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To delete or not to delete


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I've got more photos of a local landmark than you can shake a stick at. Today I resolved to sort the wheat from the chaff and do some serious deleting.

 

However, I first downloaded my sales history and checked to see what has sold and what has not.

 

Result, confusion. My most remunerative shot is, in my view, pretty good, but there are a few others, that have sold for 3 figure sums, that I wouldn't give house room to.  Meanwhile some of my preferred shots never even see a zoom. 

 

Conclusion.  I know very little about what will and will not sell. Deletions deferred indefinitely!  

 

Procrastination rules OK  :unsure:  

 

Sure fire formula for picking non runners welcome.

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Never delete. If there is an image you are not keen on and if it is possible to take another better one sometime upload the new one with reference to the older image in the keywords.

 

Allan

 

PS: I need to carry out this work myself sometime but am procrastinating too.

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The whole process from beginning to end is a series of partly random decisions. Shall I go out with the camera today? Should I go to location A or location B? Is this shot worth taking? Maybe I could come back later when the light might be better? Should I upload this image to Agency A or Agency B? Is it better to put this keyword in Essential and that one in Main, or vice versa?

 

In this context, "Shall I delete this one?" is just another random decision. Once made, the result is irrelevant. I just get on with taking more and better pics in the future.

 

Alan

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Very interesting.....  I have found that the images or paintings that other people prefer are not the ones that I really rate. I've noticed it with comments on everything from paintings to more everyday things like clothes / jewellery, hairstyles.  For instance, wearing what I would consider my 'best' jewellery won't raise a comment, but wear something I got from a market on holiday and suddenly people are commenting right, left and centre. 

 

I sell a lot of stuff online and have learned that there is always someone out there looking for even the most (to my taste) gaudy, ugly, flashy, unfashionable etc., stuff.

 

It has given me a sense that I just don't share other people's taste, so there is no point in me trying to predict what someone else will like. The result is that I now consciously keep work that is technically all right and let other people worry about whether it is good enough for them to use.

 

What I am trying to say is that I am now almost at the stage where if I don't rate it as my best, I am pretty sure someone else will like it! Seems a silly way to make decisions on what to keep, but maybe it is actually more accurate than relying on what I personally like.  <_<

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Instead of deleting could you move the poor performers into a different pseudonym?

 

Michael

I did that and ended up with one big pseudonym, and a tiny one with my good stuff! :( And the few sales I do get are from the old, mediocre?, stuff.

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The thing some of us need to get over is embarrassment. Unless we are complete dunderheads, our photography and PP skills constantly improve. Plus cameras, especially regarding noise handling, are amazing compared to what was available when I began. I know, speaking for myself, my early stock work I doesn't compare favorably to recent work.

 

Am I embarassed by my early work? Yes, some of it. Do I want you people looking at those images? Nope. So I began deleting. Until some of those awaiting final removal sold. Which is more important to me? How everyone regards my work, or sales.

 

The answer comes from "why did I get into stock?" Sales, of course. My realization is that I shouldn't consider what my peers think of my work, only the bottom line.

Similars. Hmmm. Even taken at different times. That is a tricky question. I might be tempted to prune some of those if they are of a place. If two are similar in angle and everything else but light, I'd keep the best and delete the other.

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I've got more photos of a local landmark than you can shake a stick at. Today I resolved to sort the wheat from the chaff and do some serious deleting.

 

However, I first downloaded my sales history and checked to see what has sold and what has not.

 

Result, confusion. My most remunerative shot is, in my view, pretty good, but there are a few others, that have sold for 3 figure sums, that I wouldn't give house room to.  Meanwhile some of my preferred shots never even see a zoom. 

 

Conclusion.  I know very little about what will and will not sell. Deletions deferred indefinitely!  

 

Procrastination rules OK  :unsure:  

 

Sure fire formula for picking non runners welcome.

 

There was a time, Bryan, when you looked at those subjects and snapped those pictures, then processed the images and uploaded them to Alamy. I think it's best to let those decisions stand. None of us can guess which images will sell in the future. Move forward . . . winter will be over soon. 

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I've only deleted one image so far - an accidental duplicate - but 90% of what I'm adding to Alamy is seasonal.  I can see deleting becoming an option as the years roll by and I get a better shot or shots of subjects I've previously added.  There is always that urge to improve - but also tightly edit - so some that I consider less worthy may well go in future days.

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Some very interesting, helpful and amusing, responses, thanks.  :)

 

I do have a second pseudo which I  use for deletions, and I tend to follow Betty's advice to delete similars only, being careful to copy over the code of the deleted image to the key words of  its replacement.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well Alamy does seem to have too many images search lake district uk and you get 71,456 on 794 pages images search getty you get 2988 on 30 pages. Now if you are a potential customer how many pages and time are you willing to spend searching for a image

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Well Alamy does seem to have too many images search lake district uk and you get 71,456 on 794 pages images search getty you get 2988 on 30 pages. Now if you are a potential customer how many pages and time are you willing to spend searching for a image

 

I was going to reply 1 or 2 pages, as this is the case for most searches. And to back that up I looked at AoA for Lake District.

 

The result: just over 5 pages @100. Including the odd Chilean or Danish lake district.

 

Then the views: 40 UCO for Lake District 45,319 views. Wait a minute, that is 1133 views - is 12 pages @90 on average!

Next search phrase: Lake District UK; 12,000 views, that is 33 pages @90 on average!

 

What is going on here?

 

wim

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Every time we delete an image, we delete part of our soul. B)

 

Leave 'em where they be I say. Procrastination is a gift from the gods.

I have about 600 images awaiting deletion. I should have made more horcruxes. (If you don't understand, you need to read more serious literature)

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