Feedback please

[Angel57]

Hello, I've been uploading on and off to Alamy for a few years now. My sales are sporadic, which I'd like to improve.

Please have a look at my images and share some comments.

Thanks for your time and help!

 

Angel

 

https://www.alamy.com/search/imageresults.aspx?pl=1&plno=217285

[NYCat]

Your keywords are a little sparse. Be sure to give the scientific names of animals and plants... including breed of those wonderful dogs. You don't need words like "image" or "shows". I love the dragonfly and it seems well keyworded. I also include the scientific name in caption. Also the place and include all versions of place in the keywords...  California, CA, United States of America, US, USA.

 

Good luck with your lovely images.

 

Paulette

[Angel57]

3 hours ago, NYCat said:

Your keywords are a little sparse. Be sure to give the scientific names of animals and plants... including breed of those wonderful dogs. You don't need words like "image" or "shows". I love the dragonfly and it seems well keyworded. I also include the scientific name in caption. Also the place and include all versions of place in the keywords...  California, CA, United States of America, US, USA.

 

Good luck with your lovely images.

 

Paulette

Hi Paulette, thanks for your checking out my images. I'll work on keywords as you suggested. Best wishes, Angel

 

3 hours ago, NYCat said:

Your keywords are a little sparse. Be sure to give the scientific names of animals and plants... including breed of those wonderful dogs. You don't need words like "image" or "shows". I love the dragonfly and it seems well keyworded. I also include the scientific name in caption. Also the place and include all versions of place in the keywords...  California, CA, United States of America, US, USA.

 

Good luck with your lovely images.

 

Paulette

 

[Jill Morgan]

3 hours ago, NYCat said:

Your keywords are a little sparse. Be sure to give the scientific names of animals and plants... including breed of those wonderful dogs. You don't need words like "image" or "shows". I love the dragonfly and it seems well keyworded. I also include the scientific name in caption. Also the place and include all versions of place in the keywords...  California, CA, United States of America, US, USA.

 

Good luck with your lovely images.

 

Paulette

 

The breed of those dogs is Border Collies if you want to add that.

 

Jill

[Steve F]

Hi Angel,

Photos look good. Captions and keywords could use some work as others have said above. Be aware that captions are searchable by clients. Here's some starters for 10:

https://www.alamy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Captions-and-Tags-checklist.pdf

https://www.alamy.com/blog/tips-for-your-captions-from-the-sales-team

https://www.alamy.com/blog/captions-and-tags

 

Image of the almost full rising behind the 150 ft Solar Tower Telescope at Mt Wilson Observatory in the San Gabriel Mountains, California. Image taken - Image ID: 2JH73XD

You missed out 'moon'

 

Chino Airport, California, USA - May 6, 2018: Image of 1939 Douglas C-41A, DC-3, with registration N341A shown stationary at Chino Airport on a sunny - Image ID: 2JHT4K2

Looks like you copied and pasted from another agency and the end of the caption got cut off. You've got quite a few instances of this happening.

 

Image of a lowrider car with modified hydraulic suspension shown entertaining passersby at dusk on the newly inaugurated 6th Street Viaduct. - Image ID: 2JHG968

You never need to include the word 'image' as a caption or keyword. The only time I would put 'stock photo' in the caption is if it was an image of e.g. medicine and someone might mistakenly think they're buying the actual medicine (it happens). You've also got a full stop at the end of the caption which is superfluous. So you could get 19 extra characters in by deleting the full stop, 'Image of a' and 'on the' (just put a comma after dusk). Also, it's passers-by.

 

More generally, include the state and country in the caption if you can.

 

Steve

Edited August 18, 2022 by Steve F

[wiskerke]

6 hours ago, Steve F said:

Hi Angel,

Photos look good. Captions and keywords could use some work as others have said above. Be aware that captions are searchable by clients. Here's some starters for 10:

https://www.alamy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Captions-and-Tags-checklist.pdf

https://www.alamy.com/blog/tips-for-your-captions-from-the-sales-team

https://www.alamy.com/blog/captions-and-tags

 

Image of the almost full rising behind the 150 ft Solar Tower Telescope at Mt Wilson Observatory in the San Gabriel Mountains, California. Image taken - Image ID: 2JH73XD

You missed out 'moon'

 

Chino Airport, California, USA - May 6, 2018: Image of 1939 Douglas C-41A, DC-3, with registration N341A shown stationary at Chino Airport on a sunny - Image ID: 2JHT4K2

Looks like you copied and pasted from another agency and the end of the caption got cut off. You've got quite a few instances of this happening.

 

Image of a lowrider car with modified hydraulic suspension shown entertaining passersby at dusk on the newly inaugurated 6th Street Viaduct. - Image ID: 2JHG968

You never need to include the word 'image' as a caption or keyword. The only time I would put 'stock photo' in the caption is if it was an image of e.g. medicine and someone might mistakenly think they're buying the actual medicine (it happens). You've also got a full stop at the end of the caption which is superfluous. So you could get 19 extra characters in by deleting the full stop, 'Image of a' and 'on the' (just put a comma after dusk). Also, it's passers-by.

 

More generally, include the state and country in the caption if you can.

 

Steve

 

All good advice. Except maybe for image.

42 pages @100 in AoA for the rolling year for that keyword.

Including lots that will make you laugh. However the client is never stupid.

 

wim

[Steve F]

2 minutes ago, wiskerke said:

 

All good advice. Except maybe for image.

42 pages @100 in AoA for the rolling year for that keyword.

Including lots that will make you laugh. However the client is never stupid.

 

wim

 

Wow....

[wiskerke]

19 minutes ago, Steve F said:

 

Wow....

 

@Angel and maybe some other readers of this: Let's give a link to AoA first. (A search here on the forum will bring up many explanations and instructions.)

 

I remember doing the same search on AoA before, probably because of a discussion here, but maybe not, because using the search function I cannot find it. It may have been my own curiosity, probably while keywording.

So I went to my files and found I had saved that exact same search in 2018 for the rolling year.

In 2018 the total amount of searches for the keyword image was 2760.

In 2022 the total amount of searches for the keyword image is 4621.

Wow indeed!

Has the total of searches also risen 67% from 2018 to 2022? (Let's not hijack this thread.)

 

wim

[wiskerke]

2 minutes ago, wiskerke said:

 (Let's not hijack this thread.)

 

In a different thread I have offered these truisms on Alamy (but there are more):

 

No views; no zooms; no sales: this is not your type of sport.

Many views; no zooms; no sales: You're doing something seriously wrong. Maybe just keywording. Probably more than that. Style? Technique?

Many views; some zooms; no sales: also something wrong, could be technique or style.
Many views; many zooms; no or few sales: definitely style or technique.
Many views: some zooms; many sales: you're a perfect match for Alamy.
Too many views without sales however will lower your ranking on the page: go shoot popular subjects that return less than 2 pages of images. In this case also consider cutting back on keywords.

 

wim

[Michael Ventura]

46 minutes ago, wiskerke said:

 

In a different thread I have offered these truisms on Alamy (but there are more):

 

No views; no zooms; no sales: this is not your type of sport.

Many views; no zooms; no sales: You're doing something seriously wrong. Maybe just keywording. Probably more than that. Style? Technique?

Many views; some zooms; no sales: also something wrong, could be technique or style.
Many views; many zooms; no or few sales: definitely style or technique.
Many views: some zooms; many sales: you're a perfect match for Alamy.
Too many views without sales however will lower your ranking on the page: go shoot popular subjects that return less than 2 pages of images. In this case also consider cutting back on keywords.

 

wim

 

Well done Wim!  I believe this is pretty accurate.

[Angel57]

9 hours ago, Steve F said:

Hi Angel,

Photos look good. Captions and keywords could use some work as others have said above. Be aware that captions are searchable by clients. Here's some starters for 10:

https://www.alamy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Captions-and-Tags-checklist.pdf

https://www.alamy.com/blog/tips-for-your-captions-from-the-sales-team

https://www.alamy.com/blog/captions-and-tags

 

Image of the almost full rising behind the 150 ft Solar Tower Telescope at Mt Wilson Observatory in the San Gabriel Mountains, California. Image taken - Image ID: 2JH73XD

You missed out 'moon'

 

Chino Airport, California, USA - May 6, 2018: Image of 1939 Douglas C-41A, DC-3, with registration N341A shown stationary at Chino Airport on a sunny - Image ID: 2JHT4K2

Looks like you copied and pasted from another agency and the end of the caption got cut off. You've got quite a few instances of this happening.

 

Image of a lowrider car with modified hydraulic suspension shown entertaining passersby at dusk on the newly inaugurated 6th Street Viaduct. - Image ID: 2JHG968

You never need to include the word 'image' as a caption or keyword. The only time I would put 'stock photo' in the caption is if it was an image of e.g. medicine and someone might mistakenly think they're buying the actual medicine (it happens). You've also got a full stop at the end of the caption which is superfluous. So you could get 19 extra characters in by deleting the full stop, 'Image of a' and 'on the' (just put a comma after dusk). Also, it's passers-by.

 

More generally, include the state and country in the caption if you can.

 

Steve

Hello Steve,

I appreciate your input. I see that I need to pay attention to descriptions and keywords (not my fave part of photography). Again, thanks so much for you detailed feedback. Regards, Angel

 

[Angel57]

3 hours ago, wiskerke said:

 

All good advice. Except maybe for image.

42 pages @100 in AoA for the rolling year for that keyword.

Including lots that will make you laugh. However the client is never stupid.

 

wim

Thanks for your feedback! I find it interesting that the word 'image' may be a problem or be that consequential. Regards, Angel

[Angel57]

On 17/08/2022 at 07:09, Jill Morgan said:

 

The breed of those dogs is Border Collies if you want to add that.

 

Jill

Thank, Jill!

[wiskerke]

3 hours ago, Angel57 said:

Thanks for your feedback! I find it interesting that the word 'image' may be a problem or be that consequential. Regards, Angel

 

In general it's best to start each caption with the main subject of the image in the words clients are using researching that subject.

A keyword like image should only appear somewhere in the keywords as an extra: just in case a client uses it and you would otherwise miss out a view.

 

wim

 

[Angel57]

28 minutes ago, wiskerke said:

 

In general it's best to start each caption with the main subject of the image in the words clients are using researching that subject.

A keyword like image should only appear somewhere in the keywords as an extra: just in case a client uses it and you would otherwise miss out a view.

 

wim

 

I had a look at your images. I like them, you have many beautiful photos.

Angel

[wiskerke]

2 hours ago, Angel57 said:

I had a look at your images. I like them, you have many beautiful photos.

Angel

Thank you!

Not all are bestsellers. 😂

Some even never sell. It used to be that most never sold, which is still true, but now 30% have sold at least once. The lowest for 17cts total though. 📉

 

wim

🖖

 

edit: oops 30% not 38% (innumerate me fighting with Excel)

Edited August 19, 2022 by wiskerke

[Martin L]

7 hours ago, wiskerke said:

 

In a different thread I have offered these truisms on Alamy (but there are more):

 

No views; no zooms; no sales: this is not your type of sport.

Many views; no zooms; no sales: You're doing something seriously wrong. Maybe just keywording. Probably more than that. Style? Technique?

Many views; some zooms; no sales: also something wrong, could be technique or style.
Many views; many zooms; no or few sales: definitely style or technique.
Many views: some zooms; many sales: you're a perfect match for Alamy.
Too many views without sales however will lower your ranking on the page: go shoot popular subjects that return less than 2 pages of images. In this case also consider cutting back on keywords.

 

wim

I would like to quantify that to evaluate my port and see if I need to take up knitting.

For example last month on a port of 800 images, I had 830 views, 4 zooms and 3 sales (different to the zoomed ones).

For the more experienced users, where does that feature on the 'Wim Scale'? (yes that is now the official name)

 

[Angel57]

1 hour ago, Martin L said:

I would like to quantify that to evaluate my port and see if I need to take up knitting.

For example last month on a port of 800 images, I had 830 views, 4 zooms and 3 sales (different to the zoomed ones).

For the more experienced users, where does that feature on the 'Wim Scale'? (yes that is now the official name)

 

Very nice port!

Angel

[wiskerke]

44 minutes ago, Martin L said:

I would like to quantify that to evaluate my port and see if I need to take up knitting.

For example last month on a port of 800 images, I had 830 views, 4 zooms and 3 sales (different to the zoomed ones).

For the more experienced users, where does that feature on the 'Wim Scale'? (yes that is now the official name)

 

For a good scale one needs a scale, like wind force 😁

My favorite metric, I call it CTR for sales: V/S  views divided by sales. Your 277 is not at all bad in my book.

The good thing about it is that it's easy to compare months with months or even months with years.

But the real metric is money in the bank.

 

wim

 

[Steve F]

13 hours ago, Angel57 said:

Thanks for your feedback! I find it interesting that the word 'image' may be a problem or be that consequential. Regards, Angel

 

Hiya, you may have missed my point, I'll elaborate! The word 'image' is not a problem, I was trying to say that you have a limited number of words for using in a caption, only 150 characters. So you want to provide a good description, but also as many searchable keywords as possible, avoiding too many filler words like 'on', 'an', 'the' etc...

 

And I would have said that including the keyword 'image' is useless because it's like putting 'sky' or 'ground' in all your landscape images, basically keyword spamming. However, Wim has pointed out that I'm wrong. Now I'm thinking how stupid it would be if we all put 'image' as a keyword....! Or, we collectively all diss it on the Forum and then secretly add it. 😆 

Edited August 19, 2022 by Steve F

[Steve F]

12 hours ago, Angel57 said:

Hello Steve,

I appreciate your input. I see that I need to pay attention to descriptions and keywords (not my fave part of photography). Again, thanks so much for you detailed feedback. Regards, Angel

 

 

You're welcome! I don't think anyone likes keywording and captioning! But it's more important than the image itself; if an image is badly keyworded/captioned, it won't be found.

[Martin L]

7 hours ago, Angel57 said:

Very nice port!

Angel

Thank you very much, it's nice for you to say.

I have actually no idea if I have a nice port, I just keep submitting and hope for the best🤞

[Martin L]

7 hours ago, wiskerke said:

For a good scale one needs a scale, like wind force 😁

My favorite metric, I call it CTR for sales: V/S  views divided by sales. Your 277 is not at all bad in my book.

The good thing about it is that it's easy to compare months with months or even months with years.

But the real metric is money in the bank.

 

wim

 

Thanks, if it's 'not bad in your book', I'll take that and try to continue stumbling in the right direction 

[ColdCoffee]

You have a lot of great photos. Love the Hummingbirds in 2HMBG97!

 

Most photos taken in sunny daylight has good light and colors. However, I think you can improve the photos in more challenging light conditions. I found some of them under exposed or flat. While you can't do much about the light conditions at the location, except wait, you can improve them in Photoshop (or other tools) and increase highlights and contrasts to make them pop.

[Angel57]

4 hours ago, ColdCoffee said:

You have a lot of great photos. Love the Hummingbirds in 2HMBG97!

 

Most photos taken in sunny daylight has good light and colors. However, I think you can improve the photos in more challenging light conditions. I found some of them under exposed or flat. While you can't do much about the light conditions at the location, except wait, you can improve them in Photoshop (or other tools) and increase highlights and contrasts to make them pop.

Hi ColdCoffee, thank you for taking the time to check out my photos! I appreciate your comments. Hummingbirds are one of my fave subjects. I certainly tend to produce flat images. Do you mind giving an example of one from my portfolio? I certainly want to improve on that. I thought, however, that  Alamy likes un-sharpened and more natural looking images, no? 

Thanks!

Angel