images I want up quickly - if I am in doubt if it is my turn to be checked 🙃

 

how  does 5 Star QC rank change anything?  image still have to meet QC requirements.  

[meanderingemu]

57 minutes ago, IanDavidson said:

I have reportage privilege as well as having news access.  I had to fight for it, but the main reason for me is that you are limited as to how many news images you can submit; but quite often I have taken other images, equally good and newsworthy so I can submit them via the reportage route. 

 

 

Ian,

 

any insight on how you made you case? I have recently skipped regional non UK events because they hardly met Live News requirements (what is uploaded not withstanding) plus the one hour deadline has been hard with no indoor spots open and -15C temperatures, but would have probably covered with Reportage...  

[spacecadet]

7 minutes ago, meanderingemu said:

images still have to meet QC requirements.

Not for reportage/archival. They go straight through to image manager.

Edited February 10, 2021 by spacecadet

[meanderingemu]

2 minutes ago, spacecadet said:

Not for reportage/archival. They go straight through to image manager.

 

i thought Niels was saying this is not an advantage for a 5 Star contributor. Am i reading this wrong:

 

31 minutes ago, Niels Quist said:

 

If you have a five star QC rank the only advantage I can see is the 600 letter caption -

 

[Niels Quist]

52 minutes ago, meanderingemu said:

 

i thought Niels was saying this is not an advantage for a 5 Star contributor. Am i reading this wrong:

 

 

More complicated than I wanted it to be - really no big deal.

If the 5 star QC rank brings your images straight through without the QC waiting time (QC check coming up roughly about every fifth upload, I think) - the images will be on sale as quickly as with the Reportage route. Both need a server update. So if you think you are up for that check - images appropriate for reportage will be online the next day for certain. But still the 600 letter caption is also an advantage to go for with these images.

Edited February 10, 2021 by Niels Quist

[meanderingemu]

9 minutes ago, Niels Quist said:

 

More complicated than I wanted it to be - really no big deal.

If the 5 star QC rank brings your images straight through without the QC waiting time (QC check coming up roughly about every fifth upload, I think) - the images will be on sale as quickly as with the Reportage route. Both need a server update. So if you think you are up for that check - images appropriate for reportage will be online the next day for certain. But still the 600 letter caption is an advantage to go for with these images.

 

thanks.

 

to me the Reportage would be for images that would not make it through QC, or be borderline, but have value.  Yes i know as a 5-star contributor i can game the system and get them through, but that's an abuse of the privilege.  In addition i would want to disclaimer for the clients about it potentially having imperfections. 

 

 

note:no longer comfused.

Edited February 10, 2021 by meanderingemu

[Niels Quist]

1 minute ago, meanderingemu said:

 

thanks.

 

to me the Reportage would be for images that would not make it through QC, or be borderline, but have value.  Yes i know as a 5-star contributor i can game the system and get them through, but that's an abuse of the privilege.  In addition i would want to disclaimer for the clients about it potentially having imperfections. 

 

 

note:no longer comfused.

 

Yes, you are right, but the images still have to be what you would call "reportage" - and I would never risk my 5 star rank and push any image I didn't think would pass through QC in the hope that I wasn't checked. I value the advantage too much.

I may not have been clear in my wording - I am just a foreigner trying to write English 🙃

[geogphotos]

I submitted a set of images as Reportage on Xmas Eve. They are of flooding on the River Avon near Chippenham and include cars passing through the flood water and a Mini that had been abandoned. I am not able to submit Live News.

 

I was working through checking every one of them for QC and came across a couple that were a bit questionable eg) a car moving fast through the flood water and not entirely 100% sharp/in focus but nonetheless a worthwhile image. 

 

The thing with QC is that you have to make a judgement about what somebody else's subjective judgement could be on an image that is borderline. I didn't want them all kicked out so submitted them all as Reportage. This does mean that all the ones - most of them - that would fly through QC are now labelled as possibly having imperfections. 

 

Given that it was Xmas Eve I think it was the best decision. Yes, I could have split the Sub into two but that a seemed stupid, artificial thing to be doing.

 

None of them have been reported as sales. 

Edited February 10, 2021 by geogphotos

[Tawna Brown]

Thanks everyone! (not sure there is a way to tag all, but I hope you can all read this).  My specific images are newsworthy (although not "news" because they are from 2017)- they are still very significant in my region and of national/international interest - and since it was in such a remote location, and I was the unofficial photographer for the project over a 4-year term, I had very good access to everything in a way that the "media" didn't.....   The event itself is over, and I don't think there are many pics (or very very few) of this event, but I realize now that the ones I thought could be considered "reportage" - should have then been submitted back in 2017 when the event happened, and they likely would have been of more use back then!    If uploading now, I should just upload as regular stock?? (They are all very good quality and am confident they would all pass QC).

 

For the future, if I knew i'd be involved in something newsworthy, then I suppose i would have to learn about how to "apply" for this (being able to submit to reportage).... and have that already set up for when the time comes to upload the images- that way they'd be relevant and timely for potential clients, at the time of the event.

 

On the other hand, this project I have images from will always be something of interest to some people around the world, reportage or not, i guess it seems like the only difference really is that the reportage images have a larger caption allowance (I've been captioning my photos in lightroom before uploading to alamy, and now I realize most of the captions will likely be truncated when I upload- if there is a caption/character limit for stock captions. (WHAT IS THE WORD/CHARACTER LIMIT FOR STOCK CAPTIONS?)

 

So, I am leaning towards just uploading my images as regular stock, as even if I did have the "ok" to upload as reportage, I am understanding that the images would still appear in the same searches that clients would perform, using the same keywords..... (and the clients wouldn't be looking only in a "reportage" category, is that right?) It doesn't sound like i'm missing out on anything if I upload as stock vs reportage.

 

I'm about to begin uploading and was just hoping to do it properly. Thanks all!

[Tawna Brown]

12 minutes ago, geogphotos said:

This does mean that all the ones - most of them - that would fly through QC are now labelled as possibly having imperfections. 

 

 

But what if you're confident the images are high quality, crisp, etc? Do all images under the "reportage" category automatically have this tag of having possible imperfections- even if all of your images are good quality?  I'm thinking I'll just be uploading these images to regular stock; as mentioned in my last response, it was from 2017, but still a very historical event of national (and international in a way) significance.  Which is why I was wondering if reportage is only for images from events that are happening right now, while archival are old (with possible imperfections because they were taken a LONG time ago).... .but where do images fit in that were newsworthy at the time and are good quality- but it is 3-4 years later now after the event?  

[geogphotos]

4 minutes ago, Tawna Brown said:

But what if you're confident the images are high quality, crisp, etc? Do all images under the "reportage" category automatically have this tag of having possible imperfections- even if all of your images are good quality?  I'm thinking I'll just be uploading these images to regular stock; as mentioned in my last response, it was from 2017, but still a very historical event of national (and international in a way) significance.  Which is why I was wondering if reportage is only for images from events that are happening right now, while archival are old (with possible imperfections because they were taken a LONG time ago).... .but where do images fit in that were newsworthy at the time and are good quality- but it is 3-4 years later now after the event?  

 

Yes because they haven't gone through QC.

 

My understanding is that Reportage relates to the conditions under which the pictures were taken and the type of pictures rather than the date they were taken.

[Tawna Brown]

15 minutes ago, geogphotos said:

 

Yes because they haven't gone through QC.

 

My understanding is that Reportage relates to the conditions under which the pictures were taken and the type of pictures rather than the date they were taken.

Well then i'm on the fence! I really want to get these uploaded, but I don't want to miss out on the chance to upload properly and to reportage if need be... if that would be the best thing to do....  I've been putting this off (uploading to alamy) for 4 years now and I'm finally ready, and now I'm stuck with a fairly minor thing...

 

[Tawna Brown]

1 hour ago, Niels Quist said:

 

Yes, you are right, but the images still have to be what you would call "reportage" - and I would never risk my 5 star rank and push any image I didn't think would pass through QC in the hope that I wasn't checked. I value the advantage too much.

I may not have been clear in my wording - I am just a foreigner trying to write English 🙃

@meanderingemu and @Niels Quist.... i just uploaded 4 images as reportage (I just checked off reportage when I went to upload), and they uploaded fine....   i thought folks are saying there is something i need to do in order to get the ability to upload reportage? 

 

This is the thing.... I have a large collection of images of a project from some years ago that i will be submitting, and i'll enter those as "Stock", but related to that project is an actual event, the opening ceremony..... and those few photos, I'm uploading as "reportage" - even though they are part of the same project.... but they are from a specific celebration. Does this make sense what i'm doing?   Or does it really matter?

[geogphotos]

20 minutes ago, Tawna Brown said:

Well then i'm on the fence! I really want to get these uploaded, but I don't want to miss out on the chance to upload properly and to reportage if need be... if that would be the best thing to do....  I've been putting this off (uploading to alamy) for 4 years now and I'm finally ready, and now I'm stuck with a fairly minor thing...

 

 

 

They are only going to sell if they are uploaded.  So I'd say make a decision and act on it. As they say the worst decision is not to make any decision. 😁

 

If somebody wants the image they will buy it whatever it says about possible imperfections. 

Edited February 10, 2021 by geogphotos

[meanderingemu]

2 hours ago, geogphotos said:

 

 

They are only going to sell if they are uploaded.  So I'd say make a decision and act on it. As they say the worst decision is not to make any decision. 😁

 

If somebody wants the image they will buy it whatever it says about possible imperfections. 

 

 

my only issue is if it affects the search the same way former LiveNews seem to affect, by ranking them slightly lower

 

 

@Tawna Brown, in the end i don't think it makes much difference, and as Ian says, getting them up for sale is the main goal.  I have many images i uploaded through LiveNews so they get disclaimer 'may include imperfections` and they still sell as stock sans issues. 

[IanDavidson]

4 hours ago, meanderingemu said:

 

 

Ian,

 

any insight on how you made you case? I have recently skipped regional non UK events because they hardly met Live News requirements (what is uploaded not withstanding) plus the one hour deadline has been hard with no indoor spots open and -15C temperatures, but would have probably covered with Reportage...  

My argument was very context specific.   Before lockdown the vast majority of my images were from Downing Street of UK cabinet ministers.  There could be up to thirty attendees at Cabinet.  That means for a live news upload I was limited to roughly one picture per attendee.   Also, on occasion I had to make a decision about not taking a particular cabinet minister in favour of submitting several of one particular minister.    I would take between five and ten pictures per attendee depending on who they were and how much they were on the news agenda.  An example of the issues this caused can be seen in this story.  At one cabinet meeting I decided not to submit to live news a cabinet member as I did not think he was high on the news agenda.  The next day he resigned over a scandal.  I had a couple of pictures of him - but were not of a quality to submit as stock.    I had a lot of marketable pictures that I could not put through live news.  In addition Downing Street is not an easy place to take high quality pictures.   It is largely dark and it is effectively a corridor between tall buildings.  It is also quite contrasty as the building fronts vary greatly from light to quite black.  We togs are kept at a distance from the individuals for obvious reasons.  As a result a lot of pictures, while of newspaper quality, many would fail QC if put in as stock due to high noise etc.  Now I have reportage access (ignoring lockdown for a moment) I can ensure that a full set of cabinet ministers pictures are available after cabinet meetings and they do sell quite well.

 

I hope the rambling explanation above makes sense!

[Chuck Nacke]

Some of what has been posted in this thread is NOT CORRECT, in my opinion.

 

I have been a contributor to LIVE NEWS since it began.  I have also had a 5 star QC rating since I have known about it.

 

To me I submit Reportage for images that were shot recently but I did not have or want to have within the current 24 hour

requirement for LIVE NEWS submissions.  That is often the case on a "Breaking News Story."  I use Archival for file images that

I consider of historical value.  I am now working on a set of pictures of the 1993 "Russian Constitutional Crisis" that I consider

to be "Archival.

 

FYI: I have always found the Alamy staff on LIVE NEWS helpful and very easy to deal with.

 

I will also add that contributors to LIVE NEWS really need to learn to edit (select) their images better.

 

I would be interested in a response to this thread by Alamy.

 

Chuck

Edited February 10, 2021 by Chuck Nacke
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