Ed Rooney Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Just thought I would share two things I learned along the way as a travel photographer and a general stock contributor. The first tip I got from an airline client of mine: "We prefer to use images that show sunshine and blue skies instead of those lovely twilight/night shots . . . because we want to send a subliminal message that the weather will be fair at this location." The second tip I got from the head of a stock agency: "Always watch TV commercials and take notes. The situations and the approaches you see can be useful when you're looking for stock photo images." If you are already aware of these things, great . . . some of you may not be. Edo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Ashmore Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Just thought I would share two things I learned along the way as a travel photographer and a general stock contributor. The first tip I got from an airline client of mine: "We prefer to use images that show sunshine and blue skies instead of those lovely twilight/night shots . . . because we want to send a subliminal message that the weather will be fair at this location." The second tip I got from the head of a stock agency: "Always watch TV commercials and take notes. The situations and the approaches you see can be useful when you're looking for stock photo images." If you are already aware of these things, great . . . some of you may not be. Edo Great tips, thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanRohrer Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Always include the city, state, and country, location information. Even if it is a simple flower shot. A Dayton, Ohio, USA, tourism magazine does not want to use a shot from a competing Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, market. Ohio magazine generally wants all images to be shot in Ohio. Buyers which are not location sensitive will not likely be searching by location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanRohrer Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Those clear blue sky's are easier for a client to add text inside the pic. Nice puffy clouds can make a good landscape scene but are less workable for text. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Always include the city, state, and country, location information. Surely not if the location is irrelevant? I can think of images which would appear in a lot of irrelevant searches by location. BTW this is an international forum, Alamy is a British company and we don't have "states" here. Nor do many countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert M Estall Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 State or County or Provence, let's not split hairs! But yes, the better the location is identified, the better. Many clients won't care a toss, but for some it can save embarrassment and subsequent criticism. My Suffolk Tourist Board would feel they had egg on their face is they used a shot of the Essex side of the Stour Valley for instance. There are many shots on Alamy from visiting/wandering photographers who have got that kind of detail wrong. Easily done of course! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Brooks Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Always include the city, state, and country, location information. Surely not if the location is irrelevant? I can think of images which would appear in a lot of irrelevant searches by location. BTW this is an international forum, Alamy is a British company and we don't have "states" here. Nor do many countries. Clients often put geographical limitations on a publication. A publication entitled “Birds of Alberta” would have to have all bird pictures taken in Alberta, even if it was a common bird like the Canada Goose. There is always the terror that someone with a twitter account will identify background vegetation that only grows in Nova Scotia. I do not understand your BTW comments. Whats your point? Sounds Provincial to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sergio delle vedove Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Interesting tips! Thanks a lot for sharing Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sergio delle vedove Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Just thought I would share two things I learned along the way as a travel photographer and a general stock contributor. The first tip I got from an airline client of mine: "We prefer to use images that show sunshine and blue skies instead of those lovely twilight/night shots . . . because we want to send a subliminal message that the weather will be fair at this location." The second tip I got from the head of a stock agency: "Always watch TV commercials and take notes. The situations and the approaches you see can be useful when you're looking for stock photo images." If you are already aware of these things, great . . . some of you may not be. Edo Interesting tips! Thanks a lot for sharing Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vpics Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Yes, absolutely no dull skies. However, twilight shots do sell. Btw, I just sold a really dull shot of Oxford Street to illustrate air pollution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin P Wilson Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 The picture that has sold the most times for me on Alamy, the first I sold throuigh Alamyu, has a dark grey sky - a fierce storm was iminent. So blue skies essential?, my blue sky pictures seem to sell more rarely than almost everything else Perhaps I don't have the right eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julesimages Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Thanks.. sounds logical. Shame it's been grey and dull most of the time here in the East of the UK for the last 4 months! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolf Adlercreutz Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Most of what I find interesting and take a picture off will sell - sooner or later. Rolf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Chriss Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Always include the city, state, and country, location information. Surely not if the location is irrelevant? I can think of images which would appear in a lot of irrelevant searches by location. BTW this is an international forum, Alamy is a British company and we don't have "states" here. Nor do many countries. Clients often put geographical limitations on a publication. A publication entitled “Birds of Alberta” would have to have all bird pictures taken in Alberta, even if it was a common bird like the Canada Goose. There is always the terror that someone with a twitter account will identify background vegetation that only grows in Nova Scotia. I do not understand your BTW comments. Whats your point? Sounds Provincial to me. Is it essential to have a twitter account to take pictures of these birds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 I do not understand your BTW comments. Whats your point? Sounds Provincial to me. I'm sometimes moved to point out that the US is not the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Have a look at this AoA result: growth 64technology 42success 38change 32social media 32building blocks 32innovation 32teamwork 30support 29future 27insurance 26leadership 25concepts 25education 25diversity 25transformation 24network 23strategy 22choices 21working together 21partnership 21business 20knowledge 20communication 20happiness 19connection 19finance 19trust 19risk 18protection 17divorce 17together 17evolution 16concept 16vision 16memory 16relationship 16time 16confidence 15opportunity 15competition 14journey 14collaboration 14excellence 14improvement 14marketing 14cloud computing 14progress 14aging 13motivation 13strength 12sunrise 12helping hands 12advertising 12savings 11time travel 11uk map 11freedom 11decision making 11internet 11rich and poor 11world map 11pension 10maze 10value 10marriage 10chess 10listening 10perspective 10flexibility 10business growth 10saving money 10creative 10 horror 5 hungry 5 failure 5global warming 4poverty 4drugs 3 economic crisis 2gender gap 2 bad mood 2sinking ship 2 This is from an actual AoA search. Total items found: 3800. It's clear that I have left stuff out, it's all completely true nonetheless. I did not leave out negative keywords from the first part. I don't think I have to spell it out, but negativity is a niche subject on Alamy. wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marianne Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 Although the majority of my travel sales have blue skies, about one-third of them have been taken at sunrise, sunset, or during the blue hour. A tiny handful also have dull skies. Those fine weather shots are certainly what we all aim for but sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate. My first sale ever on Alamy was of barbed wire with a cloudy gray sky behind. It's sold a few times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sultanpepa Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 Blue sky in Scotland!! About as common as a blue moon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted February 13, 2016 Author Share Posted February 13, 2016 For clarity, let me make the point that these are not my tips, nor my ideas. That's why I used quotation marks (even if the quotes are not exact). When the airline dude made the comment on "blue skies," he was looking at some of my dusk/night shots that I had just delivered to him . . . and he liked them, and said so. On trips, every evening that I could, I would setup somewhere and do one of those key images. (We can only do one setup a night.) We used to call them "Slick," a noun rather than an adjective. Everybody likes those images, right? I know I do. The stock agency guy's suggesting that I watch TV commercials? That sounds logical, no? Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I've not owned a TV for about 10 years now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Walker Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 You ought to give TV another try Ed - the picture's in colour now Great thread btw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted February 13, 2016 Author Share Posted February 13, 2016 You ought to give TV another try Ed - the picture's in colour now Great thread btw Color? Come on! Pull the other one; it's got bells on it. I do watch TV shows on my iMac. I have two streaming services: Netflix and Hulu, and most of the Networks let me stream shows a day after they have them on television. And thanks -- I can't believe I have 19 Green Flags. It seems like just a few weeks ago that people were getting ready to stone me to death. Edo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMiller Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 "Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I've not owned a TV for about 10 years now. " You haven't missed a thing, unless you are into programs like "Swamp People". Nice tips, and thanks for sharing. Another reason is blue skies psychologically imply positive feelings, whereas overcast is associated with more of a gloomy state of mind. Been in kind of photo slump myself lately, so I find the tips, and your nice shots inspiring! They all took some real effort, plus you waited for the little details (the ferry, or the group of individuals conversing by the light) to arrive in the scenes that compositionally add so much more to an image. I was once told including water in a scene can be good boon for appeal as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 Another "no blue skies" of course, is storm clouds, other weather like rain, snow, etc. But like Ed said, if you want to sell to travel guides, those dogs won't hunt. I noticed when I called the resort owner before my first trip to St. Croix, he acted reluctant to talk about rainy days, and give me much of an idea of what to expect other than high/lows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Seems reasonable to assume that blue skies will be required to sell holiday brochures, but grey skies are sometimes preferred to illustrate newspaper stories. An editor might pick an image that mirrors the current weather for example, or the seriousness of the situation. I went out to shoot a local landmark building on a sunny day and uploaded a couple of shots. One has made a few pennies, but the last view I had saw the only zoom go to the only competing image, that was shot in the gloom! The current rate of remuneration for travel brochure ready pics far exceeds that for any newspaper sales that I have made. Horses and courses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted February 15, 2016 Author Share Posted February 15, 2016 Thank you for the kind words, MM. Since Manhattan is an island, I'm surrounded by water . . . not so many palm trees as on St. Croix, though. Now that I'm shooting for general stock, the blueness of the sky, the fairness of the day, are not so important . . . but habits die hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.