John Mitchell Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 I have a number of recent "abstract" images that I'd like to upload. However, I fear the dreaded "soft and lacking definition" call. Does anyone know how QC evaluates this type of imagery? Abstract images are not always in focus. In fact, softness is often part of the appeal. Fuzzy in Vancouver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Tiptoe over those land mines. Maybe try one, the one you fear the most & see if it’s accepted. If so, the others might be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 4 hours ago, Betty LaRue said: Tiptoe over those land mines. Maybe try one, the one you fear the most & see if it’s accepted. If so, the others might be fine. Thanks for the reply, Betty. Land mines indeed, especially when you consider that such images tend to do poorly on Alamy. One of the downsides of being a five-start general, I find, is that you're always worried about messing up and getting demoted. There are reams of fuzzy-ish abstract images on Alamy, but who knows how they got there. Many of them probably sneaked in through the numerous back doors. 🚪 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 29 minutes ago, John Mitchell said: Thanks for the reply, Betty. Land mines indeed, especially when you consider that such images tend to do poorly on Alamy. One of the downsides of being a five-start general, I find, is that you're always worried about messing up and getting demoted. There are reams of fuzzy-ish abstract images on Alamy, but who knows how they got there. Many of them probably sneaked in through the numerous back doors. 🚪 Send one image. Or even more. If it’s rejected, I don’t think you’ll lose your five *s. I had a rejection some months ago, the first in ages, and didn’t. Probably a batch of 10. I would imagine if one had several failures close together, one might be demoted. Would it be to 3 stars? I think from past threads, nobody ever was ****. Seems everyone jumped from three to five. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Hogg Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 3 hours ago, Betty LaRue said: Would it be to 3 stars? From what I understand it would be too 3 We are not sure if there is a 4 star or not I remember a discussion about this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCat Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Something about 4 being unlucky in some Asian communities. Or has a meaning like DEATH. That is pretty unlucky. Paulette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KellyC Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 I have about 10 abstract images that are soft focus (on purpose). None of mine have been rejected (nor have any of them sold). I would just do a small upload and see how it goes. I have no idea if QC considers keywords or descriptions attached to the image (I doubt it), but perhaps making sure "abstract" is in there wouldn't hurt. Good luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 Thanks very much for all the useful feedback. It sounds as if I have to be more courageous and take the plunge. 😨 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 1 hour ago, KellyC said: I have about 10 abstract images that are soft focus (on purpose). None of mine have been rejected (nor have any of them sold). I would just do a small upload and see how it goes. I have no idea if QC considers keywords or descriptions attached to the image (I doubt it), but perhaps making sure "abstract" is in there wouldn't hurt. Good luck! Thanks, Kelly. You have some very nice images, including the abstracts. Too bad these types of images don't do better on Alamy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 I have a few abtracts that were purposely shot out of focus. Never sold any. They did pass back in the A series of Alamy ref numbers, so quite a while ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 1 hour ago, Michael Ventura said: I have a few abtracts that were purposely shot out of focus. Never sold any. They did pass back in the A series of Alamy ref numbers, so quite a while ago. I've had a few images of brick and stone walls, even a boring concrete wall, license, but I'm not sure you'd call them abstracts. 🙃 Problem is that there are zillions of "design" images like abstracts available at certain other places as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Anything is possible in stock photography these days. I never thought this one would sell, but I uploaded it anyway. France, Book, print and/or e-book from a couple of months ago. You'd probably never guess what this is, but I key worded it as a ghost or ectoplasm. 😂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ventura Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 53 minutes ago, John Mitchell said: I've had a few images of brick and stone walls, even a boring concrete wall, license, but I'm not sure you'd call them abstracts. 🙃 Problem is that there are zillions of "design" images like abstracts available at certain other places as well. Yes, the micros have tons and tons of them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 36 minutes ago, Rico said: Anything is possible in stock photography these days. I never thought this one would sell, but I uploaded it anyway. France, Book, print and/or e-book from a couple of months ago. You'd probably never guess what this is, but I key worded it as a ghost or ectoplasm. 😂 The question is what keyword(s) did the client use? Plus: are there any images with that keywords somewhere else and what do they look like. AoA: 27 pages @100 for %abstract%. 11 pages for just abstract. wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 32 minutes ago, wiskerke said: The question is what keyword(s) did the client use? Plus: are there any images with that keywords somewhere else and what do they look like. AoA: 27 pages @100 for %abstract%. 11 pages for just abstract. wim The image wasn't zoomed, so I don't know what they were looking for exactly, but I'm guessing it was some sort of ghostly apparition. It was sitting in my hard drive for almost 15 years, before just recently decided I could make something out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted January 29 Author Share Posted January 29 3 hours ago, Rico said: The image wasn't zoomed, so I don't know what they were looking for exactly, but I'm guessing it was some sort of ghostly apparition. It was sitting in my hard drive for almost 15 years, before just recently decided I could make something out of it. Interesting. I have a few images like your "ghostly apparition" but have been too chicken to upload them 🐔 As wim suggested, it's all in the keywords, probably a matter of luck more than anything else. You must have stumbled upon the "right" tag(s) for that particular buyer. Nice going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KellyC Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 On 28/01/2024 at 11:22, John Mitchell said: Thanks, Kelly. You have some very nice images, including the abstracts. Too bad these types of images don't do better on Alamy. Thank you John! I hope your abstract images do well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 I was surprised to find almost 70 images in my port with abstract in the keywords. I snapped a few more yesterday. I'm desperate to find another subject to cover in this small city. Abstracts are fun to capture but not great sellers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 13 hours ago, Ed Rooney said: I was surprised to find almost 70 images in my port with abstract in the keywords. I snapped a few more yesterday. I'm desperate to find another subject to cover in this small city. Abstracts are fun to capture but not great sellers. True, but there's a lot to be said for fun. 🥳 By the way, the phrase "urban texture" seems to be a fairly common search term for abstracts like the one you've posted. I often include it in tags for possible(?) good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 57 minutes ago, John Mitchell said: True, but there's a lot to be said for fun. 🥳 By the way, the phrase "urban texture" seems to be a fairly common search term for abstracts like the one you've posted. I often include it in tags for possible(?) good luck. +1 for fun! However "urban texture" - 0 searches for the whole of 2023 on AoA. Unless that's broken too. None even for %urban%texture%. But 479,999 images on Alamy with that key phrase - those cannot all be yours 😂 wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted February 1 Author Share Posted February 1 (edited) 1 hour ago, wiskerke said: +1 for fun! However "urban texture" - 0 searches for the whole of 2023 on AoA. Unless that's broken too. None even for %urban%texture%. But 479,999 images on Alamy with that key phrase - those cannot all be yours 😂 wim No, only 479,998 are mine. 😁 Busted (again) by the AoA cops! Guess I should have said "a fairly common tag" instead. BTW, I often type trial search terms (e.g. "urban texture") into the search box on the Alamy homepage. If the exact same terms (word or phrase) come up in the drop-down menu that appears, I figure that others have been using them as well. Do you think this is a fair assumption? Edited February 1 by John Mitchell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 16 hours ago, John Mitchell said: No, only 479,998 are mine. 😁 Busted (again) by the AoA cops! Guess I should have said "a fairly common tag" instead. BTW, I often type trial search terms (e.g. "urban texture") into the search box on the Alamy homepage. If the exact same terms (word or phrase) come up in the drop-down menu that appears, I figure that others have been using them as well. Do you think this is a fair assumption? Haha! search box on the Alamy homepage - I have been wondering about these as well. Could it be AoA is filled by known/paying customers, but the suggestions in the search box are not? Then where do they come from? Search terms straight from Google? Searches by Alamy staff? Urgent picture needs? All of the above plus everybody else, including ourselves maybe? (Because our searches will not turn up in AoA.) A remote possibility: these are the most used keywords by contributors. That should be testable. The other, more simple test: comparing the suggestions with AoA for the rolling year. But what if the limit is 3 years? 5 years? Certainly not 10 years? wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted February 1 Author Share Posted February 1 45 minutes ago, wiskerke said: Haha! search box on the Alamy homepage - I have been wondering about these as well. Could it be AoA is filled by known/paying customers, but the suggestions in the search box are not? Then where do they come from? Search terms straight from Google? Searches by Alamy staff? Urgent picture needs? All of the above plus everybody else, including ourselves maybe? (Because our searches will not turn up in AoA.) A remote possibility: these are the most used keywords by contributors. That should be testable. The other, more simple test: comparing the suggestions with AoA for the rolling year. But what if the limit is 3 years? 5 years? Certainly not 10 years? wim I've always figured they were recent or popular searches -- but by whom? It would be interesting to know the real answer. Sounds like a job for Sherlock. 🕵️♂️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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