Live news best practice

[Cryptoprocta]

Long story short, on Sat. I went up to Glasgow to photograph the women's elite world championship cycle road race, mainly because when they came into the city for the first time, they'd be passing under my sister's 3rd floor flat, so I'd have a unique viewpoint. Anyway, after that I ran downstairs and walked the course backwards so that I'd catch them on each lap in different locations.

Got back to her flat already 30 mins after the last lap had passed me, and discovered I'd taken 1215 pics. Took ages to get them loaded onto my Surface Pro, and that was just the jpgs. Made a long list of 101 and intended to cut that down to about 25. By that time, c90 mins had passed since I'd clicked my last shot. Then my computer told me to plug in. I hadn't had enough room in my camera bag for the cable, as I'd had to put in my 100-400 to shoot out of the flat window. Realised to my horror that I wasn't gong to have time to identify the riders. Also realised I was both running out of the two hour slot and battery power, so I'd best just upload the long list of 101, which I did, with very generic caption, description and keywords.

 

I followed instructions and only adjusted optics and geometry in ACR.

Because that was my long list, there are some very similar pics that I was going to choose between.

I should be able to identify some of the riders with some effort.

None of the pics sold on LN. I can accept that my photos aren't necessarily the best, but no real point in offering me pointers on that, as it's almost certainly not something I'll ever come into contact with again. The photography bit was fun, though. The rest was just stressful. I can't imagine how I could have done it in less time, and of course even before. I'd got back to my sister's flat, pics from the beginning and end of the event were already online.

 

OK, that's the background, here are the questions:

1.

Once the pics come off LN and into the general stock collection, I guess I should try to identify riders where I can, and locations and add them to the description. Should that come before or after the generic description, i.e.

Glasgow, Scotland, UK. 13th August 2023. Glasgow, Scotland, UK.  Jane Doe of Paladinia riding through Kelvingrove park during the final race of the UCI Cycling World Championships, Women Elite Road Race, which started at Loch Lomond and ended with six laps of Glasgow's city streets. Credit: Elizabeth Leyden/Alamy Live News

or

Glasgow, Scotland, UK. 13th August 2023. Glasgow, Scotland, UK.  The UCI Cycling World Championships finished with the Women Elite Road Race, which started at Loch Lomond and ended with six laps of Glasgow's city streets. Jane Doe of Paladinia riding through Kelvingrove park in the city's West End. Credit: Elizabeth Leyden/Alamy Live News

 

2. Should the Credit: 'Elizabeth Leyden/Alamy Live News' bit be removed once it's no longer Live News?

 

3. Should I mark similars for deletion?

 

4. Other than for LN, for normal stock, I'd have cropped many of the photos and adjusted the lighting. It was a sunny day with contrasty lighting. My real instinct would be to mark them all for deletion and choose 20-30 to process properly and reupload, (my intended 'short list') but I'm guessing that's frowned upon, and indeed may not be worth the effort.

 

TIA for advice.

Edited August 16, 2023 by Cryptoprocta

[Sultanpepa]

Interesting questions and I'll be keen to hear the answers from seasoned news campaigners. I can only tell you what I'd do. Certainly once they pass to LN and sit there for a week or so and if you're not happy with the editing I would delete them and resubmit as stock with a new edit and with names if you've got them. Submitting as LN, unless it's a small amount of images, I'd generally go for a generic description. A caveat to that is if the image shows a rider in the first three finishers. Then I'd submit separately obviously with a different heading. If you decide to leave LN images as stock then yes I'd normally remove the NAME/ALN in the description but that's just my preference although I don't think it matters. I think it would be wise, once the images are in stock, to delete similars as you want variety coming up in searches and not maybe just two or three of the same moment. Again, this is just what I do and not maybe what's right.

[wiskerke]

Have a hard look on what sort of images have been published in relation to this race.

And what sort of images of individual riders are being used. On Google Images just try Kopecky Edinburgh or Vollering Edinburgh first.

Those were two favorites riding on the same commercial team, but for different countries. Both absolute cycle crazy countries: Belgium and the Netherlands, so there's your story. And indeed most outlets have that single image of those two battling it out. If they run images at all besides the obvious podium shots. The other interesting image of the Montrose 20% street has already been used in the men's race, but also comes up a couple of times, so that may be of some interest.

Individual riders: mostly images of the person alone, or in a close battle and (preferably victorious) on the finish line. Always facing the viewer.

 

 

 

While winner Kopecky finished 7 seconds and hundreds of yards ahead of Vollering and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, this moment (3 different images at least) was featured in most outlets.

Plus a couple of Vollering and Kopecky hugging.

 

One moment that didn't make the cut, but did in some videos, was reigning world champion Annemiek van Vleuten getting a flat 3 times during the race.

Probably no one has a dramatic image of one of those moments. Or last year's champion is just not interesting any more.

 

So I would keep one or two that show the general layout of the race with a good cityscape preferably of Montrose St.

Plus a couple of riders facing you with full names, but only if the image stands a chance compared to other images of those riders on Alamy. And bin the rest.

But maybe you have some more general images of preparations or crowds or safety issues that merit a second look?

 

wim

 

edit 2: Glasgow! Not Edinburgh!

Seconds! Not minutes!

👴

I even saw the hotel we've stayed in, in the video. It's overlooking the final loop. 🙄

Edited August 16, 2023 by wiskerke
typo

[Mr Standfast]

A smashing question and I would also like to hear what other people do.  You've picked very tough topic to shoot. I have only seen one cycle race, it was a blink and I missed it event!

 

In order...

 

1.  For the pictures where you can ID the rider, I would leave the generic part of the caption  then just insert "Pictured is Jane Doe of Rubovia".

2.  I don't bother deleting the credit. Don't think it matters. I've only deleted it in retrospect when additional comments came to mind and I wanted the space.

3.  I'd delelete some of the similars.  The only reason is you are going to compete with your self.

4.  Ask for access to reportage, then you can re-upload some of the best cropped images at leisure without worrying about blur and noise that QC may quibble over.

 

As for cropping, you must not crop LN to change how the image is interpreted or to miss represent facts. You can crop to remove elbows, wonky horizons etc.

I shoot LN as JPG using camera controls to mitigate shadows and highlights.

 

I know you said this is a "never again", but deciding the pictures to upload from camera to computer takes practice, don't kick yourself, it's difficult!

 

All the best and I bet you do shoot LN again!

 

🦔

 

[Phil Robinson]

I send  quite a lot to Live News and spend a LOT of time afterwards getting them ready for stock. 
Live news is more often than not done on a laptop in a hurry, in a nearby café, or on a window ledge in Downing Street in direct sunlight, trying to stop Larry hitting Delete. 
I nearly always go back to the RAW files a day or two later and redo them from scratch, and upload them again as stock, deleting the live news versions.

If the originals look good enough I will add keywords, treating them as new stock, identifying anyone I can.

 

 

Edited August 15, 2023 by Phil Robinson

[Harry Harrison]

Someone round my way used to photograph local cycling and running events. Apparently he would upload them somewhere in the evening and an outfit in the Far East would caption and keyword them using the entry list and their shirt/bike numbers so that they were up and ready on his site in the morning, these would have to have been jpegs and I daresay he processed them as necessary before uploading. He was mainly selling to the entrants though I think. He's not around here any more and I never got to speak to him about it myself.

[Cryptoprocta]

Wim, these are indeed great shots, and mine are nothing like these, though to be fair, I didn't put myself into that competition as I knew there would be many experts in the field taking these and was thinking about more general shots. I literally only decided to go half an hour before I had to be on the train, and that included getting dressed, eating something and doing a 15m Covid test as I had a streaming cold and had just been 'mooching around' all morning. Earlier it had been heavy rain. To be honest, I'd never have thought about going had my sister not complained the previous week about all the noise outside her flat when the supporters were cheering on the men's race, so I thought of the unusual view! Of course, it may well be a totally unwanted view.  Anyway, I'll delete the LN ones and reprocess the 'best', if I can ID the racers. I'm already working on some which needed a lot of cropping into so didn't make the original 'long list'.

 

Thanks, everyone, some great info there.

 

Fun fact: the Swiss cyclist Elise Chabbney led the race from the front, often more than a minute ahead, until the last lap. The eventual winner spent most of the race well back in the peloton (see, I'm learning new words as well!). So I found a Belgian woman in a peloton shot with Lott... on her sleeve, and thought, Oh, cute, that must be Lotte Kopecky, the eventual winner, great. the ... bit was  behind her arm and I couldn't read it on any of that burst. Luckily before committing to the name, I noticed two other Belgian riders also with the Lott ..., so now I'm assuming their national Lotto is one of their sponsors, which makes sense.

I've discovered there are three* ways to identify riders: number on their back, number on their bike that you can read from a side view, and often each team member has a different helmet.

*and by permanent scars, in some cases. I confirmed one ID by comparing the relic of a leg wound with a previous photo online.

Edited August 15, 2023 by Cryptoprocta

[wiskerke]

3 hours ago, Cryptoprocta said:

Wim, these are indeed great shots, and mine are nothing like these, though to be fair, I didn't put myself into that competition as I knew there would be many experts in the field taking these and was thinking about more general shots. I literally only decided to go half an hour before I had to be on the train, and that included getting dressed, eating something and doing a 15m Covid test as I had a streaming cold and had just been 'mooching around' all morning. Earlier it had been heavy rain. To be honest, I'd never have thought about going had my sister not complained the previous week about all the noise outside her flat when the supporters were cheering on the men's race, so I thought of the unusual view! Of course, it may well be a totally unwanted view.  Anyway, I'll delete the LN ones and reprocess the 'best', if I can ID the racers. I'm already working on some which needed a lot of cropping into so didn't make the original 'long list'.

 

Thanks, everyone, some great info there.

 

Fun fact: the Swiss cyclist Elise Chabbney led the race from the front, often more than a minute ahead, until the last lap. The eventual winner spent most of the race well back in the peloton (see, I'm learning new words as well!). So I found a Belgian woman in a peloton shot with Lott... on her sleeve, and thought, Oh, cute, that must be Lotte Kopecky, the eventual winner, great. the ... bit was  behind her arm and I couldn't read it on any of that burst. Luckily before committing to the name, I noticed two other Belgian riders also with the Lott ..., so now I'm assuming their national Lotto is one of their sponsors, which makes sense.

I've discovered there are three* ways to identify riders: number on their back, number on their bike that you can read from a side view, and often each team member has a different helmet.

*and by permanent scars, in some cases. I confirmed one ID by comparing the relic of a leg wound with a previous photo online.

Having access is always interesting. And it's almost impossible to compete on the main topics of the day with the agencies that are constantly sending images from their cameras and have a desk that sends the best stuff out while it is happening. Even when that desk may well be in the press village as well. Here's the specialized agency that had those images: https://www.corvospro.com/stories.aspx?INIT=X&CATEG=15019000

Note that that Cor Vos Agency has images from two different photographers of almost the same moment. And I have seen the same image from yet another photographer. So while it maybe wasn't the defining moment, in the end it became the defining image.

 

My examples were just to show what sort of images will be used to describe or define the race later on. And mostly with cycling it's the winner on the finish line. Then it's the winner on the podium. And maybe something about the main battle or the biggest tragedy and maybe something about the most dramatic stage of the race. Preferably all in one.
For illustrating the race later on the rest will be useless. However there may well be other uses for individual images, like indeed good portraits or something like safety which at the moment is a big issue in the sport. An overhead view of someone missing a corner would have been interesting in that respect. But truth be told, most, if not all, will probably not see a lot of use.

 

I have seen and shot some cycle races, including at least one notable Tour de France stage, and they can be over like Mr Standfast said in a blink.

(I'm somewhere next to or opposite the Simpson monument around 1.15 of that video, but cannot find myself after all those years)

 

wim

 

[IanDavidson]

Firstly, kudos for taking the initiative and 'having a go'. As someone with a 95% focus on news photography, my feedback is grounded in that realm. Wim offers excellent insights, which you'd do well to heed.

 

Your spontaneity, as reflected in your decision to head out just half an hour before catching your train, is commendable. However, preparation can't be overemphasized in our field. Before covering events, I invest time in research, examining photographs from similar events, much like Wim does. Tapping into pre-event press releases, especially if you're venturing into sports photography, can offer valuable insights and ease captioning. The more groundwork you do before an event, the smoother your post-event workflow.

 

It's unfortunate, but gaining access and information for events has become a significant challenge nowadays.

 

The skill of culling photographs comes with experience. At events, I snap numerous shots, aiming for some that are publication-worthy. Many news photographers, including myself, rely on Photo Mechanic for captioning, keywording, and culling. Its purpose-driven design aids in creating an efficient workflow. Setting up headline templates and general captions before an event streamlines the process. With its intuitive shortcut features, like typing '/Hunt/' to auto-populate as 'Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer', it's a game-changer. For sports events, this feature can equate to typing '6' to retrieve 'George Best, Centre Forward' (yes, that does reveal my age a bit!).

 

Once I've made my selections, I use Lightroom for subtle edits before uploading to Alamy. And yes, often I'll look back and wish I'd chosen a different shot. It's just part and parcel of our profession. Unlike Phil, I rarely revisit my news photos for stock purposes, though perhaps I should.

 

I empathize with your laptop woes. For contingencies, I carry two cables: one in my camera bag and another at home. On particularly busy days in London, when I might cover up to six events, I'm faced with choices: file immediately using my laptop's battery, delay for a short cafe stop with an available power source, or wait until I'm home while still meeting Alamy’s one-hour live news filing requirement. The reality is that we can't outpace news agencies who can upload directly from their cameras. I've witnessed photos taken by agency photographers appear on news sites within three minutes! However, I've had my moments in Downing Street, capturing exclusive shots when no other photographer was present.

 

To be frank, unless you're consistently covering live news, not all of the above might be relevant to you. Yet, while I've stressed preparation, there's something to be said for spontaneity. Being at the right place at the right time, capturing 'the decisive moment', can be invaluable, sometimes even surpassing all preparation

[BidC]

14 hours ago, Cryptoprocta said:

Long story short, on Sat. I went up to Glasgow to photograph the women's elite world championship cycle road race, mainly because when they came into the city for the first time, they'd be passing under my sister's 3rd floor flat, so I'd have a unique viewpoint. Anyway, after that I ran downstairs and walked the course backwards so that I'd catch them on each lap in different locations.

Got back to her flat already 30 mins after the last lap had passed me, and discovered I'd taken 1215 pics. Took ages to get them loaded onto my Tablet Pro, and that was just the jpgs. Made a long list of 101 and intended to cut that down to about 25. By that time, c90 mins had passed since I'd clicked my last shot. Then my computer told me to plug in. I hadn't had enough room in my camera bag for the cable, as I'd had to put in my 100-400 to shoot out of the flat window. Realised to my horror that I wasn't gong to have time to identify the riders. Also realised I was both running out of the two hour slot and battery power, so I'd best just upload the long list of 101, which I did, with very generic caption, description and keywords.

 

I followed instructions and only adjusted optics and geometry in ACR.

Because that was my long list, there are some very similar pics that I was going to choose between.

I should be able to identify some of the riders with some effort.

None of the pics sold on LN. I can accept that my photos aren't necessarily the best, but no real point in offering me pointers on that, as it's almost certainly not something I'll ever come into contact with again. The photography bit was fun, though. The rest was just stressful. I can't imagine how I could have done it in less time, and of course even before. I'd got back to my sister's flat, pics from the beginning and end of the event were already online.

 

OK, that's the background, here are the questions:

1.

Once the pics come off LN and into the general stock collection, I guess I should try to identify riders where I can, and locations and add them to the description. Should that come before or after the generic description, i.e.

Glasgow, Scotland, UK. 13th August 2023. Glasgow, Scotland, UK.  Jane Doe of Paladinia riding through Kelvingrove park during the final race of the UCI Cycling World Championships, Women Elite Road Race, which started at Loch Lomond and ended with six laps of Glasgow's city streets. Credit: Elizabeth Leyden/Alamy Live News

or

Glasgow, Scotland, UK. 13th August 2023. Glasgow, Scotland, UK.  The UCI Cycling World Championships finished with the Women Elite Road Race, which started at Loch Lomond and ended with six laps of Glasgow's city streets. Jane Doe of Paladinia riding through Kelvingrove park in the city's West End. Credit: Elizabeth Leyden/Alamy Live News

 

2. Should the Credit: 'Elizabeth Leyden/Alamy Live News' bit be removed once it's no longer Live News?

 

3. Should I mark similars for deletion?

 

4. Other than for LN, for normal stock, I'd have cropped many of the photos and adjusted the lighting. It was a sunny day with contrasty lighting. My real instinct would be to mark them all for deletion and choose 20-30 to process properly and reupload, (my intended 'short list') but I'm guessing that's frowned upon, and indeed may not be worth the effort.

 

TIA for advice.

 

Hi Elizabeth,

 

Nice to hear you enjoyed the cycle race !

 

I'll tell you my process for LN which cuts things down a lot:

 

I always do the first cull in Photomechanic, and I have already written the Headline, Caption, and key words the day before.

I set up a images of the people and have identifiers in Lightroom, and already have an idea about names.

I also pin a tab with picture info into Safari and refer to if needed on the day.

You can also code PM so that adding a name on the day is quick and easy.

Then I load to Lightroom and do a second cull.

I also have various presets to help with processing, but mostly its important to get it as right as possible in camera (as you know ..).

 

I always add names and locations before filing.

So, if you did have time to walk the route beforehand that always helps.

Sometimes I make notes into my phone, or click a street name into the set in camera.

 

I find a place near to where I took my last set of pictures to file to Alamy.

I often find linking my phone and using its WiFi is the quickest way to do this.

And I use FileZilla to send the pics through.

 

You'll never compete with agencies who can file in camera, and often have a team who do the editing at base. With that in mind I just work as quickly as I can. If, during the course, you think you may have a unique picture, stop and file without any editing, as you may be one of the first to send in pics to Alamy's very skilled and helpful news team, who will then take over. You can send through an email to alert the team, if you think you have a unique set.

 

In answer to your questions:

 

1. I don't think its matters - others may disagree.

2. I don't go back and remove anything once pics are in stock, unless I think I need to focus more on aspects of a particular picture once its focus and use changes.

The 600 character allowance remains so you have a lot of leeway. I often add as an extra at the end, other than changing the bulk of the text which can be useful in searches.

3. You can delete similar, though it's best not to file similars to begin with (obviously at times in the rush, some get through). I tend to pare down the keywords so they are fairly untraceable, as deleted images take several weeks to disappear and I feel deleting makes a mess of the portfolio during that time. In any searches they will appear and yet be unselectable, and I think that may put off picture editors who have limited time.

 

If you can take a laptop charger and/or cable with you in your pack, and have several camera batteries to spare, that cuts out the battery failure stress.

 

I hope that helps. I used to get much more stressed about the whole process, but, now that I have a system in place, and also know that, as a freelancer, I can't compete with staffers and agencies, I simply concentrate on working as quickly as possible. 

 

Ultimately everyone has their own system that works for them.

 

 

 

 

[Mr Standfast]

9 hours ago, Cryptoprocta said:

*and by permanent scars, in some cases. I confirmed one ID by comparing the relic of a leg wound with a previous photo online.

 

 

Thats meticulous!   Proper ALAMYing!

[Cryptoprocta]

Thanks again, everyone, great info.

[Avpics]

Many good answers already, and I can't say I have the experience of many here but to offer a few ideas I'll add some of my thoughts. When I attend a cycle race or similar I compartmentalise my brain into separate news and stock drives. The news images are the standout moments that tell the story of what happened/is happening, whilst I also continue snapping away hundreds/thousands of shots specifically of faces or details that might sell later. I say 'is happening', because sending shots straight away often results in a sale that wouldn't otherwise have occurred. I only have the same laptop/card-reader method of most so that'll usually mean finding a wall to use as a desk, or sitting on a pavement etc, but being first away gives an edge. Then I just pick out a dozen or so that say 'send-me' and off they go....if there's enough signal. In London there are often issues with signal which can only be overcome by moving away from the event. As Ian has mentioned before, you have to balance what your going to miss by moving away against the benefits of getting away what you're sending. 

 

If you can be present at the start of a race to snap the riders signing in, you can then match physical details with the riders as they race by later. Women are easiest with earrings and hairstyles, but moles etc all help! I also keep snapping as they've passed to get the numbers on their backs. An event such as a cycle race usually has a start list available online which I save beforehand, but can easily be searched for in the field.

 

I delete the credit in live news and, if room, add specifics to aid searches, given that the caption carries much weight, but I rarely delete LN now due to the advantage that the additional characters adds. I used to, but now when adding similar stock I'm careful to mix around the tags so that they don't compete directly with each other in some possible search terms. 

 

Doing lives news properly is extremely hard work and I have much respect for those that do so. I very much lean towards building up stock whilst dipping in and out of news dependant on the events that are happening, or focusing on a specific angle of which I have knowledge. I've stopped regular trips in to London due to the cost but I'll jump at anything that happens locally.

[sb photos]

9 hours ago, Avpics said:

<snip>  I've stopped regular trips in to London due to the cost but I'll jump at anything that happens locally.

 

Same here, unless I can combine enough events into the day to make it hopefully financially viable. Oxford is local and has been good to me. I hate having multiple events all at the same time. Sometimes I used to allow too much time to pass before quick edits and and file too late, mainly due to not wanting to miss a better shot. Not now, I will sometimes check the live news feed to see if I filed first. Once back home I can continue editing images, holding them back and uploading later as reportage so they appear at the same time as the live news images move over into stock.

[IanDavidson]

9 hours ago, sb photos said:

I've stopped regular trips in to London due to the cost but I'll jump at anything that happens locally.

The late Keith Morris (one of Alamy’s most successful photographers, putting aside the issues around his death) used to say that one of the keys to profitable stock photography was keeping costs to a minimum.  I only live a 40 minute train ride from London; but with falling prices it is moving into the balance if it is worthwhile. 

[Cryptoprocta]

1 hour ago, IanDavidson said:

The late Keith Morris (one of Alamy’s most successful photographers, putting aside the issues around his death) used to say that one of the keys to profitable stock photography was keeping costs to a minimum.  I only live a 40 minute train ride from London; but with falling prices it is moving into the balance if it is worthwhile. 

He had the advantage of living in a town with plenty of interest to the nationals.magazines, travel books etc. Like I've said before, my local papers don't pay for anything, and I know of at least one case where, having refused to pay a friend for a photo of a near-unique event (one other occurrence in the world, in Germany, was online at the time) he declined to give it to them, and sold it directly to the Beeb, from where the local paper had the audacity to lift it. IIRC, it still took a while for them to pay him.