How to improve my protest photos?

[The Blinking Eye]

4 hours ago, sb photos said:

 

If anyone has concern re security of kit in a backpack there are, or were, some where the zips to open are in contact with your back when the backpack is worn.

Good idea.

[wiskerke]

14 hours ago, The Blinking Eye said:

 

Thanks for bringing that up. Most people I know would say the opposite. I hear the word genocide so frequently on a daily/hourly basis that I thought it would be a searchable keyword.

And it is. 9,588 images on Alamy with that keyword or in the caption and many on both sides have the word genocide in the image.

And when a word is in the image, here on Alamy it should be in the keywords, because I don't think the search by image does OCR.

Searches not so much for genocide and gaza, but they are occasionally being used together.

Use AoA to see what clients are looking for. Try %protest% or %gaza% or %genocide%.

 

wim

 

edit: it's not on the naughty list.

edit2: the word OCR went missing.

Edited December 24, 2023 by wiskerke

[BidC]

6 hours ago, The Blinking Eye said:

No need to bother sticking around for more than a few minutes.

 

Except that your pictures may be used later from stock .... and you may capture another important angle later.

 

I always weigh up all options - as a lone woman, sitting in the pavement may just open me to some sort of 'attack' (theft of equipment - I sat in Hyde park once, and there was one chap carefully eyeing up my laptop, despite all the police around at the time), and traipsing to the nearest cafe and waiting in the queue also takes time. But it is true that one 'winner' is really worth sending as soon as possible (I've never had one 😂)  ...

 

One very experienced London tog had all his equipment taken over the course of one month in November. One camera taken directly from his shoulder. Vigilance (and insurance) is very important.

[Avpics]

7 hours ago, The Blinking Eye said:

Great feedback!!! Do you pull out a laptop on the street to do the upload?

You're welcome. Yes, and that's another benefit of carrying a stool around should a seat or small wall not be available. Also, regarding the security issue, I've only ever used second hand laptops out in the field. All it has on it are the programs I need to edit and send images.

Edited December 24, 2023 by Avpics

[sb photos]

59 minutes ago, Avpics said:

You're welcome. Yes, and that's another benefit of carrying a stool around should a seat or small wall not be available. Also, regarding the security issue, I've only ever used second hand laptops out in the field. All it has on it are the programs I need to edit and send images.

 

Same here re second hand older laptops. I use Apple kit and always have FileVault and FMD activated. FileVault is only effective if you use a secure password and not just tapping he spacebar as I know one photographer does. FMD, Find My Device, guided me to where I had dropped my iPhone a few weeks back. It was still in a lay-by 14 miles away, just cold and covered in condensation but fully functional. Useful to track down a lost or stolen Apple laptop.

Edited December 24, 2023 by sb photos

[sb photos]

Kristin, although this relates to London in the UK, it may at sometime be useful to you. Some photographers early in the day chain lightweight aluminium step ladders to a lamppost on a island in the middle of the higher end of Piccadilly or have a minder looking after the ladder. Later as a march passes the photographer can shoot from a higher position with a longer lens. It can get congested around popular spots.

[BidC]

1 hour ago, Avpics said:

You're welcome. Yes, and that's another benefit of carrying a stool around should a seat or small wall not be available. Also, regarding the security issue, I've only ever used second hand laptops out in the field. All it has on it are the programs I need to edit and send images.

 

Thats sensible. My very old second laptop does not have the battery power to be of much us, even with the battery pack. Plus it crashes lot. Insurance would cover the other one. My excess would be the cost of another laptop - so it doesn't make sense. 

 

I guess we all set up to suit our own needs, circumstances and workflow. Not sure I'd sit in the park again, and be suddenly surrounded by young men (one of whom was eying my laptop) ... (I'd rather miss filing than be mugged .... 🥴). 

[BidC]

46 minutes ago, sb photos said:

Kristin, although this relates to London in the UK, it may at sometime be useful to you. Some photographers early in the day chain lightweight aluminium step ladders to a lamppost on a island in the middle of the higher end of Piccadilly or have a minder looking after the ladder. Later as a march passes the photographer can shoot from a higher position with a longer lens. It can get congested around popular spots.

 

What an excellent idea ! Will the police allow it these days ? 

[IanDavidson]

2 hours ago, Avpics said:

that's another benefit of carrying a stool around should a seat or small wall not be available.

I nearly always carry a small stool (or “box” as it is referred to by the old school).  When in London.  As AVpics notes the extra height can be invaluable, sitting on it to file, or just while waiting.  In Downing Street I also use it to mark my spot.  (Don’t get me started on the new limitations on photographers in Downing Street during cabinet due to the actions of a selfish photographer breaking the rules). It can look odd and can be difficult on a crowded tube: but it works!

 

On speed.  You will never beet the likes of PA who file direct to their picture desk from their cameras.  I have seen a picture from a PA photographer appear on a web news site three minutes after taking the picture.  Avpics is right though.  Getting in fast can definitely help sales.  There is always a tension between speed of filing and the selection and good editing of the “best” pictures.   Any times I have gone over photos and thought I should have sent this one rather than that one.  One can, of course, do both….  I find Photo Mechanic vastly useful in this respect.

 

Security is an issue.  Both of self and kit.  After ten years I tend to spot when things are going pear shaped.  I took a much used photograph of police “taking the knee” outside Downing Street during a Black Lives Matter protest.  I sensed it was getting ugly and left ar speed.  Another photographer or camerperson was badly assaulted soon after by the protesters.  I seldom file “in the street” although if the weather is nice I will use a park or Parliament Square.  However, I always carry kit that allows me to do this,   I also pack a bike lock to fix my camera pack to a bollard: although I understand the Met don’t like this unless you are standing right beside it, for obvious reasons.  If I am in a cafe etc I don’t know I can also attach the bag to a table leg.Also, it is, I think. Helpful to understand the police/security issues around where you are working.  If in a heavily policed situation I tend to engage with the nearest officers so they know I am “friendly”. However I know views will differ on this.

 

Frankly, you can’t beat experience in my type of news photography .  There is much I wished I knew ten years ago, and I still keep learning!

 

 

[NYCat]

10 hours ago, wiskerke said:

And it is. 9,588 images on Alamy with that keyword or in the caption and many on both sides have the word genocide in the image.

And when a word is in the image, here on Alamy it should be in the keywords, because I don't think the search by image does

Searches not so much for genocide and gaza, but they are occasionally being used together.

Use AoA to see what clients are looking for. Try %protest% or %gaza% or %genocide%.

 

wim

 

edit: it's not on the naughty list.

 

I was commenting on the captions. A sign for genocide does not appear in the images. Just Cease Fire. Keywords are another matter, in my opinion, and can perhaps be less factual. Ian would be more knowledgeable than I am on that.

 

Paulette

[Rebecca Ore]

17 hours ago, Gervais Montacute said:

 

 

Reuters would. They're incredibly biased and that's why I don't pay any attention to anything that comes out of Reuters ever. Anymore than I do protest banners.

I imagine it was a combination of the government having a chat with Reuter's local stringers, and maybe some pressure from Alamy.

[wiskerke]

3 hours ago, NYCat said:

 

I was commenting on the captions. A sign for genocide does not appear in the images. Just Cease Fire. Keywords are another matter, in my opinion, and can perhaps be less factual. Ian would be more knowledgeable than I am on that.

 

Paulette

I did not question being (more) neutral.

But the word genocide is indeed being used a lot these days and AoA reflects that.

 

Otoh bipartisan was searched 7x this rolling year.

 

Peace 15 pages @100.

That's encouraging, until you do a search for war.

73 pages. 64 for % war % (to exclude Edward and Warhol) and 9 for war % (to include phrases starting with war ).

It's 348 pages uncorrected, just using %war%.

 

Happy Christmas!

 

wim

[StokeCreative]

24 minutes ago, wiskerke said:

I did not question being (more) neutral.

But the word genocide is indeed being used a lot these days and AoA reflects that.

 

Otoh bipartisan was searched 7x this rolling year.

 

Peace 15 pages @100.

That's encouraging, until you do a search for war.

73 pages. 64 for % war % (to exclude Edward and Warhol) and 9 for war % (to include phrases starting with war ).

It's 348 pages uncorrected, just using %war%.

 

Happy Christmas!

 

wim

 

I've never bothered to found out what the % syntax means in a search string...now I do  so thanks for that!

 

 

[wiskerke]

8 minutes ago, StokeCreative said:

 

I've never bothered to found out what the % syntax means in a search string...now I do  so thanks for that!

 

 

Merry Christmas!

Maybe don't spend it all on AoA. 😂

 

wim

[StokeCreative]

1 minute ago, wiskerke said:

Merry Christmas!

Maybe don't spend it all on AoA. 😂

 

wim

LOL. And to you Wim!

...But with an awful December of just 2 sales I wont be spending anything.... however 2023 is my best year for both revenue and sales

[Rebecca Ore]

15 hours ago, The Blinking Eye said:

 

Thanks for bringing that up. Most people I know would say the opposite. I hear the word genocide so frequently on a daily/hourly basis that I thought it would be a searchable keyword.

 

One thing I learned living in Nicaragua was that people who weren't living here had very slanted and limited understandings of what was going on.  The FSLN government was accused of genocide.   The people saying this believed that the opposition media wouldn't lie.   I've found faked photos from the mess in the eastern Med shore (TinEye helps a lot) and from opposition media here.   The game plan in 2018 was to get the US to invade and put the Chamorros or a client of theirs in power.    We're still seeing outrage junkies claiming that Bishop Alvarez didn't do anything to justify a treason conviction and an offer of exile which he turned down twice.  Um, no.  And Christianity is not being persecuted here -- the example reposted photos were from Mexico, Chile, and some Caribbean nation (thank you, TinEye).   A lot of people make angels of who they're supporting and demons of the people their heroes are fighting.   We're still seeing people claim that in 2018, police gunned down unarmed, non-violent student protestors, and even dumped summarily executed bodies in a ravine near Jinotega (Mexican drug war photos, apparently).   The burnt baby body being looked at by a doctor is an Israeli fake, edited from a picture of a vet looking at a puppy (again, TinEye). 

 

But nothing here or even probably there is what the Nazis did in Europe.   We humans like to believe in angels and demons.  The trick for anyone honestly trying to analyze an emotional and violent event is not to get swept up in believing.   Both sides want believers who don't question the narrative.  "The first casualty of war is the truth" said some Greek back in BC something.

 

Catch the emotion without buying into the emotion.  

 

 

[Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg]

On 20/12/2023 at 20:35, The Blinking Eye said:

My past protest photos far outsell anything else I've uploaded. Several have sold many times over.

then you already know the answer

& you should apply it to all protests...

 

me: look for high impact signs held by

those chanting, usually the loudest;

get in front of them slightly to one side;

shoot for open mouth with intense emotion...

most of these type of protesters are used

to being photographed so they will continue

to be "real" & ignore you, which is what you want...

[sb photos]

On 24/12/2023 at 16:03, StokeCreative said:

LOL. And to you Wim!

...But with an awful December of just 2 sales I wont be spending anything.... however 2023 is my best year for both revenue and sales

 

My December sales and YTD sales and revenue match your post. Zooms are up though. Still, it's still not quite the end of the month.

[The Blinking Eye]

On 23/12/2023 at 23:27, Avpics said:

You're welcome. Yes, and that's another benefit of carrying a stool around should a seat or small wall not be available. Also, regarding the security issue, I've only ever used second hand laptops out in the field. All it has on it are the programs I need to edit and send images.

 

YES, I was thinking no way would I bring my current laptop but a secondhand one might be possible. Thanks!

[The Blinking Eye]

On 24/12/2023 at 00:23, sb photos said:

 

Same here re second hand older laptops. I use Apple kit and always have FileVault and FMD activated. FileVault is only effective if you use a secure password and not just tapping he spacebar as I know one photographer does. FMD, Find My Device, guided me to where I had dropped my iPhone a few weeks back. It was still in a lay-by 14 miles away, just cold and covered in condensation but fully functional. Useful to track down a lost or stolen Apple laptop.

 

I actually left my laptop on an airplane last year 🙄. The Find My Device worked only to tell me no one had yet turned on my laptop. It doesn't do much if the laptop is off. I purchased apple air tags after that, as another way to locating lost items, and they seem to work. Also, my BackBlaze account saved me. All my files were accessible online even with a missing laptop. 🙏 Delta eventually found it and mail it to me after a couple weeks.

[The Blinking Eye]

On 24/12/2023 at 08:06, Rebecca Ore said:

 

But nothing here or even probably there is what the Nazis did in Europe.  

 

 

Starvation and disease hasn't set in, and we are still in the "fog of war".  As a commenter on my social media feeds said recently, "Imagine thinking that the lesson of the holocaust was to relativize other genocides." But I doubt this is the appropriate place to discuss what qualifies as "genocide", a purposefully loaded term. Masha Gessen said it best, and I paraphrase, "Whether this can be called a genocide or not, we have, right now, the power to stop one from happening."

[Mr Standfast]

Ok we've covered the serious stuff.  I met Jazz the dog at a University Strike and Perkin the Cat at a teachers Strike. Both sold for a few $, worth doing and it made the photographer smile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can't walk past a cat at a protest, it's a rule!

 

 

[The Blinking Eye]

On 24/12/2023 at 10:53, Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg said:

then you already know the answer

& you should apply it to all protests...

 

me: look for high impact signs held by

those chanting, usually the loudest;

get in front of them slightly to one side;

shoot for open mouth with intense emotion...

most of these type of protesters are used

to being photographed so they will continue

to be "real" & ignore you, which is what you want...

 

I'll share my three photos that sell repeatedly. They have sold for wildly different amounts, but each of them have sold for over $100 as well.  Only one (and a variation of that) is a protest photo per se. The others are protest murals.

 

The first photo I ever leased on Alamy, and it continues to sell. There are not that many photos on Alamy about indigenous women so it fills a gap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sold many times over. My single biggest sale for $149 to German television for use within a show. The algorithm must help this one and it must help that his name is spelled out and it's not just a picture of his face.

 

 

 

 

I did know what I was doing with this one and waited for a white man to pass by. It capitalizes on someone else's artwork, but frames it with ironic commentary.

Edited December 26, 2023 by The Blinking Eye
adjusted aspect ratios of photos

[sb photos]

1 hour ago, Mr Standfast said:

Ok we've covered the serious stuff.  I met Jazz the dog at a University Strike and Perkin the Cat at a teachers Strike. Both sold for a few $, worth doing and it made the photographer smile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can't walk past a cat at a protest, it's a rule!

 

 

 

The cat looks remarkably like our cat Bran. He is back home in Buckinghamshire, being let out and back in and fed by a friend while we are in Bristol at our daughters.It was interesting bumping into you today.

[Rebecca Ore]

5 hours ago, The Blinking Eye said:

Starvation and disease hasn't set in, and we are still in the "fog of war".  As a commenter on my social media feeds said recently, "Imagine thinking that the lesson of the holocaust was to relativize other genocides." But I doubt this is the appropriate place to discuss what qualifies as "genocide", a purposefully loaded term. Masha Gessen said it best, and I paraphrase, "Whether this can be called a genocide or not, we have, right now, the power to stop one from happening."

 

Ask your friends what they think of Ortega and Murillo in Nicaragua.  

 

The Hamas attack got a lot of people killed.

 

I'm cynical because of how accusations of genocide got thrown around here by people who also included some who wanted the FSLN/Sandinistas eliminated.    If both sides want to eliminate each other, then they're both fantasizing about a pure culture that has eliminated or driven out other cultures.

 

Nicaragua in 2018 wasn't The Killing Fields, but I'm reasonably sure that among your friends are people who truly believe that the FSLN government gunned down 350 unarmed, peaceful, non-violent student demonstrators, not that the first verifiable dead were a FSLN cop, a Sandinista youth, and some poor bystander whose politics weren't known.

 

My favorite reaction to being invaded by the British in the 19th Century was the Ashanti one.   The tribe hid the Golden Stool (emblematic of the tribal chief, not something anyone actually sat on) and the chief and his mother surrendered. 

 

Very few other people have taken non-violence to that point.  Lord Baden-Powell had a fit because his troops died of messy diseases and didn't get a chance to legitimately shoot other people or die in glorious battle against the Ashanti.  The British kept hunting for the Golden Stool into the 1930s.  After Ghanaian independence, the Ashanti re-enstooled a new chief and went on with life.

 

I've read that what really stopped the war in Vietnam were soldiers on both sides who refused to shoot unless shot at.