John Mitchell Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 When I first started uploading to Alamy back in 2007, I used very brief captions and put more detailed information in the "Description" field. Now that Alamy has made the description field non-searchable (I understand why they did this), I'm faced with the task of going back and transferring relevant info from the description fields to the captions. Just wondering, is anyone else in the same boat? It's not that big a deal really, since I seem to have some unexpected -- well, not totally unexpected -- downtime on my hands this month. Plus it's always wise to do a little housecleaning now and then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Quist Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 I would enter the info in the keywords also as the caption has low significance in searches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 I would enter the info in the keywords also as the caption has low significance in searches. Fortunately, I did have the foresight to make sure that all the crucial info was in the keywords. It's good to have complete captions as well, though, so I guess I have my homework cut out for me. My earlier pictures have been leasing, but I'm curious to see if fixing up the captions brings more zooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Robinson Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 I'm not sure I'd put much effort into it. If the critical stuff is already in the keywords, that's the main thing. The images will get found and the potential client can still see the description quite easily. What I sometimes do if I really think the description is important is stick "[see description field]" at the end of the caption. And that can be copied and pasted quite quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Could be I'm wasting my time with this approach, but if the subject is not entirely obvious or has some unreadable text within the zoomed image, I'll provide some explanation, maybe historical background, and/or the otherwise unreadable text within the description field. I try to avoid terms that would lead to a false search within the keywords, but the description allows a more expansive approach. It only takes a few minutes and if that impresses a client it could make the difference perhaps. I have sold one not particularly wonderful image with supporting text in the description so maybe it works ?? I also use the description field to explain what, if any, digital manipulation has occured. Having said that only a small percentage of my photos have anything in the description field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
York Photographer Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 I've seen info I've put in the description field used almost as is for the caption, one more reason to make a sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin P Wilson Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Since I have been increasingly shooting news I have adopted a similar approach to Bryan. I try to cover all the key points of the story in the caption (and put more background in description if it is too much for caption field) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Robinson Posted April 6, 2014 Share Posted April 6, 2014 Just always remember that the caption is searchable. Words that are relevant to the caption might not be appropriate as keywords, even low-priority keywords. Do a search for any tennis player on Alamy and you will get dozens of images, some near the top of the results, of completely different players, because their opponent at the time (the one you were searching for) is mentioned in the caption. That, I think, is the kind of thing that belongs in the description field - relevant perhaps to possible future use of the image but not in searches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted April 6, 2014 Author Share Posted April 6, 2014 Just always remember that the caption is searchable. Words that are relevant to the caption might not be appropriate as keywords, even low-priority keywords. Do a search for any tennis player on Alamy and you will get dozens of images, some near the top of the results, of completely different players, because their opponent at the time (the one you were searching for) is mentioned in the caption. That, I think, is the kind of thing that belongs in the description field - relevant perhaps to possible future use of the image but not in searches. Good point. I always try to keep irrelevant info out of captions. Making the description field non-searchable was no doubt a good move on Alamy's part. Just wish I had seen it coming a few years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Robinson Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 I have just found the following unfortunate mistake following the sad announcement of Elena Baltacha's death: http://www.france24.com/en/20140505-british-tennis-player-elena-baltacha-dies-cancer-aged-30/ Her obituary accompanied by a picture of Maria Kirilenko. It turns out it is from a match in which they were both playing, so both in the keywords. Unfortunate result of a combination of unnecessary keywords and a very lazy picture editor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.