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would love some feedback!


bifurcationpoint

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5 hours ago, bifurcationpoint said:

Thanks for responding! I guess I was hoping someone would point out something I was doing that was really ineffective, so I could improve it and make more sales. But I appreciate your feedback!🙂

 

I think your images have good (adequate) keywording, and relevant captions. You have to figure out what subject matter "sells" on Alamy. Imagery of abstract patterns can work for some buyers, but you'll be limited to a specific audience looking for abstracts; not to mention your competition with their own abstracts vying for the same audience. anything can sell on alamy, diversification by having unique conceptual ideas and subject matter nobody else has can help.

 

Also i've noticed many images are greyscale versions of other images which I don't know if it's helpful for buyers, or just hurting your ranking long term as both the color and grayscale version can come up on a search term.

 

 

 

 

Edited by sooth
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Hi Gloria,

Your photos look good. Just a minor one, I would add 'monochrome' and 'black and white' as keywords and in the caption of your monochrome pictures.

 

A young woman sits on her huge dog in a friend's backyard in the woods - Image ID: 2J3R8FJ

 

Firstly, what can you see this selling for? Possibly as a concept shot, e.g. trying to show someone having fun in nature. So you might want to label a few concepts. Not sure anyone would use it though, not the best look sitting on a dog. 🙃 And I would do a better description in the caption and keywords of what we're actually looking at. E.g. a woman smiling, person pointing at the camera, looking at viewer...

What breed of dog?

Where, what country?

 

The flower shots, where are they flowering and when (month, season)?

Steve

 

 

 

Edited by Steve F
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To pick up on the point made by Sooth, you need to know your audience.  What market are you aiming for?  As a starter look at the images sold and images found topics on the forum to see what is selling.  A lot of people also look at Alamy measures, first to see what is selling but mostly to check that what you are photographing is in demand, and not over represented.  There is limited potential to sell images when there are thousands of similar pictures.  .  Look at print publications and web sites relating to your target market.  Look for existing and developing trends in your chosen market place.  A mistake made by some on Alamy is to take wonderful pictures, that no one wants to buy.  Until recently Alamy was very much an editorial agency and contributors responded to that.  They now appear to be moving into the more creative space, perhaps because PA do editorial.

 

in my own case, I am largely, a UK political photographer.  I scan the UK newspapers daily to look for both events and trends.  I sell largely to uk news websites and print and I look carefully at what type and style of images sell and try to match the house style of publications.  As an example, I saw on the financial pages that a large local company was in play.  I went and took pictures of the company headquarters and sure enough they sold.  A local celebrity opened a gym, I took pictures because I understand he has a couple of TV shows lined up so his picture may be in demand.  
 

So, the answer to your question about how to sell more pictures is to produce pictures that buyers want.  Other contributors will have different ideas.  Some, like Wim, are vastly successful with a small portfolio but for us mere mortals and with low and decreasing prices it is a numbers game; tale lots of relevant, marketable pictures, caption and keyword well. I suggest you look at the work of the late Keith Morris.  It has been suggested that he was one of Alamy’s top earners in the old days.  

 

Steve F’s advice is sound.  Picture buyers start blind.  They search by keyword and caption.  THEN they look at the results.  You can have the best pictures in the world but if the caption and keywords are not relevant or spammed they will never even see your pictures.  Comprehensive and concise captions and keywords are as important if not more so than the picture itself.
 

I hope this is helpful.  Others will have different, equally valid views.  

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