What do you think about My Portfolio?

[Ernestovdp]

Hi everybody, thanks in advance for any advice and tips to improve my portfolio.

[Vincent Lowe]

Hi.  I've only had a brief look but you seem to have a varied collection and I can't see much wrong with them.

 

One point about the crane in, for example, 2J41ATC.  You have it captioned as a 'tower crane' but it's actually described as a 'mobile harbor crane' and I would also list the make and model of the crane - Liebherr LHM 600 Mobile Harbour Crane.  See video of the larger 800 model (warning - annoying music) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRyKogB0Fco

 

In the UK at least, this is the type of crane we call a tower crane.  In a former life I used to work on cranes...🙂

 

Also, don't forget to add 'British English' spellings in the keywords where possible: harbor = harbour.

Also I would say 'unloading' instead of 'downloading' (which applies more to getting stuff off the internet these days) - and there's a typo in the caption, you have 'moorning' but I assume you mean 'morning'.

 

Good luck...

 

 

Edited April 14, 2022 by Vincent Lowe
Spelling error + added a bit

[Ernestovdp]

4 hours ago, Vincent Lowe said:

Hi.  I've only had a brief look but you seem to have a varied collection and I can't see much wrong with them.

 

One point about the crane in, for example, 2J41ATC.  You have it captioned as a 'tower crane' but it's actually described as a 'mobile harbor crane' and I would also list the make and model of the crane - Liebherr LHM 600 Mobile Harbour Crane.  See video of the larger 800 model (warning - annoying music) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRyKogB0Fco

 

In the UK at least, this is the type of crane we call a tower crane.  In a former life I used to work on cranes...🙂

 

Also, don't forget to add 'British English' spellings in the keywords where possible: harbor = harbour.

Also I would say 'unloading' instead of 'downloading' (which applies more to getting stuff off the internet these days) - and there's a typo in the caption, you have 'moorning' but I assume you mean 'morning'.

 

Good luck...

 

 

Thanks Vincent!, Thanks Vincent, I'm reviewing each photo I recently uploaded to improve search terms and keywords, I was uploading my photos to other sites like shutterstock, dreamstime, freepicks and getty, some of which I've already sold well on. I really liked Alamy and now I am starting to explore it further, thanks again for the feedback and I appreciate any advice.

[meanderingemu]

i think your image are technically sound, and some useful one.  I however would not have 14 images of same bridge with little variation between them, but this is a personal taste.

 

One thing of note is for bird image you need the full name in English and in Latin.

 

For example

2J3KDEG

Gull is too general, someone who would need this image will not find it, as they would be looking for this specific gull.  

[Roy Q]

Hi,

I agree you have a good variety of subjects likely to be of interest, hopefully some are selling. I have only looked at captioning and tags for two or three, and would suggest more tags, including some conceptual ones might be advisable. For example, for 2J3KDD4 (blackbird in pool) again the latin name, and possibly variants of "blue" such as turquoise and aquamarine.

 

I find the distortion of the tiles caused by refraction and water movement almost more interesting than the bird (for me they are evocative of Hockney's pool paintings), and similar shots without the bird could be tagged with concept words such as "change", "instability" etc. as well as the more prosaic water, pool, colours etc.

 

Bear in mind I'm new to Alamy, have very few photos on board, and have not made any sales yet, but my advice is based on reading other more experience contributors' tips elesewhere, as well as the newest advice from Alamy.

[MDM]

Hi Ernesto. I would suggest you take advantage of the fact that you are in Uruguay by keywording with an emphasis on that. There are only about 86,000 images that come up for a search on Uruguay on Alamy. For example, your image 2J3KCYE is captioned "Cows in a countryside field in Uruguay" with generic keywords that could relate to anywhere in the world and no mention of the man on horseback. I would suggest something like Gaucho or South American cowboy on horseback with a herd of cattle in a field in TheLocation, Uruguay. Then use the same words plus additional keywords in the tags. I think keywords that appear in captions and tags have more weight than those in captions alone. Also make sure you put the location into the tags as well as the Location field. As far as I know the Location field is not searchable - this was changed some years ago by Alamy.

 

Best of luck.

[Joseph Clemson]

Hello Ernesto. There are a few issues you could address to improve your portfolio. The first one is possibly the most difficult, as English doesn't seem to be your first language the phrases you use are, on occasion, not the usual ones and may be misleading. For example 2J3KDKE  where you keyword the foal at her mother's teat as 'breastfeeding', where for an animal we would usually use the term 'suckling'.   In another image you refer to a 'free horse', where we would tend to use the term 'loose' or 'untethered'. In actual fact, the term 'free' is really redundant as horses are routinely pictured untethered. Being able to use terms and phrases which are familiar to native English speakers is not essential, but it will help buyers to find your images.

 

As already mentioned, detail in your captions and keywords is paramount and needs to be correct. For example 2J4D15E, which you describe as 'street musician'. They would commonly be described as 'buskers' and I would include in the caption and keywords the specific instruments they are playing. I'm not sure what the wind instrument is, but it is not a flute (or flaute). It would be good to find out exactly what instrument it is - it looks a litle like an oboe, but I'm not sure. Develop the habit of finding out while taking the photograph, if possible, exactly what it is you are photographing, if it is not obvious. The guitar should be specified as an 'acoustic guitar'. Location: does the central square have a specific name?  Specify the gender, age range and other significant details of the people shown.  Also, avoid using keywords which are not properly descriptive, you have 'tourists' but there are no prominent tourists in the image. 

 

I note you have correctly marked 2J4D15E image as being 'editorial only' but you do have others in your portfolio which feature people and property which are not so marked. You should mark all such images as 'editorial only' for your own protection. An example is 2J3RFGX. If the image was purchased and used in an advertisement and the subject of the picture took exception to it,  you could be caught up in any legal arguments which followed. You can lessen the risk by marking all RF pictures with people and property as 'Editorial Only'. You will find much advice in the forums of what constitutes 'property'

 

Where your pictures are editorial in nature , eg. 2J3RK71 it is useful to adopt the practice of captioning them as through you were submitting to a news desk: Where?, When? Who? What? Why? Give as much detail as possible and be factual and accurate. It will all help busy picture editors to feel confident in selecting your image to illustrate their story. I notice you have done this is some cases, but apply it more often to relevant images.

 

In general, be more explicit. 'A bunch of cows in a farm' is not likely to be found and sold. What kind of cow? Where? What are the flowers in the meadow? Are they significant in the grazing? 'A black monkey in a tree'. What kind of monkey, including the Latin name? Where? What kind of tree? Note on that latter image, most zoos and other places with captive animal have terms and conditions of entry which that images taken on their property are for personal use only. 

 

Go through your portfolio carefully and make sure you caption and keyword everything precisely. Do it now while your portfolio is relatively small and develop a good workflow to make sure future uploads are done to the same high standard. It is the only way to sell successfully on Alamy. 

 

 

 

 

[Steve F]

56 minutes ago, Joseph Clemson said:

 It is the only way to sell successfully on Alamy. 

 

Great post Joseph!

[Cal]

On 25/04/2022 at 08:47, Joseph Clemson said:

 

I note you have correctly marked 2J4D15E image as being 'editorial only' but you do have others in your portfolio which feature people and property which are not so marked. You should mark all such images as 'editorial only' for your own protection. An example is 2J3RFGX. If the image was purchased and used in an advertisement and the subject of the picture took exception to it,  you could be caught up in any legal arguments which followed. You can lessen the risk by marking all RF pictures with people and property as 'Editorial Only'. You will find much advice in the forums of what constitutes 'property'

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted to mention this as well. I had a quick scan and all the images I came across were RF. When using this licence type you need to be careful to mark images as editorial where appropriate. Generally you can get away with non-editorial for generic, microstock type images and things like nondescript buildings/silhouettes/panoramas, but depending on the country and laws applicable certain very recognisable buildings or panoramas may even be restricted too.  Not all countries have freedom of panorama or similar in regards to photography. With RF non-editorial images, about the riskiest I've ventured was a photograph of a totally non-descript oil rig in silhouette by the sunset - and that's largely because it was accepted at another micro agency that is extremely fussy about marking images as editorial. Anything with people in should be marked as editorial, save perhaps for if they're a literal spec on the horizon.

 

Particularly since Alamy updated their contract I would always advise erring on the side of caution (as I do). The only images I mark RF are those I've duplicated on other agencies either as RF-Editorial or that I am sure are "safe". Such images constitute barely 1/10 of what I have here as I'd rather sell stuff RM - but the choice is up to the individual contributor. Alamy often sells licences as hybrids anyway but you still limit the damage from any comebacks if you've set it right in Image Manager.

Edited May 2, 2022 by Cal