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Problem is Alamy does not do stories, just single pictures. I have had conversations with people and there are people at Alamy who would like tyo do more but it has never got anywhere. Actually I have struggled to find more than a couple of libraries that do explicitly handle multi-image stories and only one that is not focused on celebrity, cute or humour.

 

If you have any suggestions about syndication of stories especially pictures & words please message me!

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"I would absolutely LOVE to hear your opinion on things to photograph in Denver." -- EE  Well, I can Google as well as the next guy, but I have no real opinions on Denver. Twenty years ago I visited some friends in one of the nearby mountain communities. "A lack of good food," you say. That's a bummer. I lived in Europe for 16 years, did some restaurant reviewing, and find indifferent cooking intolerable. 

 

"As to the original point of the post - location. I don't think New York has lost its appeal as a location, its just that the market for all the large cities is hugely saturated and its tougher to sell a photo where the location is the point of the shot, not what's going on in the shot. Coming up with original shots of the same shots thousands of others have taken is getting harder.

You did ask that if you lived in New York City, and had all the time in the world, what would you do. I suppose that is what people are answering, especially if you don't want to do studio work (which would bore me to tears) or pay for models, etc. I agree that to spend money on stock is not smart these days.

My philosophy is simple. I don't spend any money i wouldn't spend otherwise and shoot what appeals to me and not over think it.. So if shooting New York the location is what turns your crank, then shoot New York the location. I don't think you would have had any better luck in Rome or Paris as those cities are saturated as well." -- Jill

 

Your right, Jill. I did ask "if you lived in New York City, and had all the time in the world. . . ." Wise I hadn't.

 

I agree with most of what you said in your last post. As Linda pointed out, no matter where one lives a change of scene is sometimes welcome. I see wandering around the outer city a colossal waist of time. To the outside world, New York is Manhattan. Period. I will be visiting some ethnic areas of Queens this spring to shoot some restaurant food. 

 

In the end, I feel I have shot good images of interesting, timely subjects . . . and to have them not sell is disconcerting. 

 

 

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Problem is Alamy does not do stories, just single pictures. I have had conversations with people and there are people at Alamy who would like tyo do more but it has never got anywhere. Actually I have struggled to find more than a couple of libraries that do explicitly handle multi-image stories and only one that is not focused on celebrity, cute or humour.

 

If you have any suggestions about syndication of stories especially pictures & words please message me!

 

The picture story has been dead for a long long time, Martin.  Life and Look are no more. Orginally People did stories on regular people besides celebs. Now that magazine is not only all celebs but the "text" is mostly captions. "The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there." Hartley

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Ed,  I am in Denver, and for the most part, the news images we see are from New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Boston.  I have some images from the Denver/Boulder area that have been licensed - one is of a business in Boulder that has been licensed 4 times from major news outlets (Huffington Post, Businessweek, etc.)

 

That popular image was taken when I got together with 4 or 5 friends and we strolled down a street in Boulder.

 

I say forget the touristy areas of New York and if you can, get out of the city.

 

Queries:

 

Queens, New York - 11,091 results

Woodstock, New York - 1,712 results

Brooklyn, New York - 45,201

Manhattan, New York - 198,929

Greenwich Village, New York - 5,913 results

Endicott, New York - 37 results (sorry, I had to throw that in - I've actually been there LOL)

 

My advice - stay out of Manhattan and take a stroll or drive in new areas.

 

I have the same issue with Denver - there are a TON of images of downtown and few images of surrounding areas.  Today I went to a location I've been meaning to check out.  I decided to take a drive there to scope it out because I know a few landscape/wildlife photographers that frequent the area.  I ended up uploading a live news story of the National Guard practicing bucket drops from helicopters in preparation for fire season.  Images may not sell, but I did get a few that can be used in the future for stock.

 

I asked a very talented friend of mine if it was OK to post this image of hers of the Staten Island Ferry...

 

S0279F.jpg

 

S0279F

 

I think it shows how an interesting image can be made of our NYC icons (and even with an iPhone). She is just starting to dip her toes into Alamy. By the way, there are a lot of artists living in Staten Island and with the rents rising in Brooklyn it just may become a "happening" place.

 

Paulette

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I asked a very talented friend of mine if it was OK to post this image of hers of the Staten Island Ferry...

 

S0279F

 

I think it shows how an interesting image can be made of our NYC icons (and even with an iPhone). She is just starting to dip her toes into Alamy. By the way, there are a lot of artists living in Staten Island and with the rents rising in Brooklyn it just may become a "happening" place.

 

Paulette

 

 

That's what I'm referring to - there aren't very many images from that angle and it gives a sneak peek of an insider's view of everyday life.

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Hummmmmm. Denver. I will be visiting friends there next month. As a tourist I think of the Tattered Cover Bookstore. There is a wonderful Native American Museum (or Indians, as those of us who have lived near reservations say). I also love the, sometimes tacky, tourist stores with Western merchandise. I grew up in San Diego in the days when all kids were put up on a horse bareback. We held onto the mane, as I recall. So the Western stuff makes me nostalgic and I'm sure also appeals to those who have never experienced it. Perhaps you have done those subjects. They are what I think of. Some good Mexican food there too.

 

Paulette

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This discussion is certainly whetting my appetite for my visit to Manhattan in a couple of weeks :-)

 

dd

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"The moral is: the work that is going to sell is, very often, work that most togs are reluctant to do." -- RB

 

No, the moral is "don't trust Robert Brook." One day and here you are back to another pompous lecture, as if I'm seeking direction from you, a guy who has a collection that's showing, literally, garbage. You are not my guru, not my senior office in some mythical battalion. I want no advice from you whatsoever. It is possible to state an alternate opinion without posing as a Oxford Don. How dare you talk down to me. I don't need you explaining Alamy or the stock business or anything else. 

 

I withdraw the acceptance of your insincere apology. Don't address me again. This is not baseball; you don't get three strikes. 

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Ed,

 

I've been on the Staten Island Ferry more times than I can count. I used to go to Staten Island twice a week when I was a kid and my son lived there for a couple of years. The Staten Island Ferry is the poor man's way of viewing the Statue of Liberty. It's Ellis Island that I have yet to step foot on. I did venture out to Liberty Island once, and sent back a bunch of post cards to friends and family in Manhattan saying "Having a wonderful time. Wish you were here!" ;)

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I used to know a guy who lived on Staten Island, the owner of the book store on Mercer Street, A Photographers Place. 

 

Ellis Island seems the most interesting, with its history. You know Fiorello LaGuardia used to be an interpreter on Ellis Island; he spoke both Yiddish and Italian.

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Hummmmmm. Denver. I will be visiting friends there next month. As a tourist I think of the Tattered Cover Bookstore. There is a wonderful Native American Museum (or Indians, as those of us who have lived near reservations say). I also love the, sometimes tacky, tourist stores with Western merchandise. I grew up in San Diego in the days when all kids were put up on a horse bareback. We held onto the mane, as I recall. So the Western stuff makes me nostalgic and I'm sure also appeals to those who have never experienced it. Perhaps you have done those subjects. They are what I think of. Some good Mexican food there too.

 

Paulette

 

Great suggestions Paulette - I've been to the Tattered Cover many times....back when it was in Cherry Creek and then when they opened a store in Lodo, and currently they also have a location on East Colfax and down in Highlands Ranch.  I've NEVER thought of photographing it (though I've thought of photographing authors when they give a reading there - I've known a few over the years).  It's something I will keep in mind next time I'm in the area as I've overlooked it many times - in fact this portrait was taken in the ally with the downtown store in the background...

 

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This is precisely my point about living in a location and not covering everything a "tourist" wants to see.
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I am in Romania which is not an interesting location. I have uploaded photos from other neighboring coutries also (Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria), but I saw only zooms. There was no sale on specific locations as they are often searched. I think people are using Alamy to plan their holidays.

 

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I think it obviously depends on what you shoot. If my specialty was Catholic turn of the century buildings I'd obviously couldn't live where I live (Nebraska) and make a realistic go at it. For me personally it makes no difference where I live as long as I'm reasonably close to a somewhat big city with a PD that allows me access (for me that turns out to be Kansas City, MO). The wife is stuck here though so Nebraska it is, at least for the foreseeable future. We do live out in the sticks though and that I'd very much like to change in the near future.

 

Problem is we have a horse. An old race-horse. So we can't move to town until he totters off to the glue factory. Just out of spite he has decided he's going to break some sort of equine longevity record. Bugger is 27 now but is healthy as, well, a horse... When he finally kicks the bucket though we're moving to town. Preferably to somewhere with no lawn (right now we have about one acre's worth of lawn). I could possibly compromise with the wife and get a paved back yard that we can paint green... But that's stretching it... We currently have 8 acres all in all. Too small to make it worth buying real equipment for maintenance etc but too big to handle it with a lawn tractor...

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Romania not interesting? I'm about to print a photo essay from a Scottish photographer who's been visiting regularly just because it is one of the last great places where you can be almost Cartier-Bresson. But he's keeping well away from cities!

 

David

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I always wondered what happens to old race horses. Mickey Rooney died the other day, so I can't ask him. But I find it touching and commendable that you make old Bugger an important factor in your decisions. How on Earth did you come to own a retired racehorse? 

 

The people who live in the flat below me are from Romania. 

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